Private Group Tours and Workshops

The McMichael offers a suite of virtual and in‑person experiences to inspire your friends, family and colleagues with the art of Canada!

Whether you’re planning a corporate meeting, birthday party or wine-and-cheese event, add an artistic touch with a paid private guided tour of one of our current exhibitions or have your guests explore their creative side with an in‑studio workshop. All tours are led by an experienced McMichael docent.

Our interactive and inspiring programs will rejuvenate and entertain your group.

The booking process can be started quickly and easily by completing the Inquiry Form below. Once submitted, McMichael staff will follow up to confirm all booking details.

This virtual overview of Indigenous art at the McMichael, including iconic works from past and current exhibitions, will highlight the cultural and stylistic diversity of Indigenous artists, while addressing the common challenges experienced by their communities, such as Canadian policies of cultural assimilation, the residential school system and forced displacement.

Enjoy this virtual guided tour of our permanent collection on display. Executive Director Ian Dejardin selected works for this exhibition with an aim to convey something of the collections current breadth, taking particular pleasure in placing apparently disparate works in creative conversation with one another.

Bring your group to experience the spirit of Canada at the McMichael. We will be thrilled to plan a day that meets your group’s interests, providing a unique art-viewing experience in a natural setting. Choose a tour of the permanent collection or special exhibitions, enjoy an art workshop or a presentation. Customized itineraries with specially tailored workshops can be arranged for groups of 10 or more.

Discover what’s new at the McMichael with one of the following in-person tours. Each tour provides an overview of artworks, great for guests new to the gallery and for frequent visitors wanting to revisit their favourite artists and artworks.

This in-person engagement of the permanent collection focuses on the most important aspects of the McMichael’s art of Canada collection, such as the paintings of Group of Seven and their contemporaries, modern Inuit, and Indigenous art, as well as more recent contemporary artistic movements.

Looking for a tour on a specific artist? Choose from the following special exhibitions to create a customized tour suited to the interest of your group:

This tour leads guests through the Canadian art pantheon in our exhibition which features diverse works selected from the Gallery’s extensive permanent collection. Aimed to convey something of its current breadth and taking particular pleasure in placing apparently disparate works in creative conversation with one another, the tour will explore works from the Group of Seven, Emily Carr, David Milne, Kenoujuak Ashevak, Edward Burtynsky, Gershon Iskowitz, Tom Thomson and others.

In the late 19th century, the Impressionist movement found a footing in Canada, and Quebec artists quickly responded with works of rare beauty and sophistication. Many Quebec artists trained in France during this period, carrying the pollen of European modernism back with them to Canadian soil. Landscape and city scenes were staples of their work, and this show will assemble a choice collection of master works that trace a journey from the bustling streets of Montreal, down the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City and through the beloved Charlevoix region.

his rare examination of the work of painter Alexander Young (A.Y.) Jackson in the decade before the Group of Seven’s formation in 1920. Jackson’s Wars features rarely seen paintings made during the artist’s trips abroad to study painting in Italy, Belgium, and France, as well as his evocative depictions of rural Quebec and Ontario made upon his return. Of particular note will be a handpicked selection of Jackson’s paintings made during the First World War depicting the devastation of the battlefields in France, which would have a lingering impact on his interpretations of the Canadian landscape.

Due to conservation concerns, these delicate artworks can only be displayed once every three years and the McMichael is delighted to have them on view for the 2024 holiday season. Completed in the early 1930s, these are the final paintings made for what is arguably the most famous illustrated book by a Canadian artist: Maria Chapdelaine, a novel written by the French novelist Louis Hémon and published in 1933 by Éditions Mornay in Paris

Growing up on the Canadian/American border in Windsor, Ontario, in the 1950s and 1960s, Scott developed an acute awareness of American politics and militarism. Depictions of stealth bombers, firearms, and tanks were used by Scott to comment on human vulnerability and the threat of nuclear arms, violence, and the threat of tyranny—all subjects expressed in his raw and urgent graphic style.

This once-in-a-generation exhibition of more than 200 works will foreground the cultural continuities of life in Kinngait in the face of dramatic societal change over more than five decades. The adaptability and resilience of this unique community has been documented in works that depict intergenerational knowledge transfer, community building, and boundless imagination. This exhibition will reveal overlooked bodies of work by some of the country’s most beloved artists including Kenojuak Ashevak, Pitseolak Ashoona, Kananginak Pootoogook, and Pudlo Pudlat as well as introduce audiences to hitherto unknown artists whose work was suppressed by the aims of the print program that prioritized the tastes of settler markets in the South.

Follow along with a McMichael Instructor as they guide your group through the steps of making a creative acrylic painting. Painting techniques and methods will be put into practice with the creation of your own artwork. Choose from the following themes to guide your artmaking: explore the genre of landscape painting, try your hand at a still life, or dive deeper into colour exploration by focusing on colour theory.

Explore the medium of watercolour paint with a McMichael instructor who will guide your group through techniques, tips and tricks to create their own unique artwork. Choose from the following themes to focus artmaking on specific genre or painting skill: seasonal landscape painting, still life or colour theory.

Engage with the versatile medium of oil pastels with an experienced McMichael Instructor to create your own artwork inspired by your choice of theme. Explore how oil pastels can transform a still life, express a seasonal landscape, or help develop your sense of colour theory with this creative and expressive medium.

This unique stress-relieving outdoor/indoor workshop is inspired by the Japanese tradition of shinrin yoku (forest bathing). The workshop begins with a silent meditation walk on the McMichael’s grounds, combined with en plein air sketching activities. Back in the studio, participants will reflect on their outdoor experience by using their preliminary sketch to create a polished painting during an instructor-led watercolour workshop.

This accessible stroll will cover several historic landmarks of the McMichael’s grounds, such as the original McMichael home, Thomson Shack and Cemetery, as well as outdoor sculptures and art installations. The conversation will revolve around the presence and legacy of various Indigenous communities in the Humber River Valley corridor known as The Carrying Place Trail, and address the cultural and environmental impact of the settler politics.

Guests will also explore Signe and Robert McMichael’s vision of the grounds surrounding their home from the perspective of their planting and outdoor art strategy. The tour will stop at the newly named Minokamik Garden to introduce a new ecological approach in the cultivation and maintenance of the gallery grounds.

Based on a direct interaction with art and nature, this workshop encourages relaxation along with art and nature appreciation. Participants will enjoy a short silent meditation walk/observation on the gallery grounds followed by a discussion circle and an en plein air sketching activity will allow participants to reflect on their observations.

*Please note, this program can be adapted to accommodate any individuals living with cognitive and/or mobility needs.

To host a group of 10 or more people on our grounds, you will have to purchase a Picnic Permit.

To start the conversation about how to create the perfect programming according to your group’s interests, please contact Angela Poletto, Associate Director, Sales and Community Engagement, at 905.893.1121 ext. 2536 or by email.