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Records group contains records relating to the restoration and operation of the Grange House in the Art Gallery of Ontario. Includes records of programs, exhibitions, research about inhabitants of the house, and day-to-day operation as a historic house.

The Grange served as the first exhibition space for the Art Gallery of Ontario (then known as the Art Museum of Toronto) since the Gallery took ownership of this historic landmark in 1913. It continued to house the administrative staff of the Art Gallery from 1918, when the first adjacent gallery spaces were built, until the early 1970s. At that time, the Art Gallery underwent the first of three major renovations, commonly referred to as Stage I.

Concurrent with this Stage I expansion, the Grange was restored as a gentlemen’s house in Upper Canada circa the 1800s. As administrative offices and the library were incorporated into the new footprint of the Gallery, the Grange became an exhibition site and period piece, with volunteers often dressing in costume, conducting tours and hosting events and 19th century themed exhibitions.

The first staff person to manage the Grange as an historical house was appointed in 1970 under the title Custodian/Keeper of the Grange. Initially hired to oversee the Grange restoration, Margaret Machell served as Custodian/Keeper of the Grange until 1981. During that time, the Grange was administered by a department of up to 17 staff, most of whom were historical interpreters. Initially reporting to the Director, this department became part of the Curatorial Division in 1977.

In the early 1980s, during a time of financial hardship, gallery director William Withrow laid off paid staff and asked volunteers to maintain the operations of the Grange. Two full-time staff under the Volunteer Activity Division of the Gallery a secretary/coordinator (Peggy Eades) and an historic housekeeper/interpreter (Ruth Keene) supervised.

In 1997, Jennifer Rieger was hired as a curatorial assistant to oversee the Grange and the extensive collection of original furnishings, artworks and objects inherited by the Gallery as part of the original bequest from Harriet Smith (nee Dixon). She reported to the Curator, Canadian Art until 2012 when her position title changed to Historical Site Coordinator of the Grange and she reported to the Associate Director of Visitor Services.

The Grange closed briefly during the Transformation renovations under architect Frank Gehry in the mid to late 2000s and reopened with the rest of the Art Gallery in 2008, housing the members’ lounge. In 2014, the second floor of the Grange was also converted back into administrative space for staff offices. The lower floor of the Grange House now houses the Norma Ridley Members’ Lounge.

Records group consists of records accumulated throughout the Art Institute of Ontario’s run.

Record series contains records generated by the Women’s Committee and Junior Women’s Committee and subsequent Volunteer Committee and Junior Volunteer Committee

Series contains records relating to the work of the Prints and Drawings department at the Art Gallery of Ontario. These files document the work of acquiring and maintaining works for the AGO’s Prints and Drawings collection; planning, researching, organizing exhibitions; producing catalogues; and hosting exhibition openings.

This records group consists of records generated by the Gallery’s Design department and its various iterations since it was first formally established in the early 1970s. The majority of records are textual and graphic, and include final design products as well as associated drafts, mockups, and textual documents, such as memos, notes and project descriptions. Common design projects include the creation of promotional material (such as brochures, flyers and posters), paper ephemera (such as tickets, stationary and invitations), administrative documents (such as forms, receipts, and ID Cards), and Gallery signage. Additionally, the records group includes records related to publications projects from the period of time that Publications was amalgamated with the Design department, between the 1970s and early 2000s. This includes records relating to the production of catalogues, newsletters, and various Gallery publications, including Annual Reports, The Gallery, and AGO News.

Also included are some records from design and publications projects prior to the 1970s, which were completed without the assistance of a formal department. These include a competition to design a seal for the Art Museum of Toronto in 1918, publications from the Women’s Committee, and other general design projects to support exhibitions, events, and other Gallery activities.

Contains series:

1. Annual Meetings and Reports
2. Art Rental
3. Audio-Visual Centre
4. Design Department (General Administration)
5. Director’s Office
6. Education & Programming
7. Exhibitions and Curatorial
8. Extension Services
9. Film
10. Gallery Shop
11. Grange
12. Library
13. Marketing and Communications
14. Membership
15. Operations and Administration
16. Photographic Services
17. Publications
18. Stage II and III
19. Volunteer Committee

This records group contains curatorial files from the offices of the curator, director and council president of the Art Museum of Toronto and Art Gallery of Toronto. It documents the activities of mounting exhibitions, acquiring art, and displaying the gallery’s permanent collection.

The Art Museum of Toronto hosted its first exhibition, Pictures by Glasgow Painters, in 1906 at the galleries of the Ontario Society of Artists (at 165 King Street West, Toronto). The next exhibition, by the Canadian Art Club, was not held until 1909 at the Public Reference Library building (at College and St. George Streets, Toronto). The Museum took possession of the Grange House in 1913, and held the first exhibition on that premises in June, featuring the collection of the donors and former occupants Harriet Dixon-Smith and Goldwin Smith. From that time until the present day, temporary exhibitions have been hosted at the Gallery.

From the founding of AMT until the 1960s, the gallery was an important space for hosting the annual exhibitions of many Canadian artists’ societies such as the Ontario Society of Artists, the Royal Canadian Academy and the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour. The Gallery also held multiple exhibitions of the Group of Seven and the Canadian Group of Painters.

By the mid-twentieth century, the Gallery had hosted three important international exhibitions: Art Treasures from the Vienna Collections in 1951, Dutch Painting, the Golden Age in 1955 and British Painting in the Eighteenth Century in 1958. In 1964, the Art Gallery of Toronto exhibited the first-ever Canadian exhibition of Pablo Picasso, Picasso and Man. Through the 1960s, 70s, and 80s the gallery expanded its focus on international contemporary art and hosted major retrospectives and memorial exhibitions of Canadian artists.

The first curator, Mr. Edward Ruthven Greig, was hired in 1912 and worked as curator until 1928. He was replaced by Frederick Stanley Haines (1928-1932). Martin Baldwin became curator in 1932 until 1948 when he was appointed to the new position of Director of the Art Gallery of Toronto. Prior to Baldwin’s appointment as the first director, the curator also acted as the administrative head of the Museum/Gallery.

In 1948, Sydney James Key replaced Mr. Baldwin as curator, followed by William Scott Abell Dale (1957 to 1959), Dr. Jean Sutherland Boggs (1962 to 1964) and David Stopford Brooke (1965 to 1968).

In the 1960s, staff began to be assigned to specific curatorial areas. In 1966 Brydon Smith became the first curator of Modern Art, and in 1970 Joan Murray became the curator of Canadian Art.

In 1968 curatorial was established as a branch with four sections: Exhibitions and collections; Registrar; Library; and Conservation.

By 1976 there were four curators (Contemporary, Canadian Historical, Moore Centre, and Prints & Drawings) in addition to the chief curator. Other areas that reported to the chief curator were Registration, Conservation, Preparation, Traffic, Library, Photographic Services, and Publications.

In 1981 Extension Services, which organized art exhibitions and educational programmes throughout the province, became part of the Curatorial Branch.

In 1988-89 the functions of Registration & Traffic, Conservation, Photographic Services, Technical Services, and Publication & Design became a separate division – Art Support.