Place des Arts
Place des Arts is a cultural complex in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Located in the eastern part of the city's downtown, the complex is home to the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Les grands ballets canadiens de Montréal, and the Opéra de Montréal. It includes five theatres of various sizes:
- Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, the largest multipurpose concert hall in Canada
- Théâtre Maisonneuve
- Théâtre Jean-Duceppe
- Studio-théâtre
- Cinquième salle
This wealth of theatres permits the staging of opera, symphony, ballet and other dance, chamber music, choral music, theatre, film presentation, and various other presentations and ceremonies.
In addition to the theatres, the complex hosts the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, a museum of contemporary art, as well as rehearsal halls, shops, services, and a large, popular esplanade decorated with original fountains and water cascades. All the various facilities are connected by an underground mall, also linked to Place-des-Arts metro station to the north and the Complexe Desjardins to the south as part of the Underground City.
Place des Arts was an initiative of Mayor Jean Drapeau,a noted lover of opera and lyrical Arts, as part of a project to expand the downtown core eastward from the concentration of business and financial activity in the centre-west part of downtown. The Corporation George-Étienne-Cartier, named in honor of George-Étienne Cartier, a Father of Confederation and lover of lyrical Arts, was set up to build it, and the first part of the complex (including the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier) was inaugurated on September 21, 1963. The other theatres were added progressively. The Musée d'art contemporain was moved to the complex on May 28, 1992.
The site is decorated with several works of public art including L'artiste est celui qui fait voir l'autre côté des choses by Claude Bettinger, Comme si le temps... de la rue by Pierre Granche, and La voie lactée by Geneviève Cadieux.
In the summer the esplanade and the street in front of it make up one of the important outdoor sites of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.