Curriculum Vitae
Biography
Hélène La Haye holds a bachelor’s degree in visual arts and jazz from Concordia University. After several years living in Tuscany and France, she now lives and works in Montreal. 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. She has exhibited in Zurich, Switzerland and in Montreal at the Cinémathèque Québécoise, as well as in various galleries in Quebec and Ontario.
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 has set up an art school in her own studio, which turns 14 this year. Her painting and drawing classes are based on a sensory approach to materials and gesture. With adults and young people alike, she explores imagination and observation in relation to movement and music, as she does in her own pictorial research, to which she 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
![Hélène présente ses personnages chez art[o]](https://helenelahaye.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CanadaFrancais-614x1024.jpg)
Public works (selection)
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 (visual arts and jazz), 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
The artist’s file: constituent elements and presentation strategies
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
2011-2023
Establishment of École d’art Hélène La Haye and instruction in painting and drawing for adults and young people
2017-18
Jury member for dossier evaluation (details on request)
2017
Le Processus de Création conference, Symposium d’Arts Visuels d’Anjou, Québec
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, teenagers and children, Centre La Salamandre
2006-2010
Visual arts teaching, Académie Lavalloise, grades 1 to 6
2008
Publication of jazz posters, Clicart, Fine Art Catalogue, Québec
2006-2008
Design and writing of an art history program, course for elementary school students in grades 1 to 6, Académie Lavalloise
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
Drawing teacher, École La Clé de Sol, CECM, Montreal
Music teaching, 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
Filming during the creation of a work of art
Interactive web film entitled Cerveau, musique et mémoire (Brain, music and memory) on the process of pictorial creation in relation to music, for TV5’s web platform.
Production company Isabelle Raynauld (director) and TV5 in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
2010-2023
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
Live painting, 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
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