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The Art Directors Club, Toronto (active 1947–1993), now the Advertising and Design Club of Canada, was a trade organization the first aim of which was “to promote the use of better art as applied to commerce and industry.” Its membership, initially around 25 and limited in 1958 to 90 members, consisted chiefly of art directors, commercial artists, photographers and typographers. After its charter was granted in January 1948, the club elected Robin Cumine, Leslie Trevor, John Belknap, O.K. Schenk and Eric Heathcote as officers for 1948–1949. Harry Caverhill, Charles Comfort, Stanley Cooper and Leslie Wookey served on the first executive committee. Presidents of the Art Directors Club, Toronto mentioned in club correspondence were Leslie Trevor and Gerald Moses. Similar organizations existed in Vancouver, Montreal, New York and elsewhere.
The first Art Directors Club, Toronto (ADCT) exhibition was held at Eatons Fine Art Galleries in Toronto in April 1949. In that year, the club first published reproductions of submissions to the exhibition in its Annual of advertising and editorial art (1949–1964). Issues of the annual included lists of artists in the exhibition and names of members of the club.
The club also administered the Oscar Cahén Memorial Award for accomplishment in the art of industry and commerce, named after Canadian painter (member of the Painters Eleven) and illustrator Oscar Cahén (1916–1956).
During the 1950s, ADCT exhibitions of advertising and editorial art were held at the Art Gallery of Toronto, now the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

Originator: Extension.

Art Rental Exhibition

Located in Toronto, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) stands as one of the largest art museums in North America, attracting approximately one million visitors annually. The Gallery was first incorporated as the Art Museum of Toronto in July 1900, with the goal of establishing a public facility dedicated to the collecting and exhibiting of art both historical and contemporary, foreign and Canadian (Art Gallery of Ontario : selected works, pg. 12). This initial name was changed to the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1919, as it was thought that the term “Museum” conflicted with the Royal Ontario Museum, founded in 1912. The current name of the Gallery took effect on July 8, 1966 to reflect the rapidly growing role the Gallery played not only in Toronto but across the province.

Before finding its current location, the Gallery operated from several temporary sites. The first exhibition hosted by the Art Museum of Toronto, Pictures by Glasgow Painters, was held in 1906 at the Ontario Society of Artists’ galleries at 165 King Street West. The AMT made its first purchase that same year, acquiring The Captive Butterfly by Glasgow painter Edward Atkinson Hornel from the loan exhibition. The Gallery found its first permanent home in the Grange House, which it officially took ownership of in 1911 and occupied starting in 1913. (See The Grange records group). Shortly thereafter, construction began on new gallery spaces adjacent to the historic house, with the first of these new wings opened in 1918. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, additional gallery spaces were constructed with the aid of various benefactors. Some of these spaces, such as Walker Court, remain part of the AGO today, while others have been replaced to accommodate new expansions.
The Gallery’s building has undergone numerous periods of major growth and change as its audience and art collection have continued to grow and evolve. In 1968, planning began for three major renovation and expansion projects, known as Stage I, Stage II, and Stage III. All together, these projects significantly improved the Gallery’s capacity to host major touring exhibitions and provided new offices, storage, and other operational facilities. In the mid-2000s another ambitious architectural project was initiated, called Transformation AGO. This project was led by renowned architect Frank Gehry and was completed in 2008. These significant architectural changes have also often been accompanied by changes to the AGO’s brand identity, with Transformation AGO being accompanied by its own temporary branding and the Gallery’s relaunch in 2008 coinciding with the launch of a new brand and visual identity.
A new expansion project is currently underway to establish the Dani Reis Modern and Contemporary Gallery, expected to open in 2027. This addition will increase the museum’s gallery space by 40,000 square feet, with at least 13 new galleries across five floors, enhancing the AGO’s total display space by 30%.

From its founding until the 1960s, the Gallery was an important venue for annual exhibitions of various Canadian artists’ societies, such as the Ontario Society of Artists. In addition to Canadian artists, major international exhibitions were also hosted, such as Picasso and Man in 1964, which was the first-ever Canadian show of Pablo Picasso. Throughout the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, the Gallery expanded its focus to include international contemporary art and hosted major retrospectives and memorial exhibitions of Canadian artists.
The Gallery's curatorial practices have evolved significantly over time, along with the Gallery’s operational structure. In its early days, the Curator was also the administrative head for the Gallery, until the position of Director was created in 1948. By 1968, the Curatorial Branch was structured into four sections: Exhibitions and Collections, Registrar, Library, and Conservation. The number of curators continued to expand in the 1970s, reflecting the growing complexity of the Gallery’s operations and collections.
Today, the AGO's collection spans a diverse array of art forms and periods, including Modern and Contemporary, Canadian and Indigenous, Inuit, Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora, Prints and Drawings, European, and Photography. The Gallery's collection exceeds 120,000 works, encompassing cutting-edge contemporary pieces to significant historical works by Canadian, Indigenous, and European artists.

Education has been a core function of the AGO since 1926, when the Educational Committee was established. Arthur Lismer was hired as Educational Secretary in 1927 and later became Educational Supervisor. The committee's initiatives included Saturday morning classes for children, public school visits, lectures, and musical evenings. In 1943, the AGO began circulating exhibitions to bring art to various institutions, such as universities, schools, and community centers across the province. A weekly Open Nights program was introduced in 1945, which included activities such as tours, lectures, and films, intended to help reconnected with audience lost during WWII and as a community service. The Extension Program, officially initiated in 1949, further expanded outreach by offering loan exhibitions, talks, films, and art classes across the Toronto area and later the province. This function of circulation was taken over by the Art Institute of Ontario from its incorporation in 1952 until it was disbanded in 1968, at which point its programs were taken over by the Education and Extension Services branch.
By the mid-1970s, the Education and Extension Services had evolved into distinct departments, each becoming a separate division. Extension Services later became a department with the Curatorial Branch in 1981. Today, the AGO's education initiatives continue to serve the public, with year-round public programming, school programs, camps, Artist-in-Residence programs, and initiatives emerging from the Dr. Anne Tanenbaum Gallery School.

The structure of governance of the AGO has also undergone some changes over the course of the Gallery’s history. Initially governed by a Council from its founding until 1966, the institution then transitioned to a Board of Directors, which evolved into the Board of Trustees in 1968. This structure remains in place today, with a 27-member Board, including a President, presiding over the Gallery’s operations. Volunteers have also played a significant role in the Gallery’s operations, with bodies such as the Women’s Committee (later the Volunteer Committee) taking an active role in fostering interest in the gallery, promoting membership, and hosting fundraising activities starting in 1945.

The Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives at the Art Gallery of Ontario is a leading Canadian centre for research in art. It collects published and archival materials related to the collection, exhibitions and public programs of the AGO, and Canadian art in general with a geographic focus on Ontario.
The library holds more than 380,000 items including books, rare books, artists’ books, multiples, and artist files. Archival collections include the archives of the Art Gallery of Ontario and extensive special collections (artists’ archives and related collections).
The library was established in the library of the historic Grange House in 1933 when the gallery received a donation of 200 books on art from the Carnegie foundation. That same year the library opened to gallery staff and members of the public, and was soon supervised by a librarian.
The gallery’s Stage II expansion in 1977 provided a larger facility for the library, which was renamed the Edward P. Taylor Reference Library and became part of the Curatorial Division. The current facility for the Library & Archives was opened in 1993 with the gallery’s Stage III expansion. In 2017 the entrance of the Library & Archives was expanded to include a lounge space as part of the revitalization of Grange Park.
The AGO Archives, which consists of records created by the gallery, was established in September 1975 under the direction of Margaret Machell, who worked as Keeper of the Grange and AGO Archivist until her retirement in 1981. Following her departure, the Archives reported to the gallery’s administrative branch until 1989 when it merged with the Reference Library to become the Edward P. Taylor Research Library & Archives. The department was renamed the Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives in 2017.