Our picks for the best art galleries in Montreal, checked in October 2026, are Fondation PHI, Fonderie Darling, Galerie L’Original, Étude, the Belgo Building, the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, 4109A, Centre CLARK, Foil Gallery and Art Mûr. The order is by neighbourhood, not a ranking.
Syndicate runs an online shop of local brands and art products, and we link to it in this guide. No gallery on this list paid to be included or has a business relationship with us.
Syndicate answers: how do you plan a gallery day in Montreal?
Group your stops by neighbourhood, and go on a Saturday if you can. Saturday is the only day all eight galleries with regular hours are open, based on each gallery’s own hours as of October 2026. On a Monday, only Galerie L’Original and Foil Gallery list opening hours.
Old Montreal holds the tightest cluster. Fondation PHI, Galerie L’Original’s Saint-Paul Street space and Étude are all in the old city. Fonderie Darling is near Square-Victoria-OACI metro, on the edge of Griffintown.
Downtown, the Belgo Building and the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery both sit near Sainte-Catherine Street. Farther north, 4109A and L’Original’s second space are on Saint-Denis Street in the Plateau. Centre CLARK and Foil Gallery are in Mile End and Mile-Ex. Art Mûr is on its own in Rosemont, by Rosemont metro.
The guide to art galleries in Montreal that ranks first for this search, Time Out’s list dated April 2024, gives no hours or prices. We added both, and left out the bigger, more obvious museums.
Which galleries are open on which days, and which ones have clear pricing?
Every gallery below lists its own hours, except the Belgo Building, where each gallery sets its own, and 4109A, which opens only during shows.
| Gallery | Area | Open (as of October 2026) | Admission (CAD) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fondation PHI | Old Montreal | Wed–Sun | $20 regular; free 12 and under | PHI |
| Fonderie Darling | Old Montreal / Griffintown | Wed–Sun | $8; pay what you choose Thursdays | Fonderie Darling |
| Galerie L'Original | Old Montreal and Plateau | Every day | Free | L’Original |
| Étude | Old Montreal | Sat–Sun, and by appointment | Not listed | Étude |
| Belgo Building | Downtown | Varies by gallery | Not listed | Hugues Charbonneau |
| Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery | Downtown | Tue–Sat | Not listed | Ellen Gallery |
| 4109A | Plateau | During shows only | Not listed | |
| Centre CLARK | Mile End | Tue–Sat | Not listed | Centre CLARK |
| Foil Gallery | Mile-Ex | Every day | Not listed | |
| Art Mûr | Rosemont | Tue–Sat | Not listed | Art Mûr |
Fondation PHI
Fondation PHI, the well known gallery, shows contemporary art in Old Montreal. Its exhibition spaces are at 407 Saint-Pierre Street and 451 Saint-Jean Street.
Fondation PHI is closed Monday and Tuesday. It opens Wednesday to Friday from noon to 7 pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm, according to PHI’s visit page, checked October 2026. Exhibition tickets are $20 (CAD) regular, and children 12 and under get in free.
PHI says Square-Victoria-OACI and Place-d’Armes metro stations are each about a five-minute walk away.
Why it made the list: it’s easy to reach by public transit, and a must-go!
Fonderie Darling
Fonderie Darling is a contemporary art centre in a former foundry, with artists working in studios upstairs. It’s at 745 Place du Sable-Gris, near Square-Victoria-OACI metro.
Fonderie Darling has twelve studios on three floors. Eight are reserved for Montreal visual artists, who keep them for three years, according to its Montreal Studios page.
Admission at Fonderie Darling is $8, and you pay what you choose on Thursdays. It opens Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 7 pm and is wheelchair accessible, according to its contact page, checked October 2026.
Why it made the list: resident studios, Montreal artists, and easier access with public transit.
Galerie L’Original
Galerie L’Original shows street art and other work by Quebec artists, and takes mural commissions. It has two spaces: 163 Saint-Paul Street West in Old Montreal for street art, and 4455 Saint-Denis Street in the Plateau, with studios and prints.
Galerie L’Original is free and open every day from 11 am to 6 pm, with no appointment needed, according to the L’Original website, checked October 2026. Artists it features include Astro from Montreal, MONK.E from Drummondville and Labrona from Magog.
Why it made the list: street art, Quebec artists, and painting studios at the Saint-Denis location.
Étude
Étude opened in 2025 and focuses on graffiti artists and contemporary Inuit art. Its team has painted and co-produced murals for nearly thirty years, according to the gallery’s website.
Étude is at 221 Saint-Jacques Street, suite 110, in Old Montreal. It opens Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm, and by appointment, as of October 2026.
Why it made the list: street art, and an Old Montreal address you can pair when traveling to PHI and L’Original.
The Belgo Building
The Belgo Building at 372 Sainte-Catherine Street West is a downtown building filled with galleries, artist-run centres and studios.
Westmount Magazine reported on 18 June 2026 that Avenir Immobilier had bought the Belgo. The article says the new owner plans to keep the building’s cultural role.
Hours vary by gallery. Galerie Hugues Charbonneau, one tenant, says on its contact page that it opens by appointment in summer. Check each gallery before a weekday trip.
Why it made the list: conveniently, studios and galleries share one downtown roof so it’s easy to see a lot of stuff.
Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery
The Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery is Concordia University’s art gallery. It’s on the ground floor of the J.W. McConnell Library Building, 1400 De Maisonneuve Boulevard West, by Guy-Concordia metro.
The Ellen Gallery opens Tuesday to Friday from noon to 6 pm, and Saturday from noon to 5 pm. It’s wheelchair accessible, according to its information page, checked October 2026.
Why it made the list: public transit access, and student press coverage, including The Concordian’s review of its Choublak exhibition in October 2024.
4109A
4109A is a small gallery at 4109A Saint-Denis Street in the Plateau that runs short shows by local artists. Shows usually last two or three days, so check before you go.
In September 2026, 4109A showed “spinners” from September 11 to 13, from noon to 5 pm. The group show “field notes” followed on September 19 and 20, according to the 4109A Instagram page.
Why it made the list: local work, and convenient to get to on a Saint-Denis stretch with L’Original’s Plateau space and a lot of other thrift stores and vintage stores to stop by in the meantime.
Centre CLARK
Centre CLARK is an artist-run centre, a non-profit space run by artists, at 5455 De Gaspé Avenue, unit 114, in Mile End. Atelier CLARK, its production workshop, shares the address.
Centre CLARK opens Tuesday to Saturday from noon to 5 pm, according to its website, checked October 2026.
Why it made the list: Mile End location, and The Concordian listed its residency presentation in its February 2021 gallery round-up.
Foil Gallery
Foil Gallery is part gallery, part café, at 6560 Waverly Street in Mile-Ex. It opens every day from 8 am to 6 pm, according to its Instagram, checked October 2026.
Foil Gallery opened in February 2025. It was founded by digital artists Frédéric Duquette and Jo-Anie Charland after time in Vancouver, The Main reported in March 2025.
Why it made the list: Montreal artists behind it, in a Mile-Ex location that pairs well with Centre CLARK.
Art Mûr
Art Mûr is a gallery at 5826 Saint-Hubert Street, by Rosemont metro station. Tourisme Montréal describes it as a three-storey art hub.
Art Mûr opens Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 am to 6 pm, Thursday and Friday from 11 am to 7 pm, and Saturday from noon to 5 pm. It’s closed Sunday and Monday, according to its website, checked October 2026.
Why it made the list: metro access and some great selection.
How did we choose these galleries?
Syndicate put this list together to group these galleries by a few common metrics: galleries that majorly feature street art, spaces where visitors might meet with artists working in studios on site, and gallery spaces featuring local work by real Montrealers. They’re also relatively accessible with public transit, are based in a walkable neighbourhood, and bring you closer to Montreal’s art scene.
We left out the larger, more obvious and easy-to-find museums, such as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, because most visitors find them anyway.
Hours, prices and addresses here were checked in October 2026. Galleries change them often, so check the linked pages before you go.
Want to take a piece of Montreal home? Browse prints and local brands in our shop.
