The Vancouver multimedia artist takes a two-year appointment whose remit reaches beyond ceremonial works to exhibitions, programming and cultural advice.
The Canadian
Newsroom
October 17, 2026
3 min read
Canada’s first Parliamentary Visual Artist Laureate is entering a role with few precedents and a broad mandate. In an October 17 CTV News interview published by CP24, Vancouver artist Paul Wong described the appointment as a chance to explore what a visual artist can contribute inside Parliament. The position is intended to promote the arts through the institution, rather than simply commission decorative work for its buildings.
Wong brings a practice spanning video, film, sound, photography, installation, sculpture, printmaking, neon, performance and writing. The breadth of that work is relevant to a mandate that includes both traditional visual forms and digital creations. His career also includes curating and community activity. He told CTV that closer contact with lawmakers could create dialogue and help generate greater interest in Canadian artists and their work.
The two-year appointment can involve creations requested by the speakers of the House of Commons or Senate for major occasions. It also permits programming, exhibitions and advice to the parliamentary librarian about cultural collections and acquisitions. Wong can work remotely, making the role closer to a flexible artist-in-residence position than a requirement to relocate permanently to Ottawa. He is still exploring the resources available and the projects he might develop.
The appointment follows a long campaign to establish the position. The role became law in 2024 through Bill S-202, which amended the Parliament of Canada Act. Artist Peter Gough helped advance the original idea, inspired by the parliamentary poet laureate position, and former senator Patricia Bovey carried a later version of the legislation. Earlier attempts stalled, making the first appointment the result of years of advocacy rather than a sudden institutional initiative.
Wong was selected from a three-person shortlist prepared through an open nomination process and a committee involving national arts and language institutions. Because he primarily works in English, the next appointee is to work primarily in French. The position’s first term will give practical shape to its broad language: what events it supports, what work it produces and how it connects Parliament with artists outside Ottawa. For now, the significance is a new institutional place for visual art—and an inaugural artist still deciding how best to use it.
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