Ottawa, July 1, 2002

In the windows of the Portrait Gallery, see a World War I flyer who was Canada's first double-gold Olympic swimmer, a future humanitarian dressed as Joan of Arc, the guru of the electronic age, the author of the first Canadian romance novel, a pigtailed, pants-wearing young woman painter about to take the film world by storm, our beloved home-grown jazz sensation and the family portrait of one of the first aboriginal artist superstars.*

This is the first in a series of ongoing installations, celebrating historical and contemporary Canadians, leading to the grand opening of the Portrait Gallery. "Expect to see the faces of people who helped to shape our country, and those who are still making a difference in our lives," said Lilly Koltun, acting Director of the Portrait Gallery, "from cultural icons to those lesser-known personalities who nevertheless played roles in defining what it means to be a Canadian."