Drawing The Curtain On The NAC

I did a guest post for Molly Jo about Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation, which was posted yesterday, so go on over and check it out.

I have for the last few months been documenting the work at the National Arts Centre, where a glass structure has been added onto the building, softening the Brutalist architecture. You can find the previous post here. This is the last of the series, because tomorrow, that area is due to open to the public for Canada Day. I visited the NAC this past Sunday for some photos in this series. This view from the Mackenzie King Bridge takes in the NAC as it overlooks the Rideau Canal.

I went inside. A performance was going on in one of the halls here, but the lobby was open. The building has continued to hold performances throughout the project, and what work is still going on here seems to be clean up, as the bulk of the equipment outside was gone. There are two spots inside the building that are to be done by winter, such as the expansion of the Fourth Stage performance space, but almost all of that work is now confined to the interior.

I stepped into Southam Hall, the largest of the performance halls in the building. From the look of things, it seemed stage hands were getting ready for a performance later in the day.

I returned to the lobby, where I photographed this new addition to the space, a large hanging shimmering of light that looks like a cloud. Someone was posing beneath it. If this is a permanent addition in here, it's going to be popular for photo ops.

Back outside, here's a look around the glass structure, which has transformed the building's sense of itself. I look forward to being in here tomorrow, as it is tradition to have a Canada Day concert here in the evening.

Much of what was going on here was that last minute work before the last of the construction fencing could come down. I plan on showing you material from in here during my Canada Day series- I had better make sure I've charged up the batteries and have a spare charger or two with me!

This poster is outside, near where the Oscar Peterson sculpture stands. There's a concert in July celebrating the great Canadian jazz legend here at the NAC. Canada Scene (or Scene Canada en Francais) is a month long series of concerts presently underway.