Bio & Cv

Hélène La Haye holds a bachelor’s degree in jazz and visual arts from Concordia University. She lived for several years in Tuscany and France, where she played jazz with various music groups. She has exhibited in Zurich, Switzerland, and Montreal, as well as in various galleries and museums in Quebec and Ontario.

Following her collaboration as a scenic painter for Cirque du Soleil, cinema and television, she has painted large-scale public works, including one in the lobby of the Belgo Building (home to the majority of Montreal’s contemporary art galleries) and several in Complexe Desjardins. Over the years, she has developed a specific technique for painting large formats on glass. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts awarded her first prize in the jury category for a mural on glass at the Eaton Centre.

For four years, she taught art at elementary school. On her initiative, she designed and wrote an art history program for young people, ranging from rock art to contemporary art, to which the art projects were linked.

Alongside her personal production, Hélène La Haye set up an art school in her large studio on Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal, which welcomed an average of 60 students per session. It closed its doors in December 2025 after 15 years of dynamic activity. Her painting and drawing classes were based above all on a sensory approach to materials and gesture, with subsequent development through analysis. With adults and young people alike, she explored imagination and observation in relation to movement and music, as she does in her own pictorial research, to which she now devotes most of her time.

Exhibitions

Solos

2020-21

Courage – Marius Barbeau Museum, St-Joseph de Beauce, Quebec

2019

Tu es formidable – Galerie 202, Montréal

2018

Face à soi – Galerie 202, Montréal

2017

Mon Coeur Vierge – Gallery 202, Montreal

2016

Legato – Art[o], Saint-Jean- sur-Richelieu, Quebec

Peace in this Chaos – Galerie 202, Montréal

Not playing anymore – Cambridge Centre for the Arts, Cambridge, Ontario

Is it me? – Arts Sutton Gallery, Sutton, Quebec

Elle gagne – Maison de la culture de Longueuil, Longueuil

2015

Les Tricheurs – Galerie Vincent d’Indy, Boucherville

2013

Magnetic Resonances – Espace 316, Cadbury Building, Montreal

2002

Double bass – Cinémathèque Québécoise, Montreal

1995

Bouleversements – Espace 414, Belgo Building, Montreal

1990

Plongeon – Atelier Alter Ego, 445 rue St-Pierre, Old Montreal

1989

Mit Pinsel und Saxophon – Galerie West, Zürich, Switzerland

1988

Couleur Jazz Vif – Cinémathèque Québécoise, Montreal

Collectives

2020

Musée en quarantaine – Musée d’art de Joliette, Quebec

2019

Lights – Musée des Beaux-Arts Mont St-Hilaire, Québec

2018

Exposition Printanière – Guest artist at AAPARS, Centre Jordi Bonet, Mont St-Hilaire, Québec

2016

Les Rebelles – Art Plus Gallery, Sutton, Quebec

Showfrette – Projection on a church, City of Beloeil, Quebec

2015

Les Rebelles – Art Plus Gallery, Sutton, Quebec

1995

Gallery artists – Galerie Libre comme l’art, Québec

1994

Le Québec – Fra Angelico Art House, Montreal

1993

Jazz en couleur – Maison d’Art Fra Angelico, Montreal

1992

Virages – Prismart, Complexe Guy Favreau, Montreal

1991

Gallery artists – Galerie Van Gogh, Montréal

1988-97

Artists in the gallery – Maison des Arts, Piedmont

1982

Art tour – Musée Rivière-de-Loup

Public works (selected from around 100 murals)

2007

World Music (2 x 12 m) – Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, Complexe Desjardins, Ste-Catherine side, glass painting

2006

Fol hiver (2.4 x 5 m) – Complexe Desjardins, metro level, glass painting

2005

Are you coming? (2.4 x 6 m) – Complexe Desjardins, first floor, glass painting

2004

Le piano vert (2 x 5.7 m) – Belgo building, lobby, acrylic on gypsum

2003

Musicians (2.7 x 15.8 m) – Complexe Desjardins, first floor, acrylic on gypsum

2002

Dis-moi (2.4 x 10.2 m) – Interquisa Canada, acrylic on gypsum

2001

L’usine (2.4 x 6 m) – Quebecor World, lobby, acrylic on gypsum

2000

Business (3 x 14.5 m) – World Trade Center, lobby, acrylic on gypsum

2000

Wait for me! (4.9 x 6.7 m) – Eaton Center, De Maisonneuve entrance, glass painting

1999

Yellow field (8 x 8.5 m) – Eaton Centre, Ste-Catherine mezzanine, painting on glass

1999

Parfums (4.9 x 6.7 m) – Eaton Centre, De Maisonneuve entrance, painting on glass

1998

Signes (1.5 x 25.5 m) – Place Versailles, central rotunda, acrylic on gypsum

1998

Écoute cette musique (1.8 x 9 m) – Marché de l’Ouest, central square, acrylic on gypsum

1997

Around the fountain I and II (2 murals, 3.3 x 12.7 m each) – Place Versailles, around the fountain, 3 m from the ground, acrylic on gypsum

1996

Hiver cubiste (2.7 x 19.4 m) – Complexe Desjardins, subway level, acrylic on gypsum

Training

Studies

1986

Bachelor of Fine Arts (jazz major, then visual arts), Concordia University, Montreal

1983-84

Jazz concentration (saxophone), St-François-Xavier University, Nova Scotia

1980

Diploma of Collegial Studies, Plastic Arts, Collège Brébeuf in Montreal and Cégep de Rivière-du-Loup

Further training

2010

Le dossier d’artiste : éléments constitutifs et stratégies de présentation
Trainer : Valérie Gill. Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels (RAAV)

2000

Art since 1968. Trainer: Thérèse St-Gelais. Université du Québec à Montréal

1999

Drawing and Design. Trainers: Jacques Coutu and Serge Gagnon. Université du Québec à Montréal, Design Department

1989

Jazz workshop. Università del Jazz, Siena, Italy. Trainers: Enrico Rava and Luigi Trovesi

1987

Painting training course with Schuyler Lake, former teacher at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Location: Ploemeur, Brittany, France

Jobs in the arts

2010-2025

Establishment of École d’art Hélène La Haye, drawing and painting for adults and children on Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal: founder, teacher, sole manager. 60 students on average per session.

2017-18

Jury member for evaluation of visual arts files for exhibition and competition (details on request)

2017

Le Processus de Création conference, Symposium d’Arts Visuels d’Anjou, Quebec
Technical demonstration and special training, for AAPARS painters
(Association des Peintres Affiliés de la Rive-Sud) St-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec

2011-2014

Painting and drawing lessons for young people, Centre La Relance

Painting and drawing lessons for adults, teens and children, Centre La Salamandre

2006-2010

Teaching visual arts, geography, science and ethics & religious culture at Académie Lavalloise, grades 1 to 6. Development of an art history program from prehistory to contemporary art for students in the 3 cycles. Various projects related to art history.

2008

Publication of jazz posters, Clicart, Fine Art Catalogue, Québec

1994-2007

Mural painter and model maker, design and production of large-scale public works in Montreal and Quebec City

1994-2005

Workshops on scenic and artistic painting, École Terre-Soleil CSSMI and École Westminster, CEPM, Montreal, Ministère de l’Éducation program Les artistes à l’école

1990-1994

Scenic painter, Cirque du Soleil, Radio-Québec, Les Productions télévisées SDA, Palais des Congrès, Old Port of Montréal

1988

Teaching drawing, École La Clé de Sol, CECM, Montreal
Teaching music, pre-kindergarten, École La Mennais, CECM, Mtl

1986-1992

Jazz concerts (alto saxophone), in Montreal, France and Italy

1975-1994

Mural painter, residential and commercial

Collections, awards and events

2022

Two grants from the Serge Lemoyne Foundation and the Fondation des Artistes

2020

Two grants from the Serge Lemoyne Foundation and the Fondation des Artistes

2019 and 2016

Ville St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, artwork acquisition

2014

Cinematography during the creation of a work
Interactive web film entitled Cerveau, musique et mémoire (Brain, music and memory) about the process of pictorial creation in relation to music, for the TV5 web platform
Production company Isabelle Raynauld (director) and TV5 in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

2010-2026

Professional artist member of the Regroupement des Artistes en Arts Visuels du Québec (RAAV)

1999

First prize in the Jury’s Choice category, Parfums glass mural, contest organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Tourisme Montréal
Jury: Danielle Sauvage, Carmen Ciotola, Nicolas Caprio and Jean-Pierre Viau

1993-94

Peinture en direct, event organized by Galerie Harrisson at the Centre de Commerce Mondial and Parc Émilie-Gamelin

1992

La langue à terre, body-painting for a dance duo at Espace Tangente with Marise Vachon and Nathalie Valiquette
Peinture en direct, at Foufounes Électriques, Ste-Catherine Street, Montreal

Bibliography

CLÉMENT Éric

“His love of drawing” LA PRESSE, April 14, 2020

MÉNARD Marie-Gabrielle

“Fais un dessin avec Hélène” ICI RADIO-CANADA, April 7, 2020

LEBLOND Marie-Andrée

” Studio en direct” TVRS, TV interview, April 30, 2018

LARAMÉE, Isabelle

“Hélène La Haye presents her characters at Arto”, LE CANADA FRANÇAIS, October 27, 2016

GAGNON, Marie-Pier

“La Ville acquiert six nouvelles œuvres d’art”, LE CANADA FRANÇAIS, August 4, 2016

HART, Daniel

“Cheating and corruption”, LA RELÈVE, November 9, 2015

VILLENEUVE, Paul

“Hélène La Haye jazze sa peinture”, JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL, June 30, 2002

REDFERN, Christine

“Captured beats”, MIRROR, July 3, 2002

MASSÉ, Isabelle

“Commerces maquillés”, LA PRESSE, April 29, 1999

BLOUIN, Yves

“De pures merveilles”, BUSINESS TALKS, December 1994

DE NARDIS, Hans

“Mit pinsel und saxophon”, ZÜRIWOCHE, February 9, 1989

(514) 567-8255 allohela@gmail.com Copyright © 2026 Hélène La Haye. All rights reserved. / Any unauthorized reproduction or distribution of works available on this site is prohibited. /
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