The new Inuit Art Centre (IAC) at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Winnipeg, Canada designed by Los Angeles-based architects Michael Maltzan Architecture is set to open its doors later this year.

A statement published on the Winnipeg Art Gallery website states that the space is "constructed to house the bulk of the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s and the Government of Nunavut’s collection of 13,000 Inuit carvings, textiles prints and beyond that represent the largest collection of its kind in the world" and that "the new centre will make it possible to display works that were previously relegated to storage."

The statement adds that "A digitization project is also underway to make the entirety of the collection available online."

The 40,000-square-foot addition will feature a double-height vestibule that includes a series of internal shelving displays filled with heritage objects. The objects make up collections that would typically be held in a secluded "vault" but that are being brought out for public view through the project. The gallery-filled structure will feature a third-level, 8,500-square-foot flexible exhibition space that will be dedicated to displaying Inuit art, while an upper level "penthouse" floor features education studios, classrooms, and a large outdoor roof terrace that can be accessed from these educational spaces.

The white, billowing structure, according to a statement on the Maltzan Architecture website, is designed to evoke the "immense geographic features" of Canada's far north while the upper levels are filled with a "figural skylights" that "suffuse the gallery with light from broad spectrum of the sky," much like the skies overlooking the areas where the objects displayed in the galleries were originally created.

Maltzan's office was selected to design the gallery back in 2012. The project broke ground in 2018 and is expected to open this fall.