June 19, 2012 Kleinburg, ON – Open Sunday, July 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with free admission and parking all day long, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection celebrates the 145th birthday of Canada—with so much “Canadiana” to explore at the gallery, the McMichael is the place to celebrate this Canada Day!
The day includes a special unveiling performance of a new “sculpture” created by Canadian artist Nicole Dextras, whose work is featured in the gallery’s current exhibition, Fashionality: Dress and Identity in Contemporary Canadian Art. Her collection of garment-like structures are made from leaves, flowers, and fruit; an art series of natural creations wittily entitled, “Weedrobes.”She is completing a new sculpture dress during her two-week residency at the gallery from June 17 to July 1 and will unveil her spectacular art work in a performance following the Canada Day ceremony.
It’s also a very fitting day (pun intended) to visit the gallery’s Fashionality exhibition, a fully entertaining exploration into Canadian diversity through dress. Using a variety of media, Canadian artists from different backgrounds express a wide range of Canadian perspectives: a dress that inflates into a tent for two, hockey gear embellished by honeybees, frozen ball gowns, a colossal lumberjack shirt, and provocative reinterpretations of traditional indigenous dress. This Canada Day, come explore your Fashionality and what it means to be woven into Canada’s national fabric!
- Free admission and parking all day long, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Canada Day ceremony and Weedrobes sculpture unveiling at 2:00 p.m.
- Birthday cake at 3:00 p.m. in the Grand Hall (while quantities last)
Be sure to celebrate Canada Day inside-out! Take a stroll on the grounds of the McMichael and revel in our beautiful landscapes epitomized in the nationally-renowned Group of Seven paintings on permanent display at the gallery, alongside Canadian Aboriginal art.
More information: www.mcmichael.com
About the McMichael Canadian Art Collection
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an agency of the Government of Ontario and acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. It is the foremost venue in the country showcasing the Group of Seven and their contemporaries. In addition to touring exhibitions, its permanent collection consists of almost 6,000 artworks, including paintings by the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, First Nations and Inuit artists. The gallery is located at 10365 Islington Avenue, north of Major Mackenzie Drive in Kleinburg. For more information about the gallery, visit www.mcmichael.com.
Media contact:
Michelle Kortinen, Communications Coordinator
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
905.893.1121 ext. 2210
mkortinen@mcmichael.com