The Vega Foundation and The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery Announce Partnership
This partnership formalizes three years of collaboration to present contemporary moving image works, including Lucy Raven’s exhibition “Murderers Bar” this fall.
After three years of dynamic collaboration, The Vega Foundation and The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery are pleased to announce a formal partnership that reinforces their shared commitment to presenting ambitious, contemporary moving image works by Canadian and international artists. Since 2022, The Vega Foundation’s curatorial team has worked with The Power Plant to present annual exhibitions, either premiering a co-commission or showcasing a recent artist’s production supported by Vega. Through this unique collaboration, both organizations demonstrate a deep institutional commitment to artists—grounded in a shared vision of long-term support and expanded public access to visionary moving image works. This partnership brings together Vega’s artist-centered commissioning model with The Power Plant’s free-admission, nonprofit mandate to create a platform that champions experimentation, deepens public appreciation of moving practices in Canada, and positions this work on the global stage through dialogue with international institutions.
To date, The Power Plant and Vega have collaborated on two exhibitions of Vega-commissioned works, including Lap-See Lam’s Floating Sea Palace in 2024-25 and Aria Dean’s Abattoir, U.S.A.! in 2023-24. The foundation also presented Meriem Bennani’s exhibition Life on the CAPS in partnership with TIFF Wavelengths and The Power Plant in 2022. Each of these works have since been stewarded into Vega’s growing collection.
“Our partnership with The Power Plant is aligned with Vega’s mission to bring groundbreaking work by the artists we support through commission to Canadian audiences,” said Elisa Nuyten, President of The Vega Foundation. “With their long-term commitment to contemporary art, established institutional history, and impactful exhibition space, we are thrilled to announce the continuation of this meaningful partnership with The Power Plant.”
We are thrilled to present Lucy Raven’s new work Murderers Bar (2025) opening at The Power Plant on 7 November, 2025. Co-commissioned and jointly acquired by Vega and the Vancouver Art Gallery, Murderers Bar centres around the recent removal of a monumental concrete dam along the Klamath River in Northern California. The dam, the immense reservoir behind it, and the river now coursing through both, are inexorably transformed through the duration of the work. Presented on a towering, free-standing screen, Murderers Bar finds its form from the release of water at such a colossal scale, a fluid dynamics that has shaped the physical and the imagined Western United States. Lucy Raven (b. 1977) is based in New York, and works in installation, photography, video, drawing, and sculpture to examine historic and contemporary representations of the American West.
“We’re thrilled to continue our collaboration with Vega in co-commissioning and exhibiting thought-provoking contemporary artists at The Power Plant,” said Adelina Vlas, Artist Director. "It has been rewarding to collaborate and realize Lap-See Lam, Aria Dean, and Meriem Bennani’s previous exhibitions, and we look forward to bringing Lucy Raven’s new work to Toronto audiences this fall.”
The Vega Foundation has previously partnered with international institutions such as the Serpentine, New Museum, Sharjah Art Foundation, TBA21, the Venice Biennale, as well as Canadian institutions, including the Vancouver Art Gallery and TIFF. Throughout 2025, Vega presents a slate of new commissions in partnership with museums across Europe and North America, including Lucy Raven’s Murderers Bar, co-commissioned and jointly acquired with the Vancouver Art Gallery, Rosa Barba’s new film, Charge, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA), and Sharon Lockhart’s film, WINDWARD, co-commissioned and co-produced by Shorefast/Fogo Island Arts, The Vega Foundation, and the National Gallery of Canada, with the support of The Power Plant and Walter Phillips Gallery.
About The Vega Foundation
The Vega Foundation is committed to cultivating new ideas and connections through encounters with artists’ film and video. We provide critical support for artists through meaningful investments in the production of ambitious new work and the stewardship of a growing collection. Vega’s curatorial program is dedicated to exhibiting these exceptional works through collaborations with Canadian and international institutions. By expanding access, we seek to grow appreciation for moving image practices and facilitate vibrant conversations that reflect the pressing issues of our time.
Website: thevegafoundation.com
Instagram: @thevegafoundation
About The Power Plant
The Power Plant is Canada's leading art gallery devoted exclusively to contemporary art by artists from Canada and the world. As we remain a non-profit institution, our aim is to share art with wider audiences through free admission to our exhibitions, public programs and educational publications. Since 1987, The Power Plant has been on a mission to create an open culture and community with inspiring contemporary art and ideas. For the past 38 years, we've stayed true to our commitment to exhibit artists from diverse backgrounds, draw attention to pressing issues, and connect with communities from Canada and around the world through contemporary art. To this day, The Power Plant remains an open platform for thought-provoking art, ideas, and conversations.
Website: thepowerplant.org
Instagram: @ThePowerPlantTO
