Ausgang Plaza

1. Overview

Ausgang Plaza is a cultural presentation space located at 6524 Saint-Hubert Street, in the heart of Plaza Saint-Hubert in Montreal. Its approximately 4,500-square-foot main room hosts concerts, music nights, dance performances, screenings, exhibitions, markets, conferences and multidisciplinary events.

The history of the venue, however, does not begin under the name Ausgang Plaza. The project opened in 2015 as ARTGANG Montréal and initially had a noticeably different identity: a hybrid concept bringing together contemporary art, fashion, retail and events.

Within a few years, programming and event activity became increasingly important. This evolution led in 2018 to a break with the original concept and the adoption of a new identity: Ausgang Plaza.

2. 6524 Saint-Hubert Street

The project took shape in a large commercial space on Plaza Saint-Hubert. Before its conversion into a cultural venue, the building had notably housed a Rona store.

The transformation was significant. A space once devoted to retail gradually became a place capable of combining a gallery, boutique, events, exhibitions and live performances.

The choice of Plaza Saint-Hubert also helped define the project’s identity. A historic Montreal commercial artery, Saint-Hubert Street is characterized by considerable social, commercial and cultural diversity. This dimension would become central to the philosophy of Ausgang Plaza.

3. 2015: The Birth of ARTGANG

In June 2015, the project opened under the name ARTGANG Montréal. The concept was built around an unusual combination: a contemporary art gallery, a clothing boutique and a space capable of hosting events.

Among the people associated with the creation of the project were Louis Coupal, Alexis Massela, Louis-Charles Houle and Louis-Vincent Houle. The large former retail space was transformed in order to bring several creative activities together under one roof.

Contemporary art initially occupied an important place. ARTGANG presented exhibitions, mural projects and artists associated in particular with graffiti, street art and contemporary practices.

4. Gallery, Boutique and Events

The ARTGANG concept was based on bringing together several worlds that, at the time, were still often presented separately: visual art, independent fashion, music, urban culture and events.

Exhibitions were regularly accompanied by parties and gatherings. The gallery presented local and international artists connected with graffiti and contemporary art, while the boutique provided a showcase for clothing, objects and artistic creations.

This formula allowed 6524 Saint-Hubert to change function depending on the time of day and the event: a gallery or boutique during the day, it could become a gathering place, performance venue or music space in the evening.

This capacity for transformation would remain one of the venue’s defining characteristics even after the ARTGANG name disappeared.

5. Malick Touré and the Growth of Event Programming

Malick Touré, a DJ and artist promoter, joined the project in 2015 at the invitation of Louis-Nicholas Coupal. He later became a partner and co-founder of ARTGANG and played a major role in developing its event-programming component.

While the original project was largely oriented toward the gallery and boutique, Touré saw much broader potential in the large space. He developed programming, built relationships with promoters, artists and collectives, and helped multiply the number of events.

This evolution gradually transformed the nature of the venue. Parties and events were no longer merely an addition to the gallery’s activities: they became an essential part of its identity.

The programming also allowed emerging Montreal artists, DJs and collectives to use a professional space while retaining considerable artistic freedom.

6. 2018: ARTGANG Becomes Ausgang Plaza

After three years of activity, a major change occurred in 2018. Differences emerged among the partners regarding the overall direction of the project, particularly concerning the types of events to be developed and the respective roles of the boutique, gallery and cultural programming.

ARTGANG Montréal was then renamed Ausgang Plaza. The change was announced publicly in early June 2018 and was accompanied by a reorientation of the project’s activities.

The commercial space at the front was transformed into an event-based pop-up gallery. The concept notably allowed invited artists to take temporary possession of the space and define its visual world.

Renovations also transformed the main room, making it more minimalist and flexible. The new identity confirmed an evolution already underway for several years: events and cultural presentation were now at the centre of the project.

7. Why “Ausgang”?

The choice of the name Ausgang was directly tied to this new identity. In German, the word can refer to an exit, an outcome or a resolution.

The name was also chosen for its sound. In an English-speaking context, “Ausgang” can phonetically suggest “us gang” — the group, the collective, the “we.”

The word Plaza, meanwhile, affirms the project’s geographical roots. For those involved, the multicultural identity of Plaza Saint-Hubert is not merely a backdrop: it is part of the venue’s character.

8. A Multidisciplinary Cultural Hub

Ausgang Plaza developed as a space deliberately difficult to confine to a single category. Its room hosts music, but also contemporary dance, street dance, film, visual arts, markets, conferences and various forms of cultural events.

This approach represents one of the continuities with ARTGANG. From its beginnings, the venue functioned more as a platform than as a space specialized in one particular discipline.

Ausgang therefore works with artists, promoters, festivals, DJ collectives, cultural organizations and communities that can use the space to develop their own projects.

The organization now defines itself as a multidisciplinary presenter whose mission is to promote, energize and make Montreal’s artistic scene accessible in all its diversity.

9. Music and Concerts

Music gradually came to occupy a central place in Ausgang Plaza’s activity. Its programming, however, is not based on a single musical genre. Hip-hop, electronic music, R&B, indie, Latin music and various forms of emerging music all intersect there.

This openness stems in part from Malick Touré’s background and from the relationships developed with Montreal promoters, DJs and collectives. Ausgang thus became a space where concerts, launches, dance parties, performances and hybrid events could coexist.

Developing artists can share the bill with more established musicians, while collectives use the room to create events tailored to their own communities.

For the Montréal Concert Poster Archive, this diversity makes Ausgang particularly representative of an evolution in Montreal’s twenty-first-century cultural scene: the boundaries between concert venue, gallery, club, community space and cultural centre become deliberately permeable.

10. Diversity and Accessibility

The desire to democratize access to culture gradually became one of the central principles of Ausgang Plaza. The project seeks to move beyond the traditional gallery audience and welcome a public more reflective of Montreal’s cultural diversity.

This direction is reflected in the venue’s collaborations: DJ collectives, cultural communities, queer events, dance, feminist cinema, Latin music and projects emerging from different independent Montreal scenes.

The objective is therefore not only to diversify the disciplines presented, but also the people producing the events, the artists occupying the stage and the audiences they address.

11. A Space in Constant Transformation

Ausgang Plaza’s main room covers approximately 4,500 square feet. Rather than imposing a permanent configuration, the space is designed to be transformed according to the needs of each event.

The stage does not necessarily occupy a fixed position and can be moved as needed. The furniture is also modular, and a light-coloured wall can be used for projections. This flexibility makes it possible to move from a standing concert to an exhibition, screening, market, dance competition, conference or cabaret-style configuration.

This modularity is not merely a technical characteristic. It is one of the project’s fundamental ideas dating back to ARTGANG: the venue should be able to reinvent itself according to the people and communities occupying it.

12. A Cultural Venue on Plaza Saint-Hubert

Ausgang Plaza is inseparable from its location. Plaza Saint-Hubert has a long commercial history, but it is also a space where different Montreal communities have intersected for generations.

ARTGANG’s arrival in 2015 took place during a period of transformation on the commercial strip. By converting a former large retail store into a space devoted to creation, the project contributed to the emergence of a new cultural function on Saint-Hubert Street.

When the name Ausgang Plaza was adopted in 2018, the addition of the word “Plaza” became a way of explicitly affirming this attachment to the neighbourhood and its multicultural environment.

13. Legacy

The history of Ausgang Plaza illustrates the gradual transformation of a cultural project rather than the simple opening of a new concert venue. The space began as an experiment combining contemporary art gallery, boutique and events before cultural presentation gradually became dominant.

This evolution largely explains its current identity. Ausgang never completely abandoned the hybrid logic of its beginnings: visual arts, fashion, music, dance, film and urban culture continue to intersect there.

Ten years after ARTGANG opened, the venue celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2025. What had begun in a former Rona store had by then become an enduring cultural space on Plaza Saint-Hubert and a presentation venue for numerous Montreal artists, collectives and communities.

14. Timeline

Before 2015 — The space at 6524 Saint-Hubert Street had notably been occupied by a Rona store before its conversion into a cultural venue.

June 2015 — ARTGANG Montréal opens as a hybrid project combining a contemporary art gallery, boutique and event space.

2015 — Malick Touré joins the project and contributes to the development of its programming and event component.

2015–2017 — ARTGANG develops exhibitions, events, mural projects, music nights and collaborations with artists and collectives.

2018 — Differences in vision among the partners lead to a reorientation of the project.

June 2018 — ARTGANG Montréal officially becomes Ausgang Plaza.

2018 — The front boutique space is reoriented toward an event-based pop-up gallery model. The main room is also modified to increase its flexibility.

Late 2010s — Ausgang Plaza consolidates its role as a multidisciplinary presenter and further develops its music, cultural and community programming.

2020s — The venue continues collaborating with artists, festivals, promoters, DJ collectives, cultural communities and Montreal organizations.

2025 — Ausgang Plaza celebrates the tenth anniversary of the project that began as ARTGANG in 2015.

Today — Ausgang Plaza remains a nonprofit organization and multidisciplinary presentation space at 6524 Saint-Hubert Street.