Musée de Charlevoix

The Musée de Charlevoix traces its origins to 1946, when Roland Gagné, a passionate collector based in Pointe-au-Pic near La Malbaie, founded a private museum behind his residence, naming it the Laure-Conan Regional Museum in tribute to this pioneering Charlevoix writer. This modest initiative took on new institutional dimensions in 1975, when the collections were transferred to the former post office building in La Malbaie, solidifying the museum's mission as its collection grew—now comprising nearly 9,000 objects and 6,000 archival documents chronicling the region's history, ethnology, and artistic traditions. The early interest shown by renowned painters such as Clarence Gagnon and André Biéler from the early 20th century, followed by American artist Patrick Morgan, who settled in Cap-à-l'Aigle in the 1930s, profoundly shaped Charlevoix's cultural identity, making the celebration of local folk art a cornerstone of the museum's mission. The museum's four exhibition galleries, including a rooftop terrace offering contemplative views of the Saint Lawrence River, welcome around ten temporary exhibitions annually, alternating between artist retrospectives and thematic explorations of the region's ethnohistory, in a setting designed to welcome both families and the most discerning art enthusiasts.