The TD Gallery at Toronto Reference Library is small but mighty. This free gallery’s mandate is to showcase art, artifacts, manuscripts and more from Toronto Public Library’s extensive Special Collections. If you happen to be in the Yonge & Bloor area, it’s worth stopping by to see what wonderful stuff is on display. I could …
In 1972, the Campbell House (Museum), built in 1822, was moved to University & Queen from its original location 1.5 km southeast at Adelaide & Jarvis. Yesterday, during my visit, I happened to meet a woman who said she’d witnessed this extraordinary event. What a sight it must have been! The Toronto Public Library catalogue’s caption of …
Have you ever seen people with their hair made to stand on end by touching a Van de Graaff generator? During my visit to The Ontario Science Centre yesterday, I learned that over two million people have had that experience with static electricity in Toronto, including one lucky girl during yesterday’s “The Energy Show” (similar to the …
On one of the coldest nights of the year, and the day after the most snow Toronto’s seen in a decade, I spent some time warming up by walking through The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), reacquainting myself with the collections. I wasn’t familiar with the Indigenous galleries (I think they were under renovation for some time?) …
My previous visit to Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada (a Fish Museum, so it qualifies for my #100museums challenge) had been on a Friday Night Jazz evening, with alcohol. This time, with six billion children running around, was just as fun, and I could pay even more attention to the captions. Plus, with no glass in hand, …
ANIMALIA: Animals in the Archives, an onsite exhibit at the Archives of Ontario at York University, is outstanding. When I first learned from Alison Little, Senior Coordinator, Educational Programming and Exhibitions at the Archives of Ontario, that the Archives would be mounting an animal-themed exhibit, I envisioned something similar to their (and her) 2017 Family Focus exhibition …
I’m reminded of an episode of the Twilight Zone starring Burgess Meredith, in which he finds himself alone after a nuclear war, in the remains of the public library with all the time in the world to read, at last. The twist is he then accidentally drops and breaks his glasses. Despair! My visit to …
It was a pleasure to visit the special exhibition Emperors & Jewels: Treasures of the Indian Courts from The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait at The Aga Khan Museum. The stunning huqqa pipe water reservoir above comes with the following caption. My other favourite of the 90 objects included (jewellery, paintings, many swords and daggers, glassware, etc.) was this gorgeous …
I really love the Royal Ontario Museum. Today I thought I’d try to walk through every open gallery, to reacquaint myself with all the collections on display, and I did (though it took a while, as I kept stopping to look at things – as you’re meant to do!). As ever, I’m inspired. As a …
A current exhibit on at The Textile Museum of Canada is Beads, They’re Sewn So Tight, through May 26, 2019. I’m attracted to and fond of beadwork, having grown up in a household filled with Canadian and American Indigenous artwork, and having learned to bead on a loom as a youth. So I found this …
