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EXHIBITIONS
Out of the Enveloping Night | Sara Angelucci and Marie-Jeanne Musiol
July 11 - September 5, 2026.
Guest Curator: Ruth Jones
Opening Reception: July 11 at 1 p.m.
Main Gallery
Exhibition Overview
In work that pulls its subject matter from the forests of southern Quebec, Ontario’s rapidly developing farmland, and gardens in Canada and Italy, Toronto-based artist Sara Angelucci and Gatineau-based artist Marie-Jeanne Musiol ask us to focus our attention on the profusion of plant life that surrounds us.
Plants were Earth’s first life forms, evolving for hundreds of millions of years before any kind of animal life appeared. And yet, perhaps especially when we look at them through the lens of science, we have a habit of treating them as living objects rather than simply alive. In electromagnetic photographs, direct scans, and video, Musiol and Angelucci combine artistic and scientific observation to consider our co-existence with the plant world. They invite us to contemplate the borders we’ve erected between plant and animal, life and death, living and inert matter; to imagine how a garden, an orchard, or a forest grows, lives, and dies out of the enveloping night.
Talking Heads | what a face can communicate long after a voice has disappeared
Selections from the Permanent Collection
July 11 - September 26, 2026.
Guest Curator: Venus Nwaokoro
Sculpture Gallery
Exhibition Overview
Talking Heads explores the sculptural bust beyond its traditional role as a commemorative object. Historically created to honour leaders, royalty, and notable figures, busts preserve a person's likeness long after their lifetime, reducing identity to its most recognizable feature: the face. This exhibition reconsiders that tradition by bringing together a collection of busts that represent both known and anonymous individuals, asking what it truly means to preserve a person. Is it their appearance, their character, or simply the memory of their existence?
Featuring works by Frances Gage, Emanuel Otto Hahn, and John Ivor Smith, Talking Heads invites visitors to consider how material, expression, and form shape our understanding of identity. Through sculptures in plaster, terracotta, wood, paint, and cement, the exhibition explores memory, craftsmanship, and the stories that remain long after a voice has disappeared. Installed in conversation with one another, these silent portraits encourage viewers to reflect on who is remembered, how we assign value, and what a sculpted face can still communicate across generations.
Built Legacy | The Clench Family
March 2 - August 29, 2026.
James Cockburn Gallery is located on the
first floor, west wing of Victoria Hall
Guest Curator: Zoey Chevalier
James Cockburn Gallery
Exhibition Overview
The James Cockburn Room offers visitors an intimate connection to one of Canada’s founding figures. Named after James Cockburn—a prominent Cobourg lawyer, Father of Confederation, and Canada’s first Speaker of the House of Commons—the space has been carefully restored to reflect how his legal office may have appeared in the 1860s and 1870s.
Furnished with period objects and archival elements, the room provides a tangible sense of the professional and civic life that once animated Victoria Hall, a building that has served as the cultural and administrative heart of the community since its opening in 1860. Today, the Art Gallery of Northumberland (AGN) is reimagining the James Cockburn Room as an active site of interpretation and engagement. Building on its historic character, the AGN is programming the space with rotating exhibitions, curatorial interventions, and educational experiences that connect contemporary audiences with the region’s layered histories. Through thoughtful activation, the room is evolving from a static historical display into a dynamic micro-gallery—one that bridges past and present, and invites visitors to explore the intersections of art, history, and community within the unique setting of Victoria Hall.
A Collection Built on Relationships:
Inuit Art from the AGN's Permanent Collection
This is a travelling exhibition, currently at Kawartha Museum and Archives, Lindsay until October 31, 2026.
Co-Curators: Olinda Casimiro and Felicity Pope
Opening Reception: April 30 at 6 p.m.
On Tour
Exhibition Overview
In 1976, the AGN, then the Art Gallery of Cobourg, received a gift of approximately sixty Inuit carvings, sculptures, and materials collected from 1900 to 1970. These works offer a glimpse into the artistic expressions and lived experiences of the Inuit during a period of rapid cultural change.
The collection, sourced from communities across the Inuit Nunangat (Inuit Homeland), are presented alongside a map reflecting the Inuit-Crown land treaties, using their original Inuktut place names as part of the ongoing process of decolonization. This exhibition honours not only the artistic legacy of the Inuit but also the resilience of their culture.
Calling Artists of all Disciplines.
Now is Your Time to Creatively Shine.
November 7 - January 2, 2026.
Application Form
Opening Reception: November 7 at 1 p.m.
47th Juried Exhibition
Exhibition Overview
The AGN hosts a vibrant juried exhibition showcasing a wide variety of artists and art works from across the region and beyond. This fall we celebrate our 47th Juried Exhibition offering participating artists both exposure to the Northumberland County community, as well as an opportunity to meet fellow artists, encourage activity in the visual arts and most
importantly support artists. Jurors to be announced.
PROGRAMS & EVENTS
AGN Summer Studio: The Art of OshibanaJul 15, 2026, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Artful WellnessJul 16, 2026, 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Slide Party!Jul 18, 2026, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
AGN Summer Studio: Pinch Pot PlaygroundJul 22, 2026, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Sunday Family Art Lab - Presto Printmaking Party!Jul 26, 2026, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.- Artful WellnessAug 13, 2026, 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
- AGN Summer StudioJuly 15 - August 29, 2026.