Initially expected to open at the start of the 2026-27 academic year, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre remains under construction.
Agnes, an art museum located on Bader Lane, closed on March 29, 2024, to redevelop the space. It also received a $75 million donation from Bader Philanthropy Inc.
“Unanticipated site and construction challenges, including the need to reroute an existing steam line and supply chain issues, have shifted the official gallery opening and start of on-site classes to fall 2027,” Queen’s said in a statement to The Journal.
READ MORE: Agnes Etherington Art Centre to undergo $100M transformation into dream art house
The closure has required programs connected to Agnes to operate from temporary spaces. The Master of Art Conservation program was initially expected to move to Fleming Hall but was relocated to Innovation Park after the space was deemed unsuitable for artwork.
Students later raised concerns about health and safety conditions, missing equipment, and construction disruptions at the off-campus facility.
READ MORE: Unsafe conditions push Canada’s only Master of Art Conservation program students to speak out
Allison Morehead, the department head of art history and art conservation, spoke about the planned museum in a statement to The Journal.
“The new Agnes […] challenges us to think about an art museum differently, as a place to gather and to build relations, with art as an active agent,” Morehead said. “This has given us the opportunity to rethink how we teach, how we can bring art to where students are and how we can bring students to art.”
Morehead said construction has changed how students engage with art in their courses, prompting faculty to rethink how they bring art to students while Agnes is closed. Despite the closure, students and faculty have continued to engage with Agnes through coursework, experiential learning opportunities, curatorial projects, and the gallery’s docent program, she said.
According to Morehead, faculty members in the department have been kept informed of the ongoing construction through the Agnes Reimagined project management team and the Agnes Advisory Board, which includes department heads.
Allison Semple shared her experience as one of the gallery’s head docents — someone who leads tours — in a statement to The Journal. Semple said tours at Agnes are predominantly for local elementary classes.
“Our tours have still continued to run but in a different format, as we no longer have our gallery space,” she said. “The Agnes team has worked hard over the past few years to adapt the building to make it accessible for the needs of the public and those of our programs.”
Semple said she looks forward to seeing the program return to its original space and hopes the new building can lead to further education programs for the public.
“I’m looking forward to returning back to a more hands-on way of running tours so kids can get the full experience of being in a gallery space and engaging with art in person.”
Construction has had a large impact on faculty, graduate students, and staff in the Master of Art Conservation program, according to Morehead.
“We are especially eager for this program to return home to Agnes,” she said
Art History department student council co-President Megan Sullivan shared her thoughts on the space in a statement to The Journal.
“As a fourth-year student, I can see how the opportunities that students in the arts have access to has shifted due to the closure of this space,” Sullivan said. “The construction is certainly an adjustment, but I think it is so exciting to see this investment in the arts at Queen’s.”
This was echoed by her Co-President Aurélie Goubert in a statement to The Journal.
“As one of the Co-Presidents of the Art History Department Student Council, I see and hear a lot of the concern students and staff have about the future of the arts and humanities,” Goubert stated. “I find that the Agnes Reimagined shines a lot of hope for the current students and future generations of students who will have access to this point of contact between art and education.”
Both Sullivan and Goubert are excited to see how the new space will expand learning and student engagement opportunities for art history, visual arts, and art conservation programs at Queen’s.
Tags
Agnes Etherington Are Centre, Bader Lane, Campus construction
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