The purpose of the Confederation Centre Art Gallery and Museum is to inspire appreciation, understanding, and enjoyment of Canada's diverse cultural heritage by collecting, conserving, presenting, interpreting, and communicating the work of Canadian visual artists. The largest public art gallery/museum in Atlantic Canada, it offers an exceptional and varied year-round exhibition programme with exclusive reference to Canada, and special reference to Canadian Confederation. Featuring both historical and contemporary works of art, the cornerstone of the Gallery's permanent collection is the life's work of Robert Harris (1849-1919), Canada's foremost portrait artist and 'Painter of Confederation'.