The Staff and Advisory Committee of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery are thrilled to announce the re-opening of the Gallery to the public on March 6, 2021. The Gallery is thrilled to present the new exhibition David Beirk: A Sanctuary for Thought and to unveil a major community engagement project titled #myessential which reflects on what the pandemic has highlighted as essential in our lives. The popular exhibition Group of Seven: The View from Here will continue with its incredible showcasing of the Gallery’s collection of Group of Seven works.
To protect the health and wellbeing of visitors and staff, the Gallery will continue to have protocols for visiting in place. These protocols include a limit of 10 visitors permitted inside the Gallery at a time, the requirement of a face covering, and limited hours to allow for an enhanced cleaning regimen. The Gallery’s hours will be, Wednesday – Saturday, 12 noon – 4:00 p.m. The Gallery appreciates your ongoing cooperation during this time, as new protocols have been implemented to ensure the health and safety of everyone. Full details of the Gallery’s health and safety protocols can be found on our website.
David Beirk: A Sanctuary for Thought
On View: March 6 – May 1, 2021
A Sanctuary for Thought presents works from the Gallery’s Collection – some never before seen – that highlight Bierk’s anxieties over a threatened ecological landscape and the erosion of beauty, humanism, and morality in art. His paintings offer reverence for the artists who came before him and provide cautionary eulogies to the earth and sky that surround us.
#myessential
On View: March 6 – May 1, 2021
What is essential to you? This is a question we should be thinking about as a community during the global pandemic, urging critical reflection on what we deem vital. #myessential is a collaborative mural project led by local artist JP Morel and guided by the imaginative virtual responses, creations, and spirit of local youth who collectively answered this important question. Through past, present, and future vantage points, the mural offers a visual diary of the “new normal” we are living in, sharing the experiences of our youth and what they consider essential now more than ever.
We invite you to contribute to this community project by responding to the question What is Essential to You? and sharing your #myessential with us in the Gallery space and on social media.
"We are thrilled to re-open with a compelling new exhibition, a favourite returning exhibition, and the newly launched interactive community project #myessential. At the TOM, we know that our essential is you! We look forward to welcoming you back," says Aidan Ware, Director and Chief Curator, Tom Thomson Art Gallery.
source: media release, Tom Thomson Art Gallery
