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The Market Gallery 2008 Exhibits & Events
Current Exhibits
City of Toronto Cultural Services, through its Market Gallery program, presents Over Any Distance Imaginable: The Royal Mail from York from October 25, 2008 to February 28, 2009. This exhibition, courtesy of Toronto's First Post Office, offers insight into a tumultuous period of our history, the 1830s, and one in which letters were the only form of long-distance communication.
Toronto's First Post Office is the custodian of an unparalleled collection of artefacts relating to early 19th century communication. Writing and post-office paraphernalia and the letters that passed back and forth over the counter manned by Postmaster James Scott Howard tell the stories of Toronto's early citizens and of how their words were transported around the world — over rough water and even rougher roads — or lost along the way. Mr. Howard's own rise and abrupt fall in the postal service during the 1837 rebellion is also examined.
Over Any Distance Imaginable evokes a city undergoing exponential growth due to immigration from the old world, and a population experiencing both hope and doubt in the new one. It also chronicles an episode of armed revolution, when the new world rebelled against the old, that eventually precipitated the formation of this country we call Canada.
For more information on museums and art centres in the City's Culture Division, visit www.toronto.ca/culture. Download the poster here. (PDF)
Previous Exhibits and Events
Art & Artefact showcases rarely seen fine and decorative art from the City of Toronto Fine Art Collection and the Museum and Heritage Services Collection, Toronto Culture. The display is focused around pairings of paintings and objects that portray complementary themes, events, trends and phenomena, all relevant to the City's character, past and present.
Art & Artefact surveys a wide range of material in order to find relationships between paintings and artefacts found in the City's collections, including the Eaton Collection. The exhibit is the culmination of guest curator Neil Brochu's work over the past several years cataloguing and studying works in the City of Toronto Fine Art Collection and the Museum and Heritage Services Historical Collection, and reflects his interest and work in fine and decorative art as they relate to local history.
Presented in partnership with Arts Services and Museum and Heritage Services, Culture. Download the postcard here (PDF).
Join us for a history presentation and behind-the-scenes tour, every hour on the hour, from 10 a.m. While in the neighbourhood, be sure to check out other historical buildings such as St. Lawrence Hall, Toronto's First Post Office, The Distillery District and many more. For more information: www.doorsopen.org.
Over one hundred years ago Toronto's garment industry had its beginnings on Spadina Avenue. Join Storyteller Fay Wilkinson amidst the Market Gallery's exhibit A Common Thread as she brings to life stories of this fascinating aspect of Toronto's history.
A Common Thread chronicles the history of the garment industry that began over one hundred years ago and centred around Spadina Avenue.
Photographs, vintage clothing and other items including old sewing machines provide a colourful backdrop to this fascinating aspect of Toronto’s history. This exhibit explores a wide variety of issues such as immigrant opportunities, working conditions, union activity as well as individual stories of those who worked in this industry.
Curated by Dorion Liebgott of the Beth Tzedec Reuben and Helene Dennis Museum and supported with a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, this exhibit highlights the Jewish community which was an integral part of the industry’s development and which still closely identifies with the trade. The exhibit also looks at other immigrant groups including Italians, Greeks, Portuguese and Asians who have also contributed to the success of the local garment industry.
Download a PDF of the invitation here.
The first retrospective of Enid Robbie’s work from 1952 to 1987 features over 50 pieces from the private family collection which have never been on exhibit before, as well as works from corporate collections.
The show focuses on Enid Robbie’s preoccupation with humanist urbanism and the documentation of what might have been lost had the Cold War of the 1950s, 60s and 70s ceased to be a stalemate. From paintings of iconic buildings in Toronto to detailed renderings of cities around the world, Enid Robbie has captured the history of various urban centres.
For more on this committed urban artist, visit www.enidrobbie.com
Current Exhibits
October 25, 2008 - February 22, 2009
Over Any Distance Imaginable:
The Royal Mail from York
The Royal Mail from York
City of Toronto Cultural Services, through its Market Gallery program, presents Over Any Distance Imaginable: The Royal Mail from York from October 25, 2008 to February 28, 2009. This exhibition, courtesy of Toronto's First Post Office, offers insight into a tumultuous period of our history, the 1830s, and one in which letters were the only form of long-distance communication.
Toronto's First Post Office is the custodian of an unparalleled collection of artefacts relating to early 19th century communication. Writing and post-office paraphernalia and the letters that passed back and forth over the counter manned by Postmaster James Scott Howard tell the stories of Toronto's early citizens and of how their words were transported around the world — over rough water and even rougher roads — or lost along the way. Mr. Howard's own rise and abrupt fall in the postal service during the 1837 rebellion is also examined.
Over Any Distance Imaginable evokes a city undergoing exponential growth due to immigration from the old world, and a population experiencing both hope and doubt in the new one. It also chronicles an episode of armed revolution, when the new world rebelled against the old, that eventually precipitated the formation of this country we call Canada.
For more information on museums and art centres in the City's Culture Division, visit www.toronto.ca/culture. Download the poster here. (PDF)
Previous Exhibits and Events
June 21 - October 19, 2008
Art & Artefact: Fine and Decorative Art from the City of Toronto’s Collections
Art & Artefact showcases rarely seen fine and decorative art from the City of Toronto Fine Art Collection and the Museum and Heritage Services Collection, Toronto Culture. The display is focused around pairings of paintings and objects that portray complementary themes, events, trends and phenomena, all relevant to the City's character, past and present.
Art & Artefact surveys a wide range of material in order to find relationships between paintings and artefacts found in the City's collections, including the Eaton Collection. The exhibit is the culmination of guest curator Neil Brochu's work over the past several years cataloguing and studying works in the City of Toronto Fine Art Collection and the Museum and Heritage Services Historical Collection, and reflects his interest and work in fine and decorative art as they relate to local history.
Presented in partnership with Arts Services and Museum and Heritage Services, Culture. Download the postcard here (PDF).
Saturday, May 24th, 10:00 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Doors Open
Join us for a history presentation and behind-the-scenes tour, every hour on the hour, from 10 a.m. While in the neighbourhood, be sure to check out other historical buildings such as St. Lawrence Hall, Toronto's First Post Office, The Distillery District and many more. For more information: www.doorsopen.org.
Saturday March 29th, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon
One Stitch at a Time: Stories from the Spadina Garment District
Over one hundred years ago Toronto's garment industry had its beginnings on Spadina Avenue. Join Storyteller Fay Wilkinson amidst the Market Gallery's exhibit A Common Thread as she brings to life stories of this fascinating aspect of Toronto's history.
March 8 – June 15, 2008
A Common Thread: A History of Toronto’s Garment Industry
A Common Thread chronicles the history of the garment industry that began over one hundred years ago and centred around Spadina Avenue.
Photographs, vintage clothing and other items including old sewing machines provide a colourful backdrop to this fascinating aspect of Toronto’s history. This exhibit explores a wide variety of issues such as immigrant opportunities, working conditions, union activity as well as individual stories of those who worked in this industry.
Curated by Dorion Liebgott of the Beth Tzedec Reuben and Helene Dennis Museum and supported with a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, this exhibit highlights the Jewish community which was an integral part of the industry’s development and which still closely identifies with the trade. The exhibit also looks at other immigrant groups including Italians, Greeks, Portuguese and Asians who have also contributed to the success of the local garment industry.
Download a PDF of the invitation here.
December 1, 2007 - March 2, 2008
In Praise of Cities: Works by Enid Robbie
The first retrospective of Enid Robbie’s work from 1952 to 1987 features over 50 pieces from the private family collection which have never been on exhibit before, as well as works from corporate collections.
The show focuses on Enid Robbie’s preoccupation with humanist urbanism and the documentation of what might have been lost had the Cold War of the 1950s, 60s and 70s ceased to be a stalemate. From paintings of iconic buildings in Toronto to detailed renderings of cities around the world, Enid Robbie has captured the history of various urban centres.
For more on this committed urban artist, visit www.enidrobbie.com