Portraits of Visionaries From Montreal – A Tribute to William Notman

On the occasion of the Notman, A Visionary Photographer exhibition, the McCord Museum takes part in the global project Inside Out and puts a face on some of the big names of our city through a series of 21 portraits. From the fields of art and fashion, design and city planning, community and societal groups or even the new technology sector, these visionary creators are using innovative projects to invite us to step outside the box and find new ways of doing things, of thinking, and of living.

Discover this outdoor installation in several places:

• McCord Museum – 690 Sherbrooke Street W. and 2175 Victoria Street
• Notman House – 51 Sherbrooke Street W.
• Papeterie Guerin’s window – 351 Sherbrooke Street W.
• Palisade next to UQAM – St-Denis Street, between Ste-Catherine Street E. and De Maisonneuve Boulevard
• Palisade in the heart of Le Quartier des Spectacles – De Maisonneuve Boulevard between Clark and St-Laurent Street

Visionaries – Art & Fashion

Rad Hourani

Known as the Prince of Fashion, Rad Hourani, with Sydney Toledena, CEO of Maison Dior, as his patron, is the first Canadian designer to have won the restricted circle of Parisian high-fashion over. His work’s common theme? In several disciplines, his creations are neutral and go beyond the gender, age, nationality, and ethnicity labels and all divisions. Rad Hourani is therefore the first unisex designer in the history of costumes.

Patsy Van Roost

Patsy Van Roost is the urban fairy behind several urban interventions. She creates extraordinary, participatory and unifying experiences at the neighbourhood level. With her projects like Les portes qui s’ouvrent, Un dessin à la fenêtre, La mer or Ici un souvenir, she gives neighbours and passers-by the opportunity to meet and tell their stories.

Philippe Demers

Co-founder of the MASSIVart agency and initiator of the Chromatic festival, Philippe Demers believes in economic development and the differentiation of companies through art and culture. By building a bridge between artists, the public and companies, he makes art present and accessible in addition to offering valuable showcasing opportunities to local artists. In the long term, he wishes to help the City of Montreal partner with other creative cities to become a global artistic and cultural hub.

Jasmine Catudal

Trained as a set designer, Jasmine Catudal is the co-founder of OFFTA and of LA SERRE arts vivants, which she co-founded with Vincent de Repentigny. With her experience in the fields of dance, theatre and visual arts, she forges links and generates encounters within the artistic community in addition to supporting emerging artists.

Visionaries – Design & City Planning

Jérôme Glad

Co-founder of La Pépinière, the organization behind several urban revitalization projects like Village au pied du courant, Jérôme Glad’s focus is on the re-appropriation of the city by and for its inhabitants through the laying out of playful and participatory spaces.

Maxim Bragoli

Co-founder of La Pépinière, the organization behind several urban revitalization projects like Les Jardins Gamelin, Maxim Bragoli is committed to supporting and developing tools that allow communities to reach their full potential, which requires strategic design and innovative actions.

Melissa Mongiat

Passionate about public participation and narrative environments in the new media age, Melissa Mongiat is the co-founder of the design studio Daily tous les jours to whom Montrealers owe 21swings, an installation in the heart of downtown, among others. What is she interested in? Reinventing everyday life and transforming people’s lives.

Mouna Andraos

In the new media and interaction design fields for more than 15 years, Mouna Andraos is the co-founder of Daily tous les jours, the studio behind many projects rooted in public space like Choreographies for Humans and Stars at the Montreal Planetarium. Through her work and with the help of technology, which she considers to be a vehicle for social change, she seeks to spark exchanges and conversations.

Jonathan Lapalme

Jonathan Lapalme is the co-founder of the strategic design studio Les Interstices and co-founder of the organization Entremise. For nearly ten years, this great lover of the urbanization process has been addressing different types of urbanization-related issues such as vacant buildings, the housing crisis, informalities, interdisciplinary collaboration and much more.

Antoine Trottier

President and co-founder of La Ligne Verte, Antoine Trottier is also working as a researcher and popularizer in the green roof, living wall and urban agriculture fields. The urban agriculture project VERTical on the Palais des congrès de Montréal’s rooftop is among his many achievements.

Visionaries – Community & Societal

Fabrice Vil

Co-founder and general manager of the organization Pour 3 Points, Fabrice Vil abandoned his career as a lawyer to work with young people from underprivileged backgrounds. Through the training of sports coaches who then become life coaches for young people, he puts forth a novel and relevant solution to improve the educational success of young people.

Léa Clermont-Dion

Young author, TV host and political science student, Léa Clermont-Dion is the co-instigator of the Quebec Charter for a Healthy and Diverse Body Image. Through her various projects, she imposes herself as an exceptional spokesperson on the status of women in our society.

Nadia Duguay

Co-founder of the social innovation organization Exeko, Nadia Duguay fights every day to improve the social inclusion through art and philosophy of the people labelled as marginalized in Canada. Renowned speaker, she was recently elected to the Canadian Commission for UNESCO’s executive committee (2016).

Philippe Lamarre

Philippe Lamarre is the co-founder of URBANIA, a magazine whose objective is to showcase people with fascinating stories who are not often seen or heard in traditional media. Thanks to its irreverent tone and powerful visuals, URBANIA quickly established itself as a must-read for French-speaking young adults.

Sterling Downey

Sterling Downey is deeply involved in the community and artistic fields. As a true catalyst for new ideas, he co-founded the urban culture festival Under Pressure and the creative space Fresh Paint in addition being involved with young people in high schools for several years. As a former graffiti artist, Sterling Downey does not fit the classic image of a politician.

Nahid Aboumansour

Nahid Aboumansour is the general manager of the organization Petites-Mains which she cofounded with Sister Denise Arsenault in 1995. Born in Lebanon and an architect by profession, she immigrated to Quebec in 1990 to start a new life along with her family. Since she could not work as an architect, she devoted her life, time, and energy to advance the cause of the most underprivileged immigrant women to help them integrate society and live in dignity.

Marie-Josée Parent

As the executive director of the organization DestiNATIONS, Marie-Josée Parent works toward achieving an aboriginal cultural, artistic and tourism infrastructure in Montreal. Of M’ikmaq and Acadian descent, she sits on several boards of directors related to the aboriginal community in Montreal. Her favourite current project? Projet Square Cabot whose goal is to develop a strategy to help homeless Aboriginals living in Montreal.

Visionaries – New Technologies

LP Maurice

President and co-founder of successful company Busbud, LP Maurice is aware of the importance of being guided and supported when creating a start-up. Driven by his passion, he founded the support group Entrepreneurs Anonymous and the organizations La Tournée des Entrepreneurs and Startup Open House dedicated to promote entrepreneurship through festive gatherings and encounters.

Vincent Morisset

Founder of the studio AATOAA, Vincent Morisset is a pioneer and a key player in the interactive video field. He has won several awards for his achievements for Arcade Fire and ONF such as the Emmy Award for “Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media”.

Xavier Peich

Co-founder of the start-up SmartHalo, Xavier Peich wants to use technology to reinvent the bicycle and help it become the main means of transport in the cities of the future. Navigation, lights, alarm, fitness and assistance in addition to a social funding campaign that gathered more than half a million dollars in 30 days helped the idea of the smart bicycle become viral in a short period of time, and to be sold in more than 71 countries.

Joanna Berzowska

Founder of XS Labs and director of electronic textiles at OMsignal, Joanna Berzowska is a pioneer of the smart textile industry. Renowned across the world, she has been asked to show her work in New York, London, Beijing, Tokyo and even Sydney.