The Vancouver Art Gallery has announced a C$100 million ($80.3 million) gift from the Audain Foundation in support of a new facility in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia.

The single largest cash gift to an art gallery in Canadian history will support the new Vancouver Art Gallery at the Chan Centre for the Visual Arts, a multi-functional art center and community space. The gift from the Audain Foundation follows a gift of C$40 million ($32.1 million) from the Chan Family Foundation to establish the Chan Centre for the Visual Arts, and an initial investment of C$50 million ($40.1 million) by the Province of British Columbia. The City of Vancouver's pledge to designate a city-owned site is valued at more than C$100 million. In addition, individual donors and foundations have pledged a total of C$50 million to date.

Once complete, the building — situated around a 40,000-square-foot courtyard — will include more than 80,000 square feet of exhibition space, visible art storage, a theatre, library and research center, artist studios, accommodations for visiting artists, and a visual arts preschool and day care. The building also will house the Institute of Asian Art, a new Centre for Art and Communication, and a multi-purpose Indigenous Community House. In addition, it will be the first Passive House art gallery in North America, a voluntary standard for energy efficiency.

"Important art has been created on this coast for thousands of years, while today Vancouver's visual artists are recognized for their accomplishments around the world," said Michael Audain, chairman of the Audain Foundation. "Yoshi [Audain's wife Yoshiko Karasawa] and I are happy to help build a new Vancouver Art Gallery because we love British Columbia and our artists. We hope the splendid new building will work well to exhibit the work of our leading artists as well as introduce youngsters to the wonders of art. Vancouver has been good to our family, so we are thrilled to have this opportunity to join the City of Vancouver, the BC government, the Chan family, and many other generous donors in making this important project a reality."

"We are very grateful for this gift from the Audain Foundation, which brings us significantly closer to reaching our goal," said Vancouver Art Gallery CEO and director Anthony Kiendl. "Our objective is to raise an additional C$160 million from the private and public sectors — and we hope this historic donation will encourage others in our community and across the country to support our vision. With the generosity of our donors, the creativity of artists, and the support of our communities, we are transforming the art gallery to transform the world. This project will provide opportunities for learning and inspiration for millions of visitors to the Gallery. Art galleries foster society's capacity to solve problems by engaging the visitors' ability to think creatively and see the world in different ways. We are building capacity for future generations to be resilient, creative, and healthy."

(Image credit: Herzog de Meuron)