[URBAN NOTE] "Once Upon A City: Art finds a home on The Grange"
The Toronto Star's Janice Bradbeer tells the story of how, from humble beginning, the Art Gallery of Ontario got its start.
The Ontario Society of Artists, led by president George Reid, drew a stroke of colour across winter’s white canvas in January 1900 to create the Art Museum of Toronto - later to become the Art Gallery of Ontario.
For decades the group of local citizens, who formed the Society in 1872, wanted a permanent venue to exhibit their art, rather than in venues along industrious King St.
Toronto at the beginning of the 20th century was booming with a population of 208,000 recorded in 1901 - second only in size to Montreal in the Dominion of Canada.
And what a city Toronto was. Why, there was a sewage system in place, flushable toilets, electric lights and navigable streets paved with asphalt. Horse-drawn streetcars had been replaced by electric ones. Majestic buildings, such as the Old City Hall and at the University of Toronto, dotted the landscape.
But the cultural side went unseeded.
Much more at the website.
The Ontario Society of Artists, led by president George Reid, drew a stroke of colour across winter’s white canvas in January 1900 to create the Art Museum of Toronto - later to become the Art Gallery of Ontario.
For decades the group of local citizens, who formed the Society in 1872, wanted a permanent venue to exhibit their art, rather than in venues along industrious King St.
Toronto at the beginning of the 20th century was booming with a population of 208,000 recorded in 1901 - second only in size to Montreal in the Dominion of Canada.
And what a city Toronto was. Why, there was a sewage system in place, flushable toilets, electric lights and navigable streets paved with asphalt. Horse-drawn streetcars had been replaced by electric ones. Majestic buildings, such as the Old City Hall and at the University of Toronto, dotted the landscape.
But the cultural side went unseeded.
Much more at the website.