Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax

The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) is the premier public provincial art museum in Halifax. Established in 1908 as the Nova Scotia Museum of Fine Arts, the institution adopted its current name in 1975. The museum’s main complex, located in downtown Halifax, spans approximately 6,200 square meters (67,000 square feet), incorporating the Dominion Building and two floors of the adjacent Provincial Building. The museum moved into the Dominion Building in 1988 and expanded its footprint a decade later in 1998.

AGNS holds a permanent collection of over 18,000 works, featuring pieces by Nova Scotian, Canadian, and international artists. The collection has been showcased in both Halifax and its Yarmouth satellite branch, which opened in 2006. However, the Yarmouth branch temporarily closed in January 2020 due to smoke damage before reopening in July 2021.

The museum began with 200 works from the Crown of Nova Scotia, moving between locations before settling in the 1867 Dominion Building, designed by David Stirling and William Hay. In 1998, it expanded, connecting to the Provincial Building via Ondaatje Court, which houses sculptures and an underground exhibition hall. This expansion also incorporated folk artist Maud Lewis’s home, now a major attraction.

AGNS houses the world's largest Maud Lewis collection, including 55 works and her restored home, acquired in 1996. In 2013, the Mintz family donated 2,070 Annie Leibovitz images, though copyright issues have restricted access to some.

Beyond photography and folk art, AGNS showcases works by First Nations artists, including Kent Monkman, whose large-scale painting Miss Chief's Wet Dream is a key highlight. The collection also includes works by renowned Nova Scotian artists Nancy Edell, Charlotte Lindgren, and Carol Fraser.

Today, AGNS remains a key institution in Nova Scotia’s cultural landscape, preserving and showcasing a diverse range of artistic expressions from historical to contemporary works.