Gallery Arcturus

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Gallery Arcturus
Exterior view of Gallery Arcturus
Gallery Arcturus is located in Toronto
Gallery Arcturus
Location of the museum in Toronto
Established1994
Location80 Gerrard Street East
Toronto, Ontario
M5B 1G6
Coordinates43°39′36″N 79°22′41″W / 43.6600986°N 79.3780152°W / 43.6600986; -79.3780152
TypeArt museum
CuratorDeborah Harris
Public transit access College, Dundas
 506 ,  505 
Websitewww.arcturus.ca

Gallery Arcturus is an art gallery and museum in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near Toronto Metropolitan University and Church and Wellesley in the Garden District neighbourhood, on Gerrard Street East. The gallery is a member of the Ontario Association of Art Galleries[1] and the Ontario Museum Association.[2]

The museum operates as a public, not-for-profit contemporary art gallery with a permanent art collection of over 200 works including drawings, paintings, collages, photographs and sculptures made by notable North American artists including the photographer Simeon Posen, the Inuit art sculptor Floyd Kuptana, and the renowned artist, teacher, writer, and founder of the School of Reductionism, E.J. Gold. Established in 1994, Gallery Arcturus has held many notable public exhibitions including Thomas Henrickson "Inner Mirror",[3] E.J. Gold "Large As Life",[4][5] Peter Banks "Emergence",[6] Carol George "Asia Calling",[7] Deborah Harris "Toward the One",[8] and Dominique Cruchet & Joan Cullen "Crossing the Great Waters".[9] The artist-in-residence and curator of the gallery is Deborah Harris.

History[edit]

Gallery Arcturus was established in 1994 by the Foundation for the Study of Objective Art, a Canadian federally registered charitable organization, to provide the public with an opportunity to view and study works by contemporary North American artists free of charge and without commercial motives. The gallery was first located in rented space on Parliament Street in Toronto. The gallery began acquiring an extensive permanent art collection for display and study, starting with a significant purchase of works by members of the School of Reductionism in Grass Valley, California, including paintings by E.J. Gold, Della Haywood, Heather Valencia, Robert Trice and Kelly Rivera.

In 1997, the Foundation for the Study of Objective Art purchased a 10,000 square foot heritage building located at 80 Gerrard Street East in downtown Toronto and renovated it to serve as the permanent location for the gallery and its administrative offices. The Gallery Arcturus building, in addition to being a historic property (built in 1858 in the Georgian Revival style),[10] was immortalized by the famous Canadian Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris in a 1912 painting entitled Houses, Gerrard Street, Toronto (now part of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection).[11]

The permanent art collection has grown every year and totals over 225 works of art. Pieces from the collection are often displayed as part of new exhibits or as distinct installations. Over the last two decades, shows have tended to change every six to eight weeks.[12]

Exhibition spaces[edit]

View from the top level of the Ascending Gallery.

Gallery Arcturus consists of nine exhibit areas: Genesis, Up North, Collage, Photographic and Ascending Galleries as well as the Library plus the Drawing and Dark Rooms.

The Genesis Gallery is the space where artists are invited to create work in response to an inquiry initiated by artist-in-residence Deborah Harris. The Up North Gallery features landscape paintings and sculptures reflecting northern Canada. Sculptures by Floyd Kuptana are displayed in the Library which also includes artworks and books by E.J. Gold. The Collage Gallery adjoins this second-floor space with works by Deborah Harris and other artists currently working in collage.

The Ascending Gallery, extending from the first to the fourth floor, features works by many of the gallery's collected artists including photographer Simeon Posen and multiple media artist Sae Kimura.[13]

The third floor Drawing room features graphite and pencil drawings by Daniel Hanequand, next to the Dark Room and the Photographic Gallery.

Permanent collection[edit]

The Gallery Arcturus permanent art collection includes the following artists:[14] Dara Aram, Gisele Boulianne, William Caldwell, Peter Chung, Ed Cramer, Dominique Cruchet, Joan Cullen, Carol Currie and Stuart Leggett, Chris Dolan, Marie Fournier, Neil Fox, Camie Geary-Martin, Luke Gilliam, E.J. Gold, Jeremy Gordaneer, Christopher Griffin, Scott Griffin, Marni Grossman, Deborah Harris, Michael Hayes, Della Heywood, Lenka Holubec, Randy Hryhorczuk, Louis Irkok Jr, Olena Kassian, Floyd Kuptana, Dongmin Lai, Grabriel Lalonde, Chris Langstroth, Elaine Ling, Yousha Liu, Ruth Luginbuehl, Jorge Luna, Andrea Maguire, Larry Middlestadt, Sharon Naidos, Joachim Oepkes, Simeon Posen,[15] Terri Quinn, Kelly Rivera, Wendy Rombough, Paul Saari, R.C. Trice, Heather Valencia, Susan Valyi, Francine Vernac, Irena Vormittag and Pamela Williams.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Art museums in Canada". Artcyclopedia. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  2. ^ "Gallery Arcturus". Discover Ontario Museums. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  3. ^ Betty Ann Jordan (July 12, 1997). "Inner Mirror". Globe & Mail.
  4. ^ Betty Ann Jordan (July 29, 1997). "Large as Life". Globe & Mail.
  5. ^ John Northcott (August 1, 1997). "Large as Life". CBLT-TV.
  6. ^ "Emergence". City-TV. January 24, 1998.
  7. ^ John Northcott (March 18, 1998). "Asia Calling". CBC National News.
  8. ^ Jody Glaser (June 5, 1998). "About Town Friday". CIUT Radio.
  9. ^ Yves-Gérard Mehou-Loko (May 8, 2014). "Y A Pas Deux Matins Pareils". Radio Canada. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  10. ^ "80 Gerrard Street East". Toronto Architectural Conservancy. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  11. ^ "Houses, Gerrard Street, Toronto". McMichael Gallery. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  12. ^ "Invited-previous | Gallery Arcturus".
  13. ^ "Toronto Art". Torontoart. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  14. ^ "Gallery Arcturus Website". Gallery Arcturus. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  15. ^ "Simeon Posen Website". Simeonposen. Retrieved November 27, 2014.