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In 2017, as part of the Montreal’s 375th anniversary, the Brigade Arts Affaires de Montréal (BAAM) bequeathed a piece of public art to the city. This gift constitutes a privileged access to new economic and political articulations within the Montreal’s cultural milieu, particularly exacerbated by the context of commemoration. Through a discourse analysis, this article seeks to examine more specifically how the involvement of this group of philanthropists re-articulates the ideals of citizen participation and responsibility, as well as development of the city through art. This analysis also highlights the openness of the political milieu to the participation of an elitist public, whose voices and practices modulate, through art, the Montreal space.