Ottawa Art Gallery, Art gallery in downtown Ottawa, Canada

The Ottawa Art Gallery occupies a 55,000-square-foot building that opened on 28 April 2018 at Arts Court, more than tripling its previous space. It grew from the 1870 Carleton County Courthouse designed by Robert Surtees, where the gallery opened in 1988. The building houses the Firestone Collection of Canadian Art and a permanent collection of over one thousand works.

The museum was founded in 1988 and became the city's main art institution on traditional Anishinābe Aki territory. Its establishment marked an important step in fostering art and building collections in Canada's capital.

The exhibition spaces show rotating works by local, national, and international creators with a strong focus on Indigenous artistic voices. Visitors encounter different perspectives and stories from various communities.

The venue is open Tuesday through Sunday, with some days offering extended visiting hours. Plan to spend enough time here since there is much to explore and the spaces encourage lingering.

The Firestone Collection of Canadian Art, begun by Dr. O.J. (Jack) and Isobel Firestone in the 1950s, was displayed in their Rockcliffe Park home, Belmanor, before the family donated 1,200 works, the house and an endowment to the Ontario Heritage Foundation in 1972. The City of Ottawa owns the collection, now about 1,600 works, and the gallery has housed and cared for it since 1992.