About Union Gallery
Land
Union Gallery is situated on the ancestral territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek, who have lived in kinship with this land, water and air for thousands of years. Ne Union Gallery e’tho nońwe nikanónhsote tsi nońwe ne Haudenasaunee tánon Anishinaabek tehatihsnónhsahere ne óhontsa. Gimaakwe Gchi-gkinoomaagegamig atemagad Naadowe miinwaa Anishinaabe aking.
It is our understanding that this territory is included in the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and the Confederacy of the Ojibwe and Allied Nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Today, this meeting place is still home to many Indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island and beyond. To acknowledge territory is to recognize its longer history, predating establishing the earliest European colonies. To acknowledge territory is to recognize and respect the leadership of the land's original inhabitants. We recognize Union Gallery's own complicity in settler colonialism, its present occupation and violent legacy. We acknowledge our collective responsibility to work actively in support of Indigenous sovereignty, and towards a respectful relationship with this place. We are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land with respect and care.
Mission + Mandate
Union Gallery is a space for creative risk-taking and curiosity that supports and promotes the arts communities of Katarokwi/Kingston by nurturing reciprocal relationships between students, artists, and arts workers at all stages of their careers. It is a community-driven hub for the production and exhibition of contemporary art that fosters critical engagement, facilitates interdisciplinary experimentation, and creates opportunities for the next generation of cultural producers.
Core Values
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Committing to reducing systemic and other barriers to access Union’s programs and resources. Respecting and nurturing the skills, experiences, perspectives, and strengths of individuals through careful listening, reflexive thinking, and accountability to the communities that Union works with and serves.
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Working to create anti-racist and anti-oppressive policies and activities, and to support equity through programming and exhibitions. Investing resources to achieve greater equity and social justice. Continued engagement, learning, teaching, and reflection on dismantling marginalizing and oppressive power structures both within and beyond the gallery.
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Modelling ethical, collaborative practices in multidirectional ways through programming that fosters creative dialogue, facilitating the flow of knowledge between multiple worldviews and generations of artists, thinkers, learners, and teachers, and ensuring that the walls of the gallery are porous.
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Helping to bring about positive potential futures by advocating for and developing ecologically, socially, and fiscally responsible policies, programming, and exhibitions. Creating programs with meaningful and lasting impacts that are responsive to communities and to artists.
Prioritize art and programming that is transformative, socially engaged, and that advocates for equity-deserving groups.
Develop collaborations and partnerships with organizations and groups throughout the Katarokwi/Kingston region to strengthen reciprocal and sustainable relationships with communities.
Expand, diversify, and strengthen relationships with Union’s audiences. Develop creative ways to engage communities through exhibitions and programming.
Assess and activate Union’s relationship to departments and programs at Queen’s and mobilize its position as a community-driven experiential learning hub within the university's space.
Ensure financial and human resource sustainability for Union’s programs and operations.
Develop sustainability and anti-harassment policies.
Strategic Plan — 2024 to 2027
Union Gallery’s 2024-2027 Strategic Plan acknowledges that, after its incorporation in April 2023, the gallery is in a period of transformation and assessing its roles, responsibilities, and relationships. In line with this context, extending from the gallery’s renewed mandate and values, and informed by a summer 2023 strategic planning retreat with gallery members; members of Katarokwi/Kingston communities; Queen’s University students, faculty, and staff; and Union Gallery staff, the following strategic goals will lead Union through 2024-2027.
To request a copy of our full strategic plan, please reach out:
ugallery@queensu.ca / 613.533.3171
History
Union Gallery opened in 1994 after more than a decade of intense lobbying by Queen's University art students, with support from faculty and staff. Art on the Line (an Alma Mater Society sanctioned club) was formed in 1988 to petition for the inclusion of a designated gallery at Queen’s for student artists to exhibit their work and gain experiential professional development in the arts.
On April 5, 1990, the Alma Mater Society (AMS) Assembly ratified the AMS Capital Allocation Committee final report, which allocated $340,000 towards the construction of a student art gallery in Stauffer Library. UG officially opened its doors on October 6, 1994. With the gallery’s opening, Art on the Line was dissolved, and a new operating board was created, alongside the hire of Lynn Hunt as interim Gallery Manager. Jocelyn Purdie was hired in Fall 1994 as Managing Director, then Gallery Director, and retired in early 2020. Carina Magazzeni was hired as Gallery Director in February 2020.
The Gallery Assistant position transitioned to a core professional staff position in August 2021 with the hire of Abby Nowakowski as Administrative & Communications Coordinator, promoted to Program Director as a co-leadership structure in April 2022. UG officially incorporated as a not-for-profit organization on April 13, 2022. In September 2022, Morgan Wedderspoon took over the role of Gallery Director, and in July 2024, Haley Sarfeld took over the role of Program Director. While the gallery is connected and affiliated with Queen's University, UG remains independent with its own organizational profile, mandate, and Board of Directors.
Since its inception, Union Gallery has been a student-driven organization, with a blend of core professional and student staff and artists. UG’s integration of student and professional artistic programs remains unique in Canada.
Policies + Statements
Funders + Sponsors
Union Gallery is funded and supported by Queen's University, Alma Mater Society (AMS), Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS), Ontario Arts Council, City of Kingston Arts Fund–Kingston Arts Council and the City of Kingston, with partnerships with Stauffer Library, Cultural Studies, Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies, and Art History and Art Conservation. As a student-centred public art gallery, we are generously funded through AMS and SGPS student activity fees (eligible for individual opt-out).
Members are also an important part of Union Gallery’s financial sustainability. To learn more, visit our Membership page.