Concordia art institute acquires database of Canadian work

A Concordia University research centre has recently acquired an important resource dedicated to increasing awareness of contemporary Canadian art. The Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art is the new owner of the Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art's database (CCCA), a searchable and relational online catalogue featuring over 62,000 images and 3,000 texts and media files on Canadian artists, writers and designers.

Concordia art history researchers Janice Anderson and Loren Lerner, in collaboration with CCCA founder and Jarislowsky Institute research affiliate Bill Kirby, will continue to develop the database and diversify its functionality. By creating new projects such as the CCCA Annex, which will offer virtual exhibitions of work drawn from database images, and the CCCA Academy, designed to showcase the research and writing of graduate students, Anderson and Lerner will uphold CCCA's mandate of digitally preserving Canadian art while making it publicly accessible.

Martha Langford, Concordia University Research Chair and Director, Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art, played a key role in bringing the database to Concordia. She says that the acquisition of the CCCA database puts Concordia in a unique position.

"The CCCA database is one of a kind in Canada," she explains. "Not only does it offer a survey of contemporary Canadian art, but living artists have been involved in its creation. We have access to high quality images that represent what they have chosen as their most significant work. There is no similar compilation in this country. The possibilities with this tool are endless."

Langford notes that with the acquisition of the database, Kirby and the CCCA become Jarislowsky Institute national partners, further extending the research centre's scope across Canada.

"The Institute's stewardship of this national treasure will be the basis of many research partnerships going forward."

The transition of the CCCA database to Concordia and the development of new CCCA projects are supported by the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies seed program, Instructional and Information Technology Services (IITS) and the Faculty of Fine Arts' Centre for Digital Art, Concordia University.