Grand-Métis, Québec, April 15, 2025 – The International Garden Festival is proud to unveil the four winners of the 2025 RBC Residencies at La Maison d’Ariane. The residency program is funded by the RBC Emerging Artists program of the Royal Bank of Canada to contribute to the development of the talents of tomorrow and to assist organizations that offer opportunities to young artists to advance their careers.
From May 17 to June 14, the Métis-sur-Mer cottage will be the artistic home to Éloïse Demers Pinard and Francis Gaignard. They will be succeeded by Laura Demers and Marie-Ève Lussier-Gariépy, who will take up residence from September 6 to October 4. The public will be invited to visit La Maison d'Ariane and meet its occupants at two Open House events: on Thursday June 5 and Thursday September 25, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Spring Residency · May 17 – June 14, 2025 ·
Éloïse Demers Pinard · literature + sound documentary ·
Éloïse Demers Pinard is a writer and sound documentarist. She is the author of Trois chambres sans lit (Éditions Del Busso, 2019) and C'est pourquoi meurent les jardins (Éditions du Noroît, 2022). Her work addresses the themes of sorority, female empowerment and Quebecois magic realism.
She has directed several sound documentaries, including Par-delà la 138 (2020), Huitième Île (2023), and That Forgotten Need to Probe the Sky (2025); as well as co- wrote and edited Retour à Normétal (2023), and La chasse interdite (2024). Her audio documentaries have been honoured with nominations and awards both nationally and abroad.
Francis Gaignard · visual arts + architecture ·
Francis’ formal training and career as an architect (École d'Architecture de l'Université Laval, Atelier Pierre Thibault) strongly permeate his artistic practice. He is currently investigating the intersection – or rather, coalescence – of pluriscalar landscape fragments through drawing and sculpture. As a co-founder of the multidisciplinary collective legaga, he has exhibited his designs, as well as several architectural installations, throughout Québec (Canadian Bacon, Reford Gardens’ International Garden Festival, Passages Insolites, MNBAQ). Now a production member of L'Œil de poisson, an artist-run centre featuring exhibition spaces and production shops, his professional trajectory is shaped by the interweaving of the visual arts with architecture and design. Francis lives and works in Kbahak/Kepek/Québec, where he will present his first solo exhibition from April 17 to May 1, 2025 (Criterium).
Fall Residency · September 6 – October 4, 2025 ·
Laura Demers · visual arts + curatorial practices ·
Laura Demers is an artist and independent curator working in Toronto. Her work has been presented at Art Mûr, Idea Exchange, Trinity Square Video, Centre Sagamie, L'Écart, the Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen Art Gallery, Project Underwing and other DIY spaces.
As a curator, she has carried out exhibition projects at the Galerie du Nouvel- Ontario, La Maison des artistes visuels francophones, and The Power Plant, as well as event-based and/or virtual projects with organizations such as Art Spin Hamilton, this town is small, and the 2022 ORANGE Triennial. She is a member and co-founder of the plumb.
Marie-Ève Lussier-Gariépy · literature + theatre ·
Trained in Theatre Studies and Acting, Marie-Ève works as an actress, writer and dramaturgical consultant. She was appointed artistic director of the Jamais Lu Québec festival in 2023. With friends Odile Gagné-Roy and Maureen Roberge, she co-founded La bouche_La machine, whose first production – ALBANE – was presented at Premier Acte in January 2023. The company's second opus, Que les beaux jours sont courts, opens at Premier Acte in May 2025.
As a performer and creator, Marie-Ève has taken part in several projects, including L'assemblée Québec (La Bordée and Porte Parole, 2024), L'œil (Vénus à vélo, 2023), Titre(s) de travail (Carte blanche, 2022) and .ES - chapitre 1 - soi (Les Reines, 2020). Tu trahiras mon histoire [You'll betray my story], a first-person narrative exploring issues of intergenerational transmission, marks her first foray into literary practice.
Jury A total of 91 applications were submitted as part of the 2025 call for proposals. Sixteen projects were preselected and then submitted to this year’s jury, composed of Mathieu Lacroix (multidisciplinary artist), Perrine Leblanc (writer), François Côté (lawyer, Senior Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada; board member, International Garden Festival), and Ève De Garie-Lamanque (Artistic Director, International Garden Festival).
About La Maison d’Ariane The mission of La Maison d’Ariane is to welcome architects, landscape architects and artists of all artistic and cultural disciplines from here and from abroad for residencies outside of an urban context. It aims to establish a laboratory for experimentation and research that stimulates the creation, invention and imagination of the artists it welcomes and connects. The main drivers that guide its actions, both for the creators and for the communities and organizations it serves, are dialogue and exchanges, meetings and sharing. Built circa 1920, the cottage was donated to the International Garden Festival by Ariane Rioux in 2019.
About the International Garden Festival The International Garden Festival is recognized as one of the most important events of its kind in North America and one of the leading annual garden festivals in the world. Since its inception in 2000, more than 180 contemporary gardens have been exhibited at Grand-Métis and as extra-mural projects in Canada and around the world. Presented at Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens, at the gateway to the Gaspé Peninsula, the Festival is held on a site adjacent to the historic gardens created by Elsie Reford, thereby establishing a bridge between history and modernity, and a dialogue between conservation, tradition and innovation. Each year the Festival exhibits over 20 conceptual gardens created by more than 70 architects, landscape architects and designers from various disciplines. The event acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, as well as of friends of the Festival and donors.
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Sources :
Joël Pelletier Director of Customer Experience and Communications joel@jardinsdemetis.com Ève De Garie-Lamanque Artistic Director eve@jardinsdemetis.com
The 2025 activities of La Maison d’Ariane are funded by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).