New year, new art. In 2026, we thought we’d become nausea-inducingly cultured – and that’s why we’re going to see as much art as we can. In addition to seeing new artists for free all over Montreal this winter and doing every photo exhibit in town while it’s still snowing, we can also go to the rentrée des galeries on January 15, 2026.
The best part is that all the galleries opening that day are in the same building…
The Belgo Building
The Édifice Belgo sits enthroned on rue Sainte-Catherine in the form of a building that resembles all the other buildings on the shopping street – glass, brick, early 20th-century architectural lines. In its early days, it was a department store – Scroggie’s – then until the 1980s, the floors were rented out to textile manufacturing studios.
From 1980 onwards, the textile industry migrated to Mile End and artists moved downtown, and so did the Belgo Building.
Today, the building houses the largest number of art galleries at a single address in Canada. And all 25 of the Édifice Belgo’s galleries-center-art studios are making their 2026 artistic comebacks on the same evening, January 15, 2026.
The 2026 cultural season and vernissages on January 15, 2026 at the Édifice Belgo
On Thursday, January 15, you arrive at the Édifice Belgo around 5 p.m. (when the galleries open for their official vernissage) with a not-too-warm coat that you can carry in your arms throughout the evening, because you won’t need to go out again to visit.
au 403 – Galerie B-312 – Centre d’artistes
Oya’wih – Eruoma Awashish, Dayna Danger, Cedar-Eve, Patricia Langevin, Exhibition : Andrée Levesque-Sioui, Virginia Pesemapeo Bordeleau, and Cheyenne Rain LeGrande | Curator : Michèle St-Amand
at 406 – Wishbone Gallery
Ce qui berce et ce qui noie – Catherine Morin / Curator: Gabrielle Poliquin
to 413 – McBride Contemporain – Galerie d’art
Reflect, Andrea Szilasi
au 416 – Chiguer Art Contemporain – Galerie Art
La Femme sur Mars, Catherine Bolduc
Catherine Bolduc
au 423 – Louis-Bernard St-Jean Art Contemporain – Atelier et Galerie d’Art
Embarquement immédiat – Annie Lapointe / A preview of new works – Louis-Bernard St-Jean
au 427 – Galerie INGANG – Galerie d’art
Palisades: site extension – Stéphane Lajoie
au 442 – Galerie POPOP – Galerie d’art
Unbound – Denise Buisman Pilger
au 444 – Arprim – Centre d’artistes
Break~fast ou break(ing)fast – Jean-Pierre Mot / Groupe de travail autour du livre d’artiste – Stéphanie Bernier, Étienne Bolo, Lynda Gaudreau, Géraldine, Camille Havas, et Valérie Lefebvre
also at 444 – CIRCA art actuel – Centre d’artistes
Real and virtual: an exhibition where everything is in its place and nothing is missing, Guillaume La Brie / NO WAVE, Marie-Claude Lepiez
at 501A – Atelier Kimberly Orjuela – Atelier d’artiste
at 502 – Galeries Bellemare Lambert – Galerie d’art
By day, by night, Edmund Alleyn
at 507 – SBC Galerie d’art contemporain -Centre d’exposition et galerie d’art
NON CONFORME, Four women shaping time, An Se Eun, Maria Ezcurra, Antonietta Grassi and Kim Siyeon / Curators: Art/Around
au 508 – Galerie Hugues Charbonneau – Galerie d’art
سفید چال (Sefid Chāl) [White Hollow] – Naghmeh Sharifi / Photosynthesis of the soul – Clovis-Alexandre Desvarieux
au 521 – Galerie Éclats 521 – Galerie d’art
Eyes wide open, group show / Éclosion, Annio
at 527 – Duran Contemporain – Art Gallery
Vaults, Matt Shlian / Le mystère, Florent Stosskopf
at 531 – Atelier 531 – Atelier d’artiste and The Belgo Project
Embodied: Works in Progress, Paintings, Monotypes, and Other Works on Paper, Kara Eckler
Practical info
Where: Belgo Building – 372 rue Sainte-Catherine Est
When? Opening on January 15, 2026 at the Rentrée Culturelle d’Hiver du Belgo, from 5pm to 8pm.
How? Free admission
Enjoy the vernissage!