Seneca Art Collection home to one-of-a-kind Canadian treasures | MyNews | Seneca Students

Seneca Polytechnic is home to a vast collection of contemporary, Canadian art that includes examples of Canadian Innu and Indigenous artwork, abstraction work, figurative work, post-War modernist art, sculpture and photography.

Seneca first began collecting artwork in the early 1970s, selecting smaller prints and less expensive pieces. The Seneca Art Collection then grew out of the artist-in-residence program that began in 1972. Many of these works were acquired at a formative or earlier stage in an artist’s career.

The collection is displayed throughout the hallways at various campuses with the name of the artist, allowing students, employees and guests to view the works up close. You can also view the weekly selections of the art collection repository on MySeneca.

Selected by the Seneca College Art Committee, which is composed of students, employees and retirees, the collection embodies diversity and includes emerging and established artists. To date, there are more than 400 pieces in Seneca’s Art Collection, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, videos, textiles and prints.

“The Seneca Art Collection has become the most comprehensive collection of Canadian art of any college in Canada, and we are proud to continue to build on its strength,” says Mark Jones, Director, The Seneca Film Institute and Seneca Art Collection Committee Chair. “Working with the committee made up of stakeholders within the Seneca community, the collection will continue to expand to ensure that it is representative of the fabric of Canadian society, with a focus on supporting Indigenous artists and artists from BIPOC communities. The future of the Seneca Art Collection is bright.”

"The Seneca Art Committee has been quite active lately,” added Sean Hayes, Archivist and Art Co-ordinator, Seneca Libraries. “We recently restored, reframed and reinstalled works by the celebrated Indigenous artists Norval Morrisseau and Christian Morrisseau, as well as Potawatomi and Lenape Two-Spirit artist Vanessa Dion Fletcher. The committee also recently purchased several outstanding paintings, prints and sculptures by emerging Black Canadian artists, including Benny Bing, Ekow Nimako and Yung Yemi.”