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Tuesday 11am - 4:30pm Wednesday 11am - 8pm Thursday 11am - 4:30pm Friday 11am - 4:30pm

Union Gallery

Name: Union Gallery
Address: 1st Floor Stauffer Library, Kingston, ON, K7L5C4, CA
Telephone: +16135333171

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Union Gallery

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A nonprofit public contemporary art gallery located on Queen’s University campus. Free admission. To centre experiential learning in all that we do.

Union Gallery is the primary public gallery at Queen's University dedicated to showcasing the range and excellence of students' artistic and curatorial practices. UG also supports local (based in Katarokwi-Kingston), regional and national professional artists to foster a diverse network of artistic production, presentation and interpretation. Our programming includes exhibitions, publications, performances, workshops, professional development training, residencies and more. Mission + Mandate: To provide an inclusive space and support for interdisciplinary artistic and curatorial research, presentation and interpretation by Queen's University students. To serve as a creative resource hub for students and professional artists to connect and explore shared interests and curiosities. To be a vital platform recognized for championing pedagogical inquiries, curatorial experiments and alternative models to arts engagement, while lifting up the next generation of artists. To foster empowerment and community engagement through creativity.

10/14/2026

Union Gallery's AGM is one week away!

Are you an active UG member? Check your email and let us know whether you're planning on attending.

Not a member yet? Visit uniongallery.ca/membership and find out how to get involved!

This meeting provides a chance to talk together over light refreshments and to experience UG's current exhibitions (Artists in the Garden, Holding Our Breath, and On my knees through the desert repenting).

We will review Union’s activities, including programming highlights and financial statements.

Questions? Get in touch: [email protected] / 613.533.3171

Background photo from Side By Side 2026 by Yash Patel.

09/12/2026

The clock is ticking! There's less than a day left to bid on Buy BACK, a one-of-a-kind artwork generously donated by our dear friend and Fall 2025 visiting artist, Nico Williams ❤️

uniongallery.ca/auction

Funds raised from the silent auction will directly support artist fees for UG's annual exhibition highlighting contemporary Indigenous artists local to the Katarokwi-Kingston area, hosted each year in partnership with Agnes Etherington Art Centre and Office of Indigenous Initiatives - Queen's University.

Visitors can look forward to the 5th annual exhibition—pahkahokowin, curated by Sasza Hinton—opening next week, with a preview reception today (Saturday, September 12) from 1pm-3pm.

Nico Williams played a special role in our programming last fall, both as an artist, presenting Loan Stars: Beading Back our Manidoo, and as an educator, co-facilitate a beading workshop at Kingston Native Centre and Language Nest - KNCLN with local artist Taylor Tye. This workshop was attended by Indigenous artists from the Queen's and broader Katarokwi/Kingston community, including many artists who have been featured in the annual art exhibition before (and who are also featured this year!).

If you are interested in building your art collection and taking home a piece of local history, consider making a bid on Buy BACK. Find the auction page on our website and be sure to bid before midnight.

Images:
1: Photo of Buy BACK mat courtesy of UG staff; background photo documentation of Loan Stars courtesy of The Candid Creative Co.
2 + 3: Exhibition documentation of Loan Stars: Beading Back Our Manidoo courtesy of The Candid Creative Co.
4: Taylor Tye and Nico Williams working together at the October 2025 beading workshop at Kingston Native Centre and Language Nest.
5: Participants working at tables at the beading workshop.
6: Auction page. Thumbnail by document original. Background photo by The Candid Creative Co.

09/05/2026

Announcing Union Gallery's Fall 2026 Visiting Artist: Lara Felsing

This fire season, thousands of wildfires have burned worldwide. Lara Felsing’s Project Room exhibition, Holding Our Breath, investigates the increasing prevalence of wildfires as summers continue to grow hotter and drier. The title Holding Our Breath is drawn from the experience of living with poor air quality from extreme wildfire smoke and the collective anxiety felt while wildfires burn.

This body of work is made with wildfire burn-site castoffs, flagging tape, harvested plant-dyed, up-cycled textiles, and secondhand items from Lara’s community that have been altered to reflect the increase in wildfires and their connection to drought, rising global temperatures, and the burning of fossil fuels. Sculptures and textile pieces are combined not only with forest castoffs and secondhand materials, but also with photographs taken during the wildfires in Alberta where she lives. They reference the windows she looked out of before and after evacuating, as she documented the shifting sky for signs of safety and danger.

Holding Our Breath takes place at the end of the 2026 fire season. It invites conversation, sharing, and reflection on where we are, where we’re headed, and how we proceed amid wildfire, wildfire smoke, and the climate emergency.

Join us at Union Gallery on Saturday, September 12 from 1pm to 3pm for a fall opening reception, where we will be celebrating Lara Felsing's Holding Our Breath (Project Room) alongside Christina Battle + Jill Glatt's Artists in the Garden (Feature Wall) and
Pahkahokowin: 5th Annual Indigenous Art Exhibition (Main Space).

RSVP for the reception: uniongallery.ca/rsvp

Exhibition dates: September 15–November 21, 2026

This exhibition is supported by the George Taylor Richardson Memorial Fund of Queen’s University and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Image: Lara Felsing, Holding Our Breath, Recipes for Climate Disaster. Wildfire charcoal, pinecone and fireweed pigments and up-cycled paint on a recipe card, 2026. Photo courtesy of the artist.

09/01/2026

UG is heading into install time, which means that the gallery will be closed to the public for the next two weeks.

Join us on Saturday, September 12, 1pm-3pm, for an opening reception to celebrate Pahkahokowin (5th Annual Indigenous Art Exhibition, cur. Sasza Hinton), Holding Our Breath (Lara Felsing), and Artists in the Garden (Christina Battle + Jill Glatt).

RSVP: https://form.jotform.com/262254520850250

While we're closed, you can still bid on Buy BACK at uniongallery.ca/auction ❤️

Regular hours resume Tuesday, September 15.

Photo from A Convergent Evolution of Wet Places (cur. GHY Cheung) courtesy of Chris Miner.

08/28/2026

Two days left to visit Union Gallery's summer exhibitions, including 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴 by Elyse Longair, a PhD student in Screen Cultures & Curatorial Studies at Queen's.

"It is important to me that the worlds I build are strange enough and yet still have a glimmer of possibility that the viewer wants to adventure into them – in a similar way to what a good science fiction film does. One of the key qualities of my practice is to present open-ended images that allow viewers to imagine multiple possibilities and actively experience alternate futures. My aim is to build worlds and futures through collage, for the viewer to enter, specifically by leaving room for imagination."

Read more about this otherworldly exhibition on our website, and come by today or tomorrow (Friday and Saturday) between 11am and 4:30pm to experience it in person. Join us from 2-4pm on Saturday for Reception: A Convergent Evolution of Wet Places, Worlds World Worlds, Who's Telling the Story? celebrating our summer exhibitions.

Photo courtesy of Chris Miner.

08/26/2026

At this Saturday's closing reception, we will be saying goodbye to UG's summer exhibitions, including 𝘞𝘩𝘰'𝘴 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺? by Renee Lebeau, an undergraduate student at Queen's studying Philosophy and Sociology.

Lebeau's project examines the persistence of colonialism within institutions and government through a research-creation project that employs critical theory analysis, presented in a zine-inspired, multi-media collage. This work engages with settler-colonial studies, criminology, and Indigenous futurisms, contributing to ongoing discussions about justice, Indigenous cultural resurgence, epistemological decolonization, and the impact of institutional structures.

Over the summer, community members have been invited to create their own critical collages from magazines, newspapers, and political leaflets in response to this piece.

Check out Lebeau's work and visitors' responses during UG's open hours or at the closing reception on Saturday, August 29, from 2pm to 4pm.

RSVP: https://form.jotform.com/262225645158257

Photo courtesy of Chris Miner.

08/06/2026

𝗕𝘂𝘆 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗯𝘆 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗼 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝘀: 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘆

Following Nico Williams' landmark BINGO! exhibition at PHI (Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal), and Union Gallery’s showing of Loan Stars: Beading Back our Manidoo (Katarokwi-Kingston), UG is pleased to host a virtual silent auction for an artwork that featured in these 2025 exhibitions.

Nico Williams’ blue and black Buy BACK mat appeared in both galleries’ pawn shop-inspired installations—Union Gallery visitors will remember it welcoming them at the reception desk last fall. Now, collectors have an opportunity to bid on a special piece of artwork with a unique backstory.

Manufactured to add character to the installation, the mat's message is one of cultural reclamation—a nod to Nico's practice of purchasing undervalued ancestral works (bandoliers, baskets, quilts, and beadworks) by artists-once-known, and displaying them with care alongside contemporary artworks by many incredible living Indigenous artists from across Turtle Island.

Funds raised from the silent auction will directly support artist fees for Union Gallery’s annual exhibition highlighting contemporary Indigenous artists local to the Katarokwi-Kingston area, hosted each year in partnership with Agnes Etherington Art Centre and Office of Indigenous Initiatives - Queen's University. Visitors can look forward to the 5th annual exhibition this September!

The silent auction is now live online and will be closing at 12am (midnight) Sunday, September 13.

Visit uniongallery.ca/auction learn more and make a bid ❤️

With gratitude to Nico Williams and his team for their generosity and kindness.

Photo credits:
Nico Williams, Buy BACK. Photo courtesy of Union Gallery staff.
Installation view, Nico Williams: Bingo, 2025, PHI. © PHI, photo: document original

08/05/2026

Union Gallery's small + mighty silent auction is coming to a close! The last day to visit the artwork in person is this Saturday, August 8 (open 11am-4:30pm), and then you have until midnight to make your final bids at uniongallery.ca/auction 🙌

This collection of 8"x10" works comes from our wonderful members, and proceeds will be split 50/50 between the artists and the gallery. Your bid supports real human artists and helps one of your favourite local arts orgs to offer local artists’ paid exhibitions, artist residencies, workshops, performances, educational opportunities, and more.

Many thanks to Abby Nowakowski, Alanna Veitch, Alyssa Vernon, Angela Wiggins, Donovan Perra, GHY Cheung, Guido Correa, Haley Sarfeld, Helen Baker, Jacqueline Huskisson, Jasper Lyon Wicke, JoAnn Ralph, Jocelyn Purdie, Maddi Andrews, Narmin Kassam, Phoebe Cohoe, Rebecca Cowan, Sophia Herrington, and Sumera Khan for contributing work to this fundraiser!

Learn more about each artist at uniongallery.ca/posts/small-and-mighty

Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-4:30pm, with late hours til 8pm on Wednesdays. Admission is always free.

07/16/2026

The deadline for submissions for the 5th annual Indigenous Art Exhibition is fast approaching! Find out more below :)

The Queen’s University Office of Indigenous Initiatives, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, and Union Gallery are thrilled to continue our partnership for the 5th annual Indigenous Art Exhibition. Programmed in conjunction with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, this exhibition is a celebration of Indigenous artists in our community.

We are accepting submissions in any and all art forms from members of the Queen’s and wider communities alike. Indigenous artists based in the Katarokwi-Kingston area are invited to submit artwork to be considered for this exhibition, running at Union Gallery from September 15 to October 3, 2026. We invite artists to consider the theme of relationship and community building.

We are committed to an accessible, relationship-centred process and encourage artists at all career stages to apply.

Submission deadline: Monday, July 22, 2026 @ 11:59pm

Submission form: uniongallery.ca/calls

Photo: UG main space during the 4th annual Indigenous Art Exhibition titled 𝘞𝘢𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘫𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘢𝘻𝘰. Photo courtesy of Chris Miner.

Address

1st Floor Stauffer Library
Kingston, ON
K7L5C4

Opening Hours

Tuesday	11am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	11am - 8pm
Thursday	11am - 4:30pm
Friday	11am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+16135333171

Website

https://www.uniongallery.ca/

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