About | McMichael Canadian Art Collection

Land Acknowledgement

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is located on the original lands of the Ojibwe Anishinaabe and Huron-Wendat People. It is uniquely situated along the Carrying Place Trail which historically provided an integral connection for Indigenous people between Ontario’s Lakeshore and the Lake Simcoe-Georgian Bay Region. As an institution McMichael recognizes the importance of acknowledging the original territories of the Ojibwe Anishinaabe and Huron-Wendat First Nations people.

Celebrating The Art of Canada

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is the largest publicly funded gallery in Canada that focuses exclusively on Canadian and Indigenous art, both historical and contemporary. The permanent collection consists of more than 7,000 artworks by Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven, their contemporaries, and First Nations, Métis, Inuit and contemporary artists who have contributed to the development of Canadian art. As custodians of the Cape Dorset (Kinngait) Archive, the McMichael is also the gallery of record for works on paper from the Inuit community of Cape Dorset (Kinngait), which totals nearly 100,000 artworks.

Built of fieldstone and hand-hewn logs in a modernist design, the McMichael houses thirteen exhibition galleries where floor-to-ceiling windows enable visitors to enjoy views of the Humber River Valley. Beyond the galleries are 100 acres of forested land, from a ridgetop ‘wilderness garden,’ planted by the founders to echo the northern forest beloved of the Group of Seven, to the Minokamik Garden, to heritage wetlands and waterways.

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an Agency of the Government of Ontario.

OUR FOUNDATION

GOVERNANCE AND REPORTS

FACILITIES & RENTALS

MEDIA RELEASES

CAREERS

The McMichael displays a wide range of exhibitions each year that are curated from the permanent collection and borrowed from other major institutions and private collections. The McMichael is a Category A gallery, and adheres to the highest standards of environmental and security norms for the protection of the works of art on display.

Environmental Sustainability

The McMichael is committed to ensuring environmental sustainability and reducing its impact on the environment, as evidenced by its installation of interior and exterior LED lighting, solar panels, high efficiency/low flow washroom fixtures, and its use of energy efficient equipment and green cleaning products throughout the facility.

Accessibility

The McMichael believes strongly in design for all and is working towards creating inclusive grounds and interiors. We offer a wide range of accessible programs, and have won many awards for our accessible design.

OUR HISTORY

“…we were consciously envisioning a publicly owned gallery and actively planning and collecting for it, convinced that [it would] would one day blossom into a distinctively Canadian sanctuary that could be enjoyed by all. Our enthusiasm had been infectious and persuaded many of those who shared our vision to give us their paintings. It was an extraordinary demonstration of trust that turned our plans from a personal desire for the fulfillment of our ideas to a deeply felt moral obligation.”

– Robert McMichael, One Man’s Obsession (Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., 1986), p.148

RESEARCH

The research collection of the McMichael Library/Archives focuses on Canadian art, with a strong emphasis on the Group of Seven, as well as Inuit and First Nations art and culture.

Our holdings include books, exhibition catalogues, periodicals, artists’ files, slides, and archival materials. Researchers can access artists’ photographs, letters and journals, manuscripts, sketchbooks, and a comprehensive collection of commercial work by the Group of Seven.

The library also has an extensive collection of books designed and/or illustrated by Canadian artists, among them A.Y. Jackson, J.E.H. MacDonald, Edwin Holgate, Franklin Carmichael, F.H. Varley, and Clarence Gagnon.

The Library/Archives is currently closed to researchers due to public health restrictions. Until we re-open to the public, please feel free to email with your reference and research inquiries.

BOARD & STAFF

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection’s Board of Trustees and the McMichael Canadian Art Foundation are both governed by members who bring a wide range of skills and experience to the McMichael.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSION VISION STATEMENT

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection strives to ensure a positive and meaningful experience for all people, respecting race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation and cognitive and/or physical exceptionalities. This work is never over. We commit to continually reaffirming our dedication to diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion as expressed through our exhibitions, public and educational programs, outreach, visitor services, hiring practices and internal procedures.

Vision

To be recognized as an extraordinary place to visit and explore Canadian culture and identity, and the connections between art and nature.

Extraordinary place to visit
A physical and virtual gathering place that provides an engaging and continually changing experience to targeted audiences and communities, driving new and repeat visits.

Explore Canadian Culture and Identity
Enabling our visitors to understand who we are as Canadians and where we fit in the global context over time, through the medium of art.

Connections between art and nature
Bringing together and integrating the visual arts with the natural world and creating a cultural landscape uniting the visual arts with the natural world.

ABOUT US