July 1 - Sept 7 | Exhibition Guided Tours
July 1 to September 7
Free | Registration not required
Please check in with front desk staff upon arrival
Public Tour Schedule (30 minutes, English)
Fridays | 7 PM
Saturdays and Sundays | 3 PM
Canada Day (Wednesday, July 1) | 3 PM
Civic Holiday (Monday, August 3) | 3 PM
Labour Day (Monday, September 7) | 3 PM
About the Program
Join our Gallery Animateurs for free 30-minute guided tours of the 2026 Summer Exhibitions, What holds us together, Emerging Artist Spotlight, and Sketching the Past.
This program is funded by Canada Summer Jobs and the Varley-McKay Art Foundation of Markham.
About “What holds us together”
The artists in this exhibition work within states of in‑betweenness, using painting to assemble the memories, relationships, and events that shape their identities. Through layered processes and intuitive construction, they build worlds that hold them together—worlds offering coherence amid shifting selves and unstable histories.
Their works become spaces of reflection and restoration, creating openings for connection, comfort, or possibility. Together, their practices unfold within the shared context of living and working in York Region, a place shaped by cultural plurality and continual transformation. This geographical backdrop echoes the fluidity and complexity of their individual production, grounding each abstract language within the here and now.
Curated by Anik Gluade. Featuring artists: Par Nair, Scott Sawtell, and Vicky Talwar.
About “Sketching the Past”
In the 1950s, Frederick Varley wandered the halls of Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) with pencil in hand. Sketching the Past invites visitors to share his careful observations and consider why we visit museums. Varley sketched in the Natural History and Art and Culture galleries, drawn especially to the Chinese collection and to visitors in the dinosaur halls. His studies capture fossils, sculptures, and cultural artefacts with the same precision as his portraits, revealing both artistic skill and curiosity. Through these drawings, we glimpse how the ROM displayed its collections in the 1950s and are invited to reflect on how museum collection practices, display methods, and storytelling have evolved, shaping the ways we remember and imagine our shared cultural heritage.
Curated by Anik Glaude.
