Melvin Charney (28 August 1935 – 17 September 2012) was a Canadian artist and architect.
He was born in 1935, and grew up in a working-class family in The Plateau neighbourhood of Montreal, the eldest of three sons of Hyman and Fanny Charney.
Fanny was originally from what is now Belarus, and worked in a sewing factory.
Hyman Charney was from Poland, and worked as a paint salesman as well as an accomplished woodworker and decorator, creating doors for synagogues and churches.
Hyman was also interested in visual arts, and from a young age, Melvin took Saturday classes at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
His submission, while not successful, signalled Charney's shift away from building design to public art.
His depiction of historic buildings demolished to make way for Expo 67 and the Montreal Olympic Games in the short-lived Corrid’art exhibit is reported to be a primary reason why mayor Jean Drapeau ordered the exhibition demolished.