The McMichael is temporarily closed
to begin a once-in-a-generation transformation.

We look forward
to welcoming you back in 2029.

Past
Exhibitions

Derek Sullivan: Field Notes

FEB 8 — JUL 1, 2025

This solo exhibition highlights a recent body of work by the leading Toronto-based conceptual artist Derek Sullivan. The works on display were inspired by Sullivan’s twelve-month site-study of Shift, a landart work by the American sculptor Richard Serra long-hidden in a field in King, Ontario.

John Scott: Firestorm

DEC 7 — MAY 11, 2025

John Scott: Firestorm presents the work of the late Canadian artist John Scott (1950–2022), gathering paintings, drawings, and sculptures made by Scott from the 1980s through the 2010s.

Maria Chapdelaine

NOV 23, 2024 — FEB 17, 2025

Among the great treasures of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection is a group of 54 jewel-like miniatures by the artist Clarence Gagnon.

In the late 19th century, Quebec artists embraced Impressionism, blending European modernism with Canadian landscapes and city scenes. This exhibition highlights masterworks from Montreal to Charlevoix, enriched with archival photography and artifacts that reveal the heart of Quebec’s cultural identity.

Jackson’s Wars: A.Y. Jackson before the Group of Seven explores rarely seen works from his travels in Europe and rural Canada, including powerful First World War battlefield paintings, offering a fresh perspective on the legacy of one of Canada’s most significant artists.

Presenting recent sculptures by Anishinaabe/French artist Caroline Monnet, Pizandawatc explores language reclamation, ancestral memory, and intergenerational transmission. The title, meaning “the one who listens,” honours Monnet’s great‑grandmother and reflects a receptive way of being central to her practice. This version is 49 words, keeping it under 50 while preserving the key themes. Would you like me to also craft a shorter, 30‑word promotional blurb for visitor‑facing materials?

People of the Watershed: Photographs by John Macfie includes more than 100 photographs taken by John Macfie (1925–2018), a settler trapline manager who worked in Northern Ontario in the 1950s and 1960s.

In June 2024, Toronto-based artist Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka (b. 1988) undertook an artist residency in the historic Tom Thomson Shack at the McMichael. The resulting project, Final Gasp of the Nervous System, responds to the natural environment and evokes personal and collective resilience in response to mental health struggles and the looming climate crisis.

Jen Aitken: The Forest for the Trees

JUN 1 — OCT 11, 2024

From June 9 through July 3, 2022, the McMichael welcomed Toronto-based artist Jen Aitken to the Tom Thomson Shack as part of the RBC Emerging Artist Residency at the McMichael.