The Musée d'art contemporain announces the creation of a support program for emerging artists, Habiter le MAC

MONTRÉAL, Sept. 3, 2025 /CNW/ - The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MAC) is proud to announce the creation of a one-of-a-kind support program for emerging artists, Habiter le MAC, which will place emerging artists from across Quebec at the heart of the museum until the end of its transformation. Much more than a simple residency, this new program at the Museum will open up a unique and lively dialogue between the public and the artists, to whom the MAC will offer the necessary support to develop their careers.

Starting in the spring of 2026, two cohorts of six emerging artists will be hosted in residence

at the MAC at Place Ville Marie for a period of eight months each. Through creative workshops, visits, open days and various activities, they will forge a privileged and dynamic relationship with the general public and different communities. These artists with ten years or less of professional experience and a practice that promotes exchange with the public will benefit from a dedicated workspace, personalized support from an artist mentor, a production grant, specific training offered by the MAC teams and a rare opportunity to exchange with other artists and actors in the field.

The cohorts will be selected by a jury of professionals from different sectors -- universities, artist-run centres, cultural organizations -- in order to identify emerging artists with engaging and current practices throughout Quebec, while ensuring a diversity of perspectives. The selected artists will be announced in the winter of 2026.

To prepare for its reopening at Place des Arts and to carry out this new program, the MAC will adjust its public access starting in the spring of 2026 and will no longer present exhibitions in the traditional sense of the term in its temporary space at Place Ville Marie. The latter, transformed into a living place of artistic exploration and dialogue, will nevertheless remain open to the public for educational and cultural activities, meetings and one-off events in a brand new way of "inhabiting" the museum.

Living in the MAC is part of an institutional strategy consistent with the values and vision of education and innovation of the new MAC, with a view to the reintegration of the teams and the collection into the new museum as well as the preparation of the reopening program in 2028.

In the meantime, the MAC will present the central exhibition of MOMENTA Biennale d'art contemporain at Place Ville Marie from September 11, 2025 to March 8, 2026 and various "off-site" activity projects will be announced in the coming months.

Quotation

"At this pivotal moment of transformation, the MAC is seizing this unique opportunity to place artists at the heart of its transition strategy, while reaffirming its essential role in Quebec's artistic vitality. By fully investing in the museum's spaces, emerging artists from all over Quebec get closer to the institution, discover its workings, and infuse it with their singular gaze and creative energy. This cohabitation paves the way for new ways of inhabiting, sharing and bringing art to life at the museum, a very promising direction for the future of the MAC" - Stéphan La Roche, Executive Director of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal

Thanks

The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MAC) is a Crown corporation subsidized by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec. It also benefits from the financial participation of the Government of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts. The Museum would also like to thank its Foundation and the many partners and donors who contribute to its outreach. The Habiter le MAC program is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Printemps du MAC.

About the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MAC)

For more than 60 years, the MAC has brought together Quebec and international artists, their works and a variety of audiences, celebrating art as an essential component of life in Montreal and Quebec. The Museum's head office in the heart of the Quartier des spectacles is undergoing a major architectural transformation, and the MAC is temporarily relocated to Place Ville Marie, another emblematic place in the city. The MAC at Place Ville Marie offers several activities for the general public, as well as for school and community groups. For more information: www.macm.org.