Art Windsor-Essex is a non-profit public art gallery focused on presenting the visual arts of Canada. The Gallery was formed on October 1, 1943 and incorporated on June 8, 1944 with the mandate of serving the southwestern Ontario region and the international border community of Windsor, Ontario, Canada and Detroit, Michigan, USA. In the intervening years, it has become a cultural pillar situated in a premium and purpose-built downtown riverfront location overlooking the Detroit River and downtown skylines.
It is an award-winning organization known for its cutting-edge contemporary art program and Canadian art collections of over 4,000 works. The exhibition galleries (comprising about 15,000 square feet/4,700 metres) include both changing exhibitions and ongoing displays of its acclaimed collection, which features historical, modern and contemporary art. The museums’s focus on the visual arts of Canada ensures a unique role distinct from yet complementary to our largest art museum neighbour, the Detroit Institute of the Arts (DIA).