Exhibition organised and circulated by the Art Institute of Ontario 1962-63. See AIO Annual Meeting: June 13, 1963
Born in Windsor, Ontario, Frances Gage (1924-2017) was a prolific Canadian sculptor based in Toronto and southern Ontario for most of her life. After graduating from high school in 1943, Gage served in the Women’s Royal Canadian Navy Service (WRCNS) until the end of WWII in 1945. She briefly worked at the House of Commons in Ottawa rendering designs proposed for a new Canadian flag, before attending the Ontario College of Art (OCA) to study sculpting in the late 1940s. Through a job with a veterinarian that she worked to support herself as a student, Gage was introduced to Frances Loring and Florence Wyle, two well-known Toronto sculptors who would profoundly impact Gage’s life and career. Following her OCA graduation in 1951, and thanks in part to connections made through Loring and Wyle, Gage received funding to study abroad at the Art Students League of New York and the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, further developing her technique and artistic style.
Upon her return to Toronto in 1956-57, Gage rented out Tom Thomson’s former studio, often colloquially referred to as “The Shack,” for about two years before moving into a newer studio. During this time Gage produced many works, remained close with Loring and Wyle, and continued to expand her network. She became acquainted with significant Canadian artists, such as Group of Seven members, Frederick Varley and A.Y. Jackson, both of whom she portrayed in portrait sculpture. Gage was based in Toronto for many years before relocating in the 1970s to Crosshill, Ontario and eventually settling in Cobourg, where she remained until her death.
Throughout her career, Gage worked with a variety of media, including plaster, bronze, stone, wood, and plastic (epoxy resin). She made her living predominantly through commission projects, as well as teaching and instruction. Her works can be found in public spaces, institutions, and private collections across Ontario and Canada, including "The Jenny" (1972), in Galt, ON, commemorating the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service, "Woman" (1970), installed at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, and other commissions for institutions such as the University of Guelph, Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, and Mount Allison University in New Brunswick. She participated in a number of group exhibitions, such as the International Congress of Medallic Arts in Florence, Italy in 1983, and was the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Art Gallery of Northumberland in 1997. A biography of her life was published in 2009, written by friend and author Alan Butcher.
Penetang Winterama, Penetanguishene - Feb 13-16, 1976 with Robin Mackenzie ; Artsfest '76, Owen Sound - Feb. 28-29, 1976, followed by Barbara Astman and John Newman. Niagara Peninsula Thanksgiving Festival - Oct 7-9, 1978
Artists with their work program. Burlington - Jun 23 - Jul 31, 1983; North Bay - Sep 2-24, 1983; Hamilton - May 2 - Jun 2, 1985; Simcoe - Aug 1 - Sep 28, 1986 together with Tom Benner, Robert Bowers, Spring Hurlbut, Reinhard Reizenstein;
Peggy Gale (b.1944) is an independent curator, critic, and writer based in Toronto who specializes in contemporary time-based and media art. Gale studied at the Università degli Studi (Florence, Italy, 1965-66) and graduated from the University of Toronto with an honours BA in 1967. She then worked at the Art Gallery of Ontario from 1967 to 1974, first in the Audio Visual Library and then as an Education Officer, where she was responsible for originating and coordinating all lectures, concerts, films, and performance events. She served as the Assistant Film and Video Officer at the Canada Council (1974-75), returning to Toronto to act as the Video/Film director at Art Metropole from 1975 to 79. From 1980 to 1982, Gale served as the executive director of A Space. She returned to Art Metropole as Special Projects Coordinator from 1985 to 1987, and again in 2001-02 as Acting Director. As an art writer, Gale was a regular contributor to Parachute magazine (Montreal) and has been writing for Canadian Art since 1986. She has edited three books in the “By Artists” series published by Art Metropole, in addition to Video re/View: The (best) Source for Critical Writings on Canadian Artists' Video in collaboration with Lisa Steele (1996). Gale’s work as an independent curator includes Videoscape (1974), a monumental exhibition of video art at the AGO and the first of its kind in Canada. Other notable curatorial projects include: InVideo (Dalhousie Art Gallery 1977, Art Gallery of Ontario 1978, Winnipeg Art Gallery 1978), OKanada (curator of performance art, Berlin 1983), Electronic Landscapes (National Gallery of Canada 1989), Northern Lights (The Canadian Embassy in Tokyo 1991) co-curated with Akihiko Morishita, Ecstatic Memory (Art Gallery of Ontario 1996-97), and the Biennale de Montréal (2014), co-curated with Gregory Burke. Gale is married to the artist Michael Snow.
Factory 77, initially known as Galerie Scollard, was a Toronto artist-run gallery focused on art education which operated between 1976 and 1982. Galerie Scollard was established in Toronto in 1976 as a nonprofit charitable organization by Dushka Arezina, a Yugoslavian emigrée, artist, and art historian. It was coined a “centre for education in vision” and was located on Scollard Street in Toronto. The gallery was operated by a Board of Directors of which Harvey Cowan was the chairperson and Kenneth Lund the president. Dushka Arezina sat on the Board of Directors as treasurer and was also the gallery’s executive director. Galerie Scollard ceased operations under that name in 1978 and was re-established
as Factory 77 in November 1978 upon moving into a former carpet factory at 77 Mowat Ave. in Toronto’s Parkdale area. Factory 77’s operations were overseen by Arezina and a Board of Directors chaired by Lund, a Toronto lawyer. It aimed to present a broad view of contemporary visual arts by exhibiting established artists together with emerging ones. In the years between 1978 and 1982, the gallery mounted more than 13 exhibitions per year, featuring prominent Canadian artists such as Mary and Christopher Pratt, Lynn Donoghue, and Ken Danby. The gallery also placed significant emphasis on exhibitions by Eastern European artists such as Jiri Ladocha. The gallery aimed to foster student participation through exhibits of student and youth work, and placed significant focus on art education and appreciation outreach programs in elementary and secondary schools in the Toronto area. Due to financial and administrative difficulties, Factory 77 ceased operations permanently in February 1982.
Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography is a non-profit, artist-run centre dedicated to photography and located in Toronto. Originally known as The Niagara Street Photographers’ Centre and Workspace of Toronto, the collective ran a gallery space called Gallery 44. The organization was also sometimes known as Photo 44. The collective was founded in September 1979 by a group of photographic artists with a need for shared darkroom and studio space and to create an environment supportive of photography and its evolving practices. They were incorporated in October 1984. The collective offers opportunities to its members, national and international artists to exhibit and publish their work and also provides educational programming, non-commercial traditional darkroom facilities and digital imaging services.
Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography was originally located at 109 Niagara Street, where they first began mounting exhibitions and offering photography workshops. In 1986 they moved to 183 Bathurst Street to provide larger facilities to their growing membership. The Education in the Schools program was initiated in 1987 to provide photographic education at the elementary and secondary school levels. In 1994, they moved to their current location at 401 Richmond Street West. 401 Richmond is a hub for the local arts community housing artist-run centres, galleries, arts organizations and artist studios. Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography continues to support the photographic community by offering affordable darkroom rentals, digital imaging services, exhibition space, workshops, artist residencies, print sales, hosting portfolio reviews and publishing catalogues and books.