Vermont art devotees who visit Montréal probably head to the Musée des Beaux-Arts or Musée d’art Contemporain. Both destinations mount superlative exhibitions. But some lesser-known galleries and studios sprinkled around the city can offer more local flavor and, often, cutting-edge artworks. One of these is Projet Casa, which celebrates its third year this summer.
On avenue de l’Esplanade facing Parc Jeanne-Mance, Projet Casa is a former home, built in 1912. In later decades it served as a private hospital and then a bed-and-breakfast called Casa Bianca. As that name suggests, the house is white — in contrast to its bricky neighbors. Its French Renaissance architecture is distinctive, too: flat, crested roof; rounded tower at one corner; regal entrance. Masonry columns, lion heads and other details typify the immoderate ornamentation of yesteryear. Despite a somewhat timeworn exterior, the building looks equal parts grand mansion and fortress.
Inside, though, its newest iteration is a pristine gallery with white-painted rooms, hardwood floors and plentiful light from tall windows. The second floor comprises an apartment for Projet Casa’s owners, Danielle Lysaught and Paul Hamelin. A studio in the basement is currently occupied by Caroline Douville, a young local artist whose inventive mixed-media works are gaining traction internationally.
When Lysaught and Hamelin bought the building in November 2019, they intended it to be their second home — they also live in Trois-Rivières, a couple of hours’ drive to the northeast. Just a few months later, COVID-19 arrived and engendered a change of plans — but in a good way, for once. After the initial pandemic confinement, a curator friend suggested that the couple offer the first floor of their building to artists whose gallery shows had been canceled.
“It was very nice to have people, with everyone enjoying the place,” Lysaught recalled in a phone call. “We had the vague idea to have space available for pop-ups and events.”
That spontaneous generosity evolved into presenting exhibitions that change about every four or five weeks. Many, though not all, of the artists are emerging.
“We wanted to offer something new,” Hamelin added. “[It’s a] space in our house for artists who are not represented or that don’t fit in a commercial gallery.”
Projet Casa has also hosted nonart events, including a live recording of a piano-and-voice concert and a benefit auction for a local organization.
“We have the idea that the project is well received in the community,” Hamelin said. Eventually, he and Lysaught envision seeking nonprofit status for Projet Casa.
First, though, the couple are going to add a third floor for expanded living quarters — official permission to alter the historic building was a condition of purchase, Lysaught noted. They have already gone through the necessary steps with the city and anticipate that construction will begin in summer 2024 and take about a year. After that, Hamelin said, it will return to being “a place for visual art.”
Meantime, Projet Casa’s next exhibition features Maria Ezcurra, an Argentinian, Mexican and Canadian artist who resides in Montréal. Her intriguing installation employs suitcases and pantyhose to symbolize human belongings, histories and emotional baggage. Ezcurra’s show “Liminal” is on view June 23 to July 23. Learn more at projetcasa.org.
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This article appears in The Québec Issue.
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