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The Women's Art Resource Centre (WARC) was a nonprofit, artist run organization founded in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario with the goal of addressing the effacement of women from art history.
Dedicated to advancing contemporary Canadian women's art practice and recognition, WARC's activities included establishing gallery spaces and organizing exhibitions, public discussions and educational programming, professional development opportunities, conferences, the publication of Matriart magazine (1990-[1999?]), a survey of gender representation at the National Gallery of Canada (“Who Counts and Who’s Counting”), as well as the development of a Curatorial Research Library documenting women artists. WARC was dissolved in 2015.

Formed by Lady Kemp in 1945 at the request of the Art Gallery of Toronto’s (now the Art Gallery of Ontario) President of the Council, the Women’s Committee functioned to foster interest in the Art Gallery of Toronto, promote membership, and host fundraising activities. These high-level functions distinguished the volunteers on the Women’s Committee from the volunteer docents and other volunteer roles within the Gallery. The Committee reported directly to the AGT’s governing council and included some of Toronto’s most prominent women. Over the years, the Committee managed many projects and consisted of the following sub-committees: Education, Art Rental, Membership, Gallery Shop, Grange Restoration, Purchasing, Men’s Luncheon, Exhibitions, House, Communications, and Nominations.

In 1950, the Women’s Committee formed the Junior Women’s Committee to provide mentorship opportunities for younger women. The Junior Women’s Committee provided help to the Women’s Committee with various annual events such as the Men’s Luncheon.

In 1974, the Women’s Committee was renamed the Volunteer Committee and the Junior Women’s Committee renamed the Junior Volunteer Committee in an attempt to be more inclusive and reach out to more members. No other significant changes were made to either Committee otherwise.

The Board of Trustees disbanded both Committees in 1998, and their functions were taken over by departments of paid staff within the Gallery. Another volunteer committee oversaw the work of docents.

The Women’s Cultural Building (WCB) was a feminist cultural organization, or women’s collective, that aimed to initiate and support artistic projects and programmes promoting community and feminist concerns. It emerged with the intention of salvaging the presence of a Toronto women’s cultural centre following the dissolution of the Pauline McGibbon Centre in November 1981. The collective from the onset encouraged inclusive membership and collaborative programming, aiming to “develop a critical framework that functions within a feminist discourse by placing work in a social, political and aesthetic context.” The WCB was most active during the years 1982-1984.
Collective members included Kay Armitage, Rene Baert, Carole Conde, Christine Curlin, Rosemary Donegan, Susan Feldman, Colette Gagnon, Lina Fratticelli, Cynthia Grant, Janice Hladki, Johanna Householder, Sandra Janz, Kerri Kwinter, Tanya Mars, Joyce Mason, Christina Ritchie, Tanya Rosenberg, Lisa Steele, Nesya Shapiro and Susan Swan, among others.
Notable WCB programmes include the “Women Building Culture” festival, which included a series of events such as the “Womanfilm” film festival, the “Pork Roasts” exhibitions, “Storefronting” installations, the “Edible Art Show”, the “Five Minute Feminist Cabaret”, as well as a number of performances, talks, and slideshows. Other WCB activities and projects included the Women’s Info Hotline, panel discussions, workshops, toolkits, benefit concerts, poetry readings, window displays, independent film screenings and a resource video library. The collective began activity in November 1981, incorporated in March 1983, and ceased activity in approximately March 1997. The subsequent collective decision to transfer WCB archives to the Women’s Art Resource Center in the late 1990s was celebrated with a final exhibition titled “Building Women’s Culture: Women’s Cultural Building - Selections from the Archive.”
It is important to note that the word “Building” in the collective’s name functioned primarily as a gerund and did not refer to a specific location or structure. Though they did acquire a storefront headquarters for a brief period, the collective organized predominantly in the homes of its members and satellite spaces. The WCB launched their storefront headquarters and gallery at 563 Queen Street West with the Pork Roasts exhibition on March 14th, 1983. Other possible locations referenced in the papers are 350 College Street, Suite 1 and 984 Queen Street West. Satellite spaces and venues that hosted WCB events included the A.R.C. gallery, A Space, Cameron Tavern, Dufflet Pastries, Nightwood Theatre, Nine Forty, Pages, Pelican, Stagger Lee’s, the Rivoli, Bloor Cinema, and the Centre for Contemporary Photography.

William John Wood (1877-1954) was a Canadian artist known for simple genre paintings and for his friendship with members of the Group of Seven. He studied briefly at the Ontario College of Art, and lived in Orillia and Midland, Ontario, among other places.