Image: Ottawa Art Gallery
The Ottawa Art Gallery will present ‘Frame by Frame: Animation in Ottawa’, an exhibition tracing more than 80 years of animation in the Canadian capital. The exhibition opens September 19, 2026, in the Spencerville Gallery on Level 3 of the Ottawa Art Gallery and remains on view through March 14, 2027.
Organized in partnership with the Ottawa International Animation Festival and in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada, the exhibition examines animation as both an industry and a form of artistic expression. Its presentation coincides with the Ottawa International Animation Festival’s 50th anniversary, linking the festival’s history to the broader development of animation in the region.
According to the Ottawa Art Gallery, animation in Ottawa has been shaped by artists, filmmakers, researchers and studios whose work reflects an ongoing exchange between creativity, experimentation and innovation. The exhibition begins with the establishment of the National Film Board of Canada’s animation department in Ottawa in the 1940s and extends to contemporary studio productions and independent practices.
The selection brings together stories, techniques and creative approaches intended to demonstrate the range of the medium. Animation’s capacity to construct imagined worlds, push abstraction beyond conventional limits and give form to unusual or emotionally complex subjects is a central theme of the presentation. The exhibition also considers the Ottawa International Animation Festival’s role in connecting local creators with international animation culture.
Among the historical material listed by the gallery are Alma Duncan’s *Owl from the production of Folksong Fantasy*, made around 1950–51, along with a photograph of Duncan working on puppets for the production. The exhibition also includes a still from Norman McLaren’s ‘Neighbours’, produced in 1952 by the National Film Board of Canada, and a hand-painted animation cel from ‘The Raccoons on Ice’, dated 1981 and credited to Kevin Gillis.
Contemporary and more recent works include Cooper the Film Scientist’s ‘Baked Goods for Norman’ from 2018, Sharon Katz’s ‘The Good Life’ from 2015, and Chris Dainty’s still from ‘Shannon Amen’, a 2019 National Film Board of Canada production. The gallery has also listed Brennan Bova’s ‘Join’, a 2025 still, and the Ottawa International Animation Festival’s 2026 poster by Seth among the exhibition images.
‘Frame by Frame’ is curated by Meghan Ho, Kelly Neall and Chris Robinson, with curatorial assistance from Amanda Misko and Xandr Vickers. The exhibition design is by elsonstudio, with graphic design by Leah Ross and Mathieu Kirchmayer. The Ottawa Art Gallery, located at 50 Mackenzie King Bridge, states that admission to its exhibitions is always free. The animation exhibition will be on view until March 14, 2027.
