PHI stands as a nexus for innovation and accessibility in the arts. Uniting diverse practices under one umbrella, PHI encompasses the PHI Centre, the PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art, PHI Studio, and PHI Muse, all geared towards redefining what cultural engagement means today. Guided by values like freedom, rigor, and a deep commitment to community, PHI doesn’t just showcase art—it champions dialogue, experimentation, and a forward-thinking approach that blurs the line between art and technology.

Through immersive installations, residencies, and educational programs, PHI fosters an inclusive space that prioritizes empathy, equity, and respect. This is art with purpose, rooted in collaboration and a commitment to sustainability, integrity, and care. Spearheading initiatives in cultural sustainability, PHI is more than a gallery or foundation; it’s a living laboratory pushing the boundaries of artistic expression and community engagement in Montreal.

The Fonderie Darling in Old Montreal is a cultural space dedicated to contemporary art, housed within two restored industrial buildings that once formed part of the Darling Brothers’ foundry. Founded and operated by the non-profit Quartier Éphémère, this art center champions the creation, production, and public display of visual art through a blend of exhibitions, artist studios, and international residencies.

With two contrasting exhibition spaces—one embracing the industrial architecture, the other more adaptable—Fonderie Darling offers varied experiences that push the boundaries of conventional art presentation. In the summer, its Place Publique transforms into an outdoor venue for installations, performances, and public engagement, turning the area into a dynamic crossroads for art lovers.

Set within an 80,000-square-foot former shipyard in Griffintown, Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal is a powerhouse of contemporary artistic exploration. Founded by patrons Pierre and Anne-Marie Trahan, Arsenal is a cultural initiative devoted to elevating Canadian art within a global context. Its vast spaces house a dynamic range of exhibitions by both renowned and emerging artists, creating immersive experiences that redefine traditional art viewing.

Alongside its exhibitions, Arsenal supports artist residencies, inviting creators from across Canada and beyond to experiment, innovate, and expand their practices. The venue, which also includes the Galerie Blouin Division and the private Majudia Collection, doubles as a versatile event space, hosting everything from private gatherings to corporate functions. With sister locations in Toronto and New York, Arsenal bridges cities and cultures, fostering a community where contemporary art thrives and connects across boundaries.

Once a sanctuary and rectory established by the Dominican friars, the Livart is now a multidisciplinary arts centre with a different kind of devotion—this one to public access, creative exchange, and cultural experimentation. Since opening in 2016, the non-profit has made use of its historic Plateau-Mont-Royal address to house an art gallery, artist studios, a school, event spaces, and a boutique—all designed to break down the usual barriers between artists and audiences. The building’s roots stretch back to 1905 as part of the Catholic parish of St. Agnes, and its Tudor Revival details, mouldings, and faux wood beams have outlasted more than one shift in religious and civic purpose. Through exhibitions, workshops, and public programming, the Livart continues that evolution, turning a site once built for worship into one where creative voices—especially those of children and emerging artists—are given room to grow, experiment, and be heard.

Foil Gallery isn’t your standard white-wall affair. Founded by digital artists Frédéric Duquette (FVCKRENDER) and Jo-Anie Charland, this hybrid space in Mile-Ex sidesteps the stiff, transactional feel of traditional galleries in favour of something warmer, more immersive: Part gallery, part café, part bar, and, at its core, a place where art is observed and experienced.

The duo, who built international followings before returning to Montreal, envisioned a space that strips away art-world pretension. Foil showcases a curated mix of works spanning digital and physical mediums, all available for purchase. Its LAB, an audiovisual studio, adds another layer to the sensory experience, with a soundscape curated by Olivier Lamontagne and a custom fragrance from New York’s DS & Durga.

With coffee from Zab Cafe, mocktails, a full cocktail program inspired by exhibited works, and events like the early-morning DJ-driven Foil Sessions, the space is built for connection. The goal? To get people—newcomers and seasoned collectors alike—engaging with art in a way that feels effortless.

Montréal, arts interculturels (MAI) is a multidisciplinary arts space that thrives on dialogue, diversity, and experimentation. Since its founding in 1999, MAI has been a catalyst for intercultural exchange, offering a platform for artists across disciplines—dance, theatre, visual and media arts, spoken word, and more—to explore the intersections of culture, identity, and artistic form.

More than just a presenter, MAI is an incubator for emerging and established artists, particularly those from Indigenous, racialized, LGBTQ2S+, and differently abled communities. Its Complices mentorship program provides tailored support, while its Public + initiative fosters engagement beyond the gallery and stage, connecting artists with audiences in meaningful ways.

Housed in Milton Park, MAI offers a theatre, a gallery, rehearsal spaces, and a café, all designed to encourage creative exchange. Neither an institution nor an artist-run centre, MAI operates in the in-between, where hybridity flourishes and the boundaries of contemporary art are constantly redefined.

A cornerstone of Montreal’s contemporary art scene, the Belgo Building is a six-storey hub of creativity in the Quartier des Spectacles. Originally built in 1912 as the luxury department store Scroggie’s, it later became a garment industry stronghold before transforming into the country’s largest concentration of contemporary art galleries in the 1980s. Today, it houses over 20 galleries, artist studios, dance spaces, and architect offices, making it a vital part of the city’s cultural fabric.

Visitors can explore a rotating selection of exhibitions, with most galleries open from Wednesday to Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Entry is free, and for those in the know, vernissages often come with a side of complimentary wine and the chance to meet the artists. With its labyrinthine halls, intense winter heating, and a legacy spanning retail, fashion, and the arts, the Belgo remains one of Montreal’s most dynamic and ever-evolving spaces for contemporary expression.

Pangée may be small in scale, but its impact on Montreal’s contemporary art scene has been quietly significant. Founded and directed by Julie Côté, the gallery operates out of a century-old building that once housed the Czech Consulate, perched just above Parc Mont-Royal. Inside, Pangée focuses on work that blurs the line between personal narrative and formal experimentation, with a curatorial eye that leans both playful and precise. Its roster spans local and international artists in the early and middle stages of their careers, often brought together through shared material instincts or thematic parallels rather than rigid curatorial frameworks. The exhibitions—often shaped through collaborative relationships between artists and curators—invite open dialogue rather than one-way interpretation. With a team that includes Clara Puton and Mary McNee, Pangée continues to act as a site of discovery and connection, refusing to separate critical rigour from creative joy.

What started as a framing shop in 1996 has since scaled into one of Canada’s largest private galleries, occupying three floors on Saint-Hubert Street. Art Mûr is a rare example of a commercial gallery that doesn’t play it safe. Alongside framing services for working artists, the Rosemont space hosts an ever-shifting calendar of solo and group exhibitions that range from tactile sculpture to immersive media. With a roster that includes over thirty artists—many of whom have shown at major international events like the Venice, Sharjah, and Prague biennials—Art Mûr punches well above its weight in shaping contemporary art discourse. There’s a democratic logic to their programming, balancing early-career names with recognized figures, and a curatorial spirit that favours experimentation over easy consensus. The gallery is also notable for its gender parity and its representation of artists from both Quebec and across Canada, keeping it grounded in place while staying outward-looking.

La Guilde is one of Canada’s oldest cultural institutions still actively reshaping how art and craft are seen, preserved, and shared. Founded in 1906 out of the Women’s Art Association’s push to elevate Canadian craftsmanship, it has since become a vital platform for Inuit, First Nations, and Métis artists, as well as for fine craft practitioners across the country. Now based on Sherbrooke Street West, La Guilde presents exhibitions, educational programming, and an extensive permanent collection that includes one of the earliest and most significant holdings of Inuit art in Canada. The gallery also functions as a shop, offering handmade works ranging from jewellery to sculpture, with staff deeply knowledgeable in the practices they represent. Its open-concept layout allows for fluid interaction between past and present, craft and fine art, maker and visitor—an approach that mirrors its mission: to champion cultural knowledge, creative excellence, and accessibility across generations.

BBAM! Gallery doesn’t fit neatly into categories—and that’s the point. Co-founded in 2012 by Alison Rogers and Ralph Alfonso, this hybrid space in the Sud-Ouest operates at the intersection of contemporary art, punk sensibility, and grassroots cultural activism. Their curatorial focus lands on figurative, conceptual, and visionary work, with a commitment to showcasing underrepresented voices, especially women and LGBTQ artists. Monthly exhibitions are often paired with performances or events that blur the line between studio practice and social commentary. Beyond the walls, BBAM! regularly shows at art fairs across North America and partners with platforms like ARTSY and ART MONEY to support accessibility and international reach. Inside, the front-of-house doubles as a boutique stocked with vintage vinyl, artist-made goods, zines, and music literature—a nod to Alfonso’s deep roots in the Canadian music scene. It’s equal parts gallery and gathering place, run with the kind of creative stubbornness that refuses to conform.

S16 Gallery operates at the intersection of street culture and fine art, with a foot in the traditional gallery world and the other planted firmly in the aesthetics of graffiti, pop surrealism, and visual rebellion. What started as Station 16—a silkscreen print shop turned pop-up project during the first Mural Festival in 2013—has since evolved into one of Montreal’s most visible platforms for contemporary urban art. Now running two spaces, including one in Old Montréal, S16 represents an international roster of artists whose work ranges from collectible prints to full-scale originals, installations, and, more recently, NFTs. Their spin-off, Station 16 Editions, maintains the original mission of making high-quality art more accessible through limited runs, without losing sight of curatorial rigour. Names like Stikki Peaches, Sandra Chevrier, Shepard Fairey, and Kevin Ledo have all appeared here, alongside lesser-known or emerging voices with a shared taste for bold visuals and cultural commentary.

Since opening in 2014, Galerie C.O.A has carved out a space in Montreal’s art scene for the unexpected, the unconventional, and the unapologetically different. The acronym stands for “Créateurs d’Œuvres Atypiques”—creators of atypical works—which captures the gallery’s ethos: championing artists who push against mainstream aesthetics and traditional norms, including those labeled as “outsiders” due to intellectual or physical disabilities. Their roster blends Canadian and international artists whose practices are as diverse as they are unclassifiable, from micro-sculptures to bold textile experiments. What unites them isn’t medium or genre, but a shared ability to rewire how we interpret images, materials, and meaning. C.O.A’s curatorial stance is playful but pointed, questioning the boundaries of what gets called art—and who gets to make it.

Housed in a former bank on Rue Sainte-Catherine Est, the Guido Molinari Foundation operates out of the very building where the artist lived and worked for over two decades. It’s more than a museum—it’s a site-specific tribute to one of Canada’s most rigorous abstract painters. Following Molinari’s wishes, the Foundation preserves his archive and collection while also serving as a platform for contemporary artists and researchers exploring abstraction, geometry, and the politics of form.

With programming that spans exhibitions, artist residencies, and public education, the Foundation reflects Molinari’s dual legacy as both a fierce formalist and a committed educator. Concordia students still reference his critiques; others come to trace his legacy through a more material lens—paint on canvas, light in space, colour in motion. The building’s renovation by _naturehumaine won a 2013 Ordre des architectes award, but its real significance lies in how it extends Molinari’s work into the present: as a living site for questioning, making, and remembering.

CLARK has spent over three decades carving out space for experimental art in Montreal. What started in 1988 as a scrappy downtown collective has evolved into a vital artist-run centre headquartered in the Mile End’s 5455 avenue de Gaspé—a building now synonymous with the city’s independent arts ecosystem. With two gallery rooms, a fully equipped woodworking studio (Atelier CLARK), a sound art program, a publishing corner, and an active residency space, CLARK operates more like a small constellation than a single gallery. Its mandate stretches beyond exhibitions, extending into production, collaboration, and community engagement through offsite performances and partnerships across Quebec and abroad. The emphasis is on autonomy, artist involvement, and peer support, and its programming reflects that ethos: daring, interdisciplinary, and defiantly local. CLARK is where projects that might not fit elsewhere find both a platform and the tools to come to life, offering Montreal artists room to make noise—and build the walls to hang it on.

Before VOX became a hub for contemporary image-based research, it was Vox Populi—a grassroots initiative born out of 1980s youth activism and unemployment. Founded in 1985 by Marcel Blouin and Lucie Bureau, the organization emerged from the Collectif des jeunes sans-emploi de Saint-Louis-du-Parc during a period when youth unemployment in Quebec soared to alarming levels. What began as social advocacy quickly evolved into a cultural platform using photography and print as tools of resistance. Early projects like Sans honte et sans emploi toured widely, challenging stereotypes about the jobless and documenting working-class realities.

By the late ’80s, Vox Populi had shifted its mandate entirely to photography, helping launch Ciel variable magazine and initiating the first Mois de la Photo à Montréal in 1989. From collective activism to curatorial innovation, VOX has maintained its founding spirit of engagement and experimentation—only now, it’s operating on a museum-grade scale inside the 2-22 building, anchoring its practice in research-led exhibition-making that views the image as a complex, post-media phenomenon.

The FOFA Gallery functions as Concordia’s public window into the artistic and research activity of its Faculty of Fine Arts. It presents exhibitions, publications, and events that highlight the work of faculty, alumni, staff, and students, with an emphasis on experimental practices and academic inquiry. More than just a showcase, FOFA operates as a space of critical engagement—where pedagogy meets practice and curatorial risks are encouraged. The gallery maintains a strong commitment to equity and inclusion, positioning itself as a 2SLGBTQIAP+ positive space and working to dismantle institutional barriers in the arts. Its programming reflects this, often engaging with themes of identity, place, and power while fostering dialogue across disciplines. Located in downtown Montreal, on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory, the gallery also acknowledges its role within ongoing conversations about land, responsibility, and the structures that shape cultural production.

Eli Kerr’s current gallery practice reflects over a decade of evolving exhibition work rooted in site-specificity and a belief in art as both platform and provocation. What began in 2014 has moved through distinct phases—first with VIE D’ANGE, a much-missed experimental space forced to close under the weight of Mile End’s gentrification, and then with Parc Offsite, launched in 2020 to reimagine what a gallery could be mid-pandemic. Now operating under his own name, Kerr leads an intergenerational program where artists work across sculpture, drawing, video, photography, installation, and painting. What ties the program together isn’t medium but mindset—an interest in process over polish, and in critical, often conceptually rigorous, investigations of art’s relationship to space, history, and public life. The gallery continues to defy convention by operating as a curatorial office as much as a physical venue, with projects extending beyond its walls and into the broader terrain of contemporary culture in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal.

Produit Rien is part gallery, part neighbourhood experiment—a 575-square-foot artist-run space carved out of a former tofu factory on rue Marconi in Mile-Ex. Launched in 2020 by artists Paul Litherland and Karen Trask, the space takes its name from the ghost signage of “Produit Oriental,” the building’s previous tenant. What was once a site for soy production is now home to monthly exhibitions, experimental workshops, and community-led events. Produit Rien operates without public funding, a fact that shapes its low-key, high-impact programming, and lends the space a certain scrappy charm.

With an open call model and a flexible approach to curation, it has become a hub for emerging and established artists from the neighbourhood and beyond—hosting projects that range from seven-year-olds’ drawings to works by names like Dominique Pétrin and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. It’s not commercial, and it’s not trying to be. It’s a space that runs on sweat equity, curiosity, and the quiet ambition to bring artists (and neighbours) closer together.

Cosner Gallery and its newly opened 1130 Sherbrooke Ouest location extend the gallery’s longstanding focus on Canadian art into a more central and high-profile part of downtown Montreal. Their spaces serve as both refined viewing rooms and entry points into a broader art market network. While the gallery’s scope includes international painters, its bread and butter remains 20th-century Canadian masters—names like Marc-Aurèle Fortin, Jean Paul Lemieux, and Jean-Paul Riopelle figure prominently. Alongside its exhibition program, Cosner offers collection management services that include sales, acquisitions, and evaluations, positioning itself as a trusted intermediary between collectors and the often opaque world of historical art. With its emphasis on expert guidance and market literacy, the gallery operates as much like a consultancy as a retail space—part showroom, part brokerage for Canadian art’s legacy.

Alan Klinkhoff Gallery is less a gallery than a legacy. With roots tracing back to 1949, it stands as one of Canada’s most enduring authorities on classic Canadian art. Now in its third generation, the gallery—led by Alan, Jonathan, and Craig Klinkhoff—specializes in high-calibre works from the 19th century through to the postwar period. Think Krieghoff to Kurelek, Gagnon to Gagnon. With locations in Montreal and Toronto, the gallery offers museum-quality pieces vetted through decades of expertise and a commitment to scholarship, provenance, and connoisseurship.

The Klinkhoff name carries weight in the art world not only for its historic sales—like the record-breaking $35 million Lawren Harris consignment—but for its quiet role in shaping major private and institutional collections. Their exhibitions often double as retrospectives, adding depth and context to the market. More than brokers, the Klinkhoffs operate as stewards of Canadian art history, providing guidance on acquisition, estate planning, appraisal, and legacy.

Galerie Robertson Arès has been steadily expanding its reach since 2019, carving out space in Montreal’s Petite Bourgogne for a sharp, international-facing take on contemporary art. Founded by Emily Robertson and François Arès—both seasoned figures in the Canadian and U.S. art markets—the gallery represents a roster of over twenty artists, mixing emerging names with established ones, many of them Canadian. The main floor is a bright, minimalist exhibition space tailored for clean presentations of bold aesthetics, while the basement level hosts more intimate and experimental installations. Alongside its regular programming, Robertson Arès keeps a foot in the fair circuit and stages a yearly Toronto pop-up to extend its reach beyond Quebec. The gallery’s leadership also plays an active role in shaping national art discourse, holding positions with Art Toronto, the AGAC, and beyond—underscoring its ambition to be more than a local player in the scene.

For over a decade, Galerie Hugues Charbonneau has built a reputation for curating ambitious, forward-thinking exhibitions that cut across disciplines and media. More than just a venue, it’s a launchpad—its artists have gone on to show at major events like the Venice Biennale, Dak’Art, Sharjah, SITE Santa Fe, and the Toronto Biennial. The gallery doesn’t just represent artists; it advocates for them, facilitating their presence in museum shows, international fairs, and biennials. While its reach is global, the team remains deeply invested in local talent, with a keen eye for identifying emerging voices in contemporary art. Its programming reflects this dual focus: rigorous and research-driven, but always rooted in curiosity and cultural urgency. Whether you’re encountering an early-career artist or one already established on the international circuit, the gallery offers work that invites reflection, conversation, and critical engagement.

Run by and for Concordia’s undergraduate Fine Arts students, the VAV Gallery is less a traditional exhibition space and more a hands-on proving ground for emerging artists navigating both academic and real-world art contexts. Positioned just off the downtown core, it serves as a bridge between the university and the wider cultural scene, offering students not only space to exhibit but the tools and infrastructure to stage ambitious, professional-grade shows. Beyond plinths and projectors, the gallery’s deeper value lies in its community-driven ethos. It’s a site for experimentation, collaboration, and critical discourse—guided by an anti-oppression mandate that directly confronts the exclusions historically baked into both art and academia. With affordable rentals for student-led initiatives and a clear commitment to accountability, the VAV continues to evolve as a responsive, self-aware platform that prioritizes access, equity, and the integrity of student voices.

Galerie B-312 has been holding down space in the Belgo Building since 1991—long before it became the go-to hive for contemporary art in Montreal. Founded by a collective of artists looking to carve out room for risk, dialogue, and experimentation, the gallery remains artist-run to this day, with a flexible structure and programming decisions made collaboratively. Its mandate is clear: support artists at all stages of their careers, prioritize peer exchange, and make space for critical, often cross-disciplinary work. Over the decades, B-312 has hosted hundreds of exhibitions, concerts, roundtables, and residencies, pushing the boundaries of visual and media arts in both form and context. With public funding and strong ties to national and international networks, the gallery operates not just as a venue but as a platform—one where artists can speak, question, and occasionally disrupt. Positioned in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles, B-312 continues to be a site of both visibility and resistance.

Ada X is a feminist, artist-run centre in Montreal committed to reshaping who gets to create, access, and define new media art. Founded in 1996 as Studio XX, it began as a call to action for women to claim space in the digital realm—back when the internet was still a frontier. Today, it supports trans, non-binary, queer, and women artists through residencies, exhibitions, educational programming, and public events that fuse DIY ethics with critical engagement. Its programming challenges tech’s exclusionary norms, often spotlighting free software, recycled materials, and feminist digital practices. As a bilingual hub, Ada X pushes back against the dominant narratives in both the art world and the tech sector, building alternatives from the ground up. Beyond Montreal, it fosters international collaborations and exchange, always with an eye on access, equity, and artistic autonomy. The name change in 2020 marked a new chapter, but its mission remains rooted in the same radical urgency that sparked its founding.

SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art operates less like a traditional white cube and more like an evolving site of exchange—where art intersects with politics, collaboration, and cultural accountability. Located in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyaang/Montreal on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory, SBC is as much about process as it is about product. Its programming favours slow-burn investigations and long-term relationships with artists, curators, and collectives engaged in the urgent, the experimental, and the socially entangled. Exhibitions are often accompanied by public programs, publications, and research initiatives, all guided by a commitment to critical dialogue and institutional transparency. The gallery is part of a larger network of artist-driven, decolonial, and justice-oriented spaces in Montreal and beyond, making room for creative and political risk while centring work that resists easy classification. It’s not just about what’s on the walls—it’s about who gets to speak, and how.

With a flagship gallery on rue Saint-Pierre in Old Montreal, Beauchamp Art Galleries brings its sprawling, family-run model to the city’s historic art corridor. Since opening their first Montreal space in 2004, the Beauchamps have steadily expanded their presence in the city with multiple exhibition sites focused on contemporary work—each one tailored to different formats, from large-scale group shows to rotating solo exhibitions and event rentals. While their roots are in Quebec City, where the business began in 1993, their arrival in Montreal marked a shift toward broader visibility for Quebecois artists and a deeper engagement with the provincial art capital. The Montreal galleries serve as both a destination for collectors and a showcase for over 300 artists, backed by a full-service infrastructure that includes framing, installation, and global shipping. Today, the Beauchamp name is closely tied to the commercial art landscape in Montreal, offering a polished but approachable entry point for new and seasoned buyers alike.

Set in a walk-up apartment in Montreal’s Village, Espace Maurice is part exhibition space, part living archive. Founded in 2021 by artist and curator Marie Ségolène C. Brault, the gallery is named after her grandfather, Maurice Brault—a jeweller, artist, and art therapist whose influence threads through its ethos. With a focus on emerging, self-taught, and often transnational voices, the programming blends local studio practices with satellite projects that span from Youngstown, Ohio, to the Lower East Side. Exhibitions here don’t just hang on walls—they’re often accompanied by zines, books, and conversations that linger longer than the show itself. Maurice doesn’t mimic the white cube; it repurposes domestic space as a site for intimacy and experimentation. From chapbooks to residencies, what’s on offer is less a fixed roster than an evolving ecosystem. For visitors, it’s open Saturdays or by appointment—ring the bell, step inside, and expect something personal.

Espace VERRE is what happens when a centuries-old craft gets a second life in a decommissioned Montreal fire station. Since 1986, this centre for glass arts has evolved into the province’s only school offering a DEC in glasswork, thanks to a long-standing partnership with Cégep du Vieux Montréal. What started with François Houdé and Ronald Labelle’s vision is now a hub for creation, training, and public engagement—equal parts atelier, gallery, and community anchor. Beyond its role as an educational institution, Espace VERRE provides professional services, including studio rentals and artist sales. Its gallery programming mixes student shows with solo exhibitions and international workshops. And while the technical expertise runs deep, it’s not just for insiders—public events like “blow your own ornament” sessions draw curious locals and tourists alike. After nearly 40 years, Espace VERRE continues to shape the future of Quebec glassmaking, one molten form at a time.

Galerie ERGA operates as a flexible rental space in Mile-Ex, catering to solo and group exhibitions, curated art projects, and weekend pop-up shops. The gallery offers artists and creators a turnkey venue that includes optional services like installation, curation, artist representation, and basic social media promotion. The space doubles as an events venue for companies looking to host meetings or networking sessions in an art-filled environment. Whether it’s visual artists staging an exhibition or designers launching a temporary storefront, ERGA positions itself as a support platform rather than a gatekeeper—making room for diverse uses and giving tenants control over their own programming. While not an artist-run centre or commercial gallery in the traditional sense, it taps into the creative pulse of the Mile-Ex neighbourhood by providing accessible infrastructure for those looking to show and sell their work on their own terms.

Tucked into the Belgo Building’s stacked ecosystem of galleries and studios, Galerie POPOP runs on a refreshingly pragmatic model: it’s a rental space managed by, for, and with the contemporary art community, with all profits going directly back into CIRCA art actuel’s programming. Designed for emerging and established voices alike, the gallery offers affordable exhibition slots—priced according to building traffic—and functions as a launching pad for curators, artists, and collectives looking to present independent work in a high-visibility downtown space. Every proposal is vetted by a peer jury, ensuring that shows meet a solid curatorial standard while also circulating artists’ practices within professional networks. Once accepted, artists take full ownership of their exhibitions—handling install, teardown, and presence during opening hours. It’s a hands-on approach that reflects the DIY backbone of Montreal’s artist-run scene while offering a rare degree of flexibility within the city’s dense cultural core.

Bradley Ertaskiran operates out of a restored industrial building in Saint-Henri, where its two gallery spaces support a program anchored in critical contemporary practices. The gallery represents a mix of Canadian and international artists, spanning both emerging and established careers, with a focus on work that pushes formal and conceptual boundaries. While rooted in the local art scene, Bradley Ertaskiran maintains a broader curatorial reach, regularly participating in art fairs and fostering institutional collaborations. Its exhibitions often reflect a rigorous engagement with current discourse, offering a space where experimentation and serious inquiry intersect.

Patel Brown opened its Montreal outpost in 2022, joining the Belgo Building’s roster of contemporary art spaces with a curatorial program that foregrounds underrepresented voices. First established in Toronto in 2020, the gallery’s ethos centres on collaboration, identity, and cultural exchange, with a deliberate emphasis on experimentation—both in the works it exhibits and the way it operates. By looking to gaps in representation and interrogating the effects of globalization, Patel Brown builds a space for artists whose practices challenge dominant narratives. Its Montreal location serves as an extension of that vision, amplifying alternative perspectives within a broader, cross-city dialogue.

McBride Contemporain opened in 2018 with a focus on showcasing the work of prominent living Canadian artists. Its programming bridges institutional, commercial, and public contexts, reflecting a curatorial approach rooted in long-term collaboration and exchange. While the gallery connects with collectors and museums across the country, its base inside the Belgo Building—Montreal’s densest cluster of contemporary art spaces—grounds it in a local ecosystem. From this fourth-floor space, McBride Contemporain plays an active role in shaping how new work circulates in and beyond Quebec.