McMichael Canadian Art Collection

Vaughan (Ontario) / Canada

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an art museum in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located on a 40 hectares property in Kleinburg, an unincorporated village in Vaughan. The property includes the museum's 7,900 square metres main building, a sculpture garden, walking trails, and the cemetery for six members of the Group of Seven. The collection dates back to 1955, when Robert and Signe McMichael began to collect works from artists associated to the Group of Seven, exhibiting their works at their home in Kleinburg. In 1965, the McMichaels formally reached an agreement to donate their collection and their Kleinburg property to the Government of Ontario in order to establish an art museum. The institution was opened to the public as the McMichael Conservation Collection of Art in 1966. The museum was formally incorporated into the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in 1972. Although the museum was originally established with an institutional focus on the Group of Seven, the museum's mandate was later expanded to include contemporary Canadian art, and art from indigenous Canadians. The museum's permanent collection includes over 6,500 works from Canadian artists. In addition to its permanent collections, the institution also serves as the custodians for the archives of works on paper by Inuit artists based in Kinngait. The museum organizes and hosts a number of travelling art exhibitions, typically focused on Canadian art.