TOM Talks explore themes and issues brought to light by our current exhibitions. Always free, and always intriguing.

Please join us as Dick Averns gives an illustrated talk, addressing his work in the current exhibition If it Weren't for the War, and discussing war art in general. An interdisciplinary artist and writer, Dick Averns' practice probes how spaces are valued, bought, sold, exchanged, bartered or fought over. An official war artist, Averns was deployed with the Multinational Force and Observers and is also the first non-fiction writer selected as a Canadian war artist, to publish research into official war art and the War on Terror. All are welcome.
Current Exhibitions at the TOM
Until January 11, 2015
If It Weren't for the War
If It Weren't for the War brings together work by Allan Harding MacKay and Dick Averns (contemporary official war artists), Tim Whiten (a Vietnam Veteran) and Tina Poplawski (whose family was interned in Siberian gulags during the Second World War, suffering post traumatic stress that was visited upon subsequent generations in her family). Each of these artists will draw upon their personal experiences to create work responding to the theme.
The Art of Private Jukes
While overseas during the Great War, many soldiers documented their experiences in journals, letters home and in drawings. Private Jukes was one such young man. During his time of service he created hundreds of drawings, watercolours and pen and ink sketches depicting not only battle scenes and their aftermath but also moments of pastoral beauty that could still be found in the French countryside.
Autumn Colours
Selections from the Gallery's Collection
Of all the visual elements of art, colour has the most immediate impact on us. Our reaction to it is complex, and has been a subject of considerable study by artists and psychologists. This autumn, we showcase the artists' use of a single colour to create that big impact.
Ongoing:
Canadian Spirit: The Tom Thomson Experience
Gallery Shop Special Project
A Tribute to Backroad Craft
The Tom Thomson Art Gallery Shop is organizing an exhibition and sale of rural fine craft. This show celebrates and highlights the fine craft practice of makers from rural regions of Grey and Bruce Counties. Demonstrating that a thriving arts culture is sustainable outside of larger city areas, this exhibition highlights the quality of fine craft makers in these backroad rural escapes. The Gallery Shop is seeking submissions from all makers who are interested in contributing works in all fine craft mediums. Please see submission guidelines below for more details. The show is non-juried however the Gallery reserves the right to decline work at its discretion. The works will be for sale through the Gallery Shop.
Source - Tom Thomson Art Gallery