Van filled with Inuit art set to make its way across Manitoba

Museums and art galleries are closed to the public but one of Winnipeg Art Gallery's centres is going on the road.

Manitoba150 is hoping to introduce people to Inuit art by bringing it to their own communities, starting on Monday. An initiative named Tour150 will be opening up its doors, bringing a taste of Qaumajuq, an Inuit art centre located at the WAG, to people across the province.

"This is a fantastic way to bring Manitoba150 to Manitobans," Monique LaCoste, a co-chair of Manitoba150 says. "It is a mobile art gallery. It is a vehicle that has been specially equipt to transport and display art pieces."

Inside the vehicle are small Inuit art pieces, borrowed from Qaumajuq's massive collection.

"I know that when I have been to the WAG itself, there is quite a lovely exhibit on the mezzanine and they are all miniature pieces. But if you stop and take a minute to look at the intricacies and the stories that are told through these very tiny pieces of sculpture you get a whole new appreciation for an art form that we don't get to see very often."

Partnering with Manitoba's Credit Unions, the Tour 150 van will be hosted in credit union parking lots in July and August. LaCoste is hoping the parking-lot art exhibits give people the opportunity to interact with and talk about the art.

She says this mobile exhibit will be travelling across Manitoba well after the summer.