From winter through summer 2026, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection presents a compelling trio of exhibitions that reflect the breadth, complexity, and evolving narratives of art in Canada and beyond. Spanning photography, installation, and works from the permanent collection, these exhibitions explore themes of empire, identity, migration, and cultural continuity. Visitors are invited to engage with internationally acclaimed contemporary practice alongside landmark Indigenous artworks that trace artistic innovation across generations. Together, these exhibitions highlight the McMichael’s commitment to critical dialogue, diverse perspectives, and deep connections between history, place, and lived experience—offering visitors an enriching journey through some of the most resonant artistic voices of our time.

To March 22, 2026
Stan Douglas: Tales of Empire

Stan Douglas: Tales of Empire offers a focused look at more than four decades of work by one of Canada’s most influential contemporary artists. Internationally celebrated for his rigorous engagement with history, Douglas examines how colonial power has shaped places, people, and collective memory across time and geography. Curated by McMichael Executive Director and Chief Curator Sarah Milroy, the exhibition brings together five major photographic series that trace global sites of empire, resistance, and cultural encounter. Through carefully staged images grounded in research, Douglas blurs boundaries between past and present, fact and reconstruction. Landscapes and interiors become charged settings where histories of domination, displacement, and survival quietly unfold. Together, these works reveal Douglas’s sustained inquiry into how imperial legacies persist in the modern world, inviting viewers to reflect on whose stories are remembered, whose are obscured, and how history continues to shape contemporary experience.

To March 29, 2026
Early Days: Indigenous Art at the McMichael

Early Days brings together more than 100 works from the McMichael’s permanent collection, offering a powerful survey of Indigenous art across more than two centuries. Spanning 18th-century regalia and trade objects, Northwest Coast masks, and groundbreaking works from the 1960s to the 1980s, the exhibition extends to vital contemporary practices today. Featuring artists such as Norval Morrisseau, Robert Houle, Carl Beam, Alex Janvier, Shelly Niro, Rebecca Belmore, Kent Monkman, and Meryl McMaster, the exhibition highlights painting, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, and video. Together, these works speak to cultural continuity, resistance, and innovation across generations. Returning to the McMichael after a major international tour, Early Days includes newly added and never-before-exhibited works, reaffirming its place as a landmark exploration of the depth, diversity, and enduring vitality of Indigenous art in Canada.

To July 5, 2026
Sandra Brewster: FISH

Sandra Brewster: FISH is a site-specific installation that draws viewers into the flowing rhythms of the Essequibo River in Guyana. Using drawing and photo-based gel transfer techniques, Toronto-based artist Sandra Brewster depicts the river and its distinctive fish species, evoking water as a powerful metaphor for movement, memory, and change. Brewster’s multidisciplinary practice explores the relationship between identity and environment, often reflecting on migration and diasporic experience through layered, tactile surfaces. In this installation, imagery appears fluid and shifting, mirroring the instability and transformation inherent in journeys across land and water. The work invites reflection on the interconnectedness of place, history, and personal narrative, offering a contemplative perspective rooted in lived experience. Sandra Brewster: FISH is presented in partnership with the CONTACT Photography Festival.

January 17 – July 5, 2026
Close to Home

Close to Home reveals a lesser-known side of the Group of Seven, focusing on works created not in distant wildernesses, but across Southern Ontario. Paintings, drawings, and prints highlight scenes from Kleinburg, Vaughan, Thornhill, North York, Markham, Bolton, Orillia, Barrie, and surrounding areas—places where several artists lived, worked, or returned to often. J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, and Fred Varley found inspiration near Thornhill, while Franklin Carmichael and Lawren Harris maintained strong ties to Orillia and Lake Simcoe. These intimate landscapes capture farmland, village streets, autumn colour, and expansive skies, painted both outdoors and in the studio. The exhibition also includes Thoreau MacDonald’s detailed ink drawings and Rose Marchy Kilbourn’s expressive woodcuts of Caledon’s rolling hills. Seen today, these works reflect both a changing region and the enduring beauty found close to home.

March 14 – July 6, 2026
Old Growth: Masterworks by the Group of Seven and Their Contemporaries

Old Growth brings together some of the McMichael’s most celebrated works—artworks that have shaped how Canadian landscapes are seen and understood. Featuring iconic pieces by Tom Thomson, Lawren Harris, Emily Carr, A.Y. Jackson, and J.E.H. MacDonald, the exhibition is organized geographically, guiding visitors from Algoma’s forests to the Rocky Mountains and the Arctic. These masterworks form the foundation of the McMichael’s collection, yet the exhibition looks beyond a single narrative. Works by contemporaries such as Anne Savage, Kathleen Daly Pepper, and Bess Harris expand the story, highlighting voices long underrepresented in Canadian art history. By placing familiar images alongside lesser-known perspectives, Old Growth deepens understanding of the artistic legacy of this period—honouring its influence while acknowledging the broader community of artists who helped shape it.

April 11 – July 5, 2026
Fresh Air: New Acquisitions in Context

Fresh Air celebrates the evolving nature of the McMichael’s collection by presenting recent acquisitions in conversation with established works. Through thoughtful pairings and thematic groupings, the exhibition creates unexpected connections that invite fresh ways of seeing Canadian art. Artists such as Tim Whiten, Howie Tsui, and Dana Claxton bring new materials, ideas, and perspectives into dialogue with works by Frederick Varley, J.E.H. MacDonald, and A.J. Casson. Themes of landscape, cultivation, identity, and belonging emerge through contrasts between historic and contemporary approaches. New acquisitions by Ben Reeves, Sky Glabush, and Brenda Draney sit alongside long-held favourites, revealing moments of resonance and productive tension. Fresh Air positions the collection as a living conversation—one that continues to grow, adapt, and reflect the diverse artistic voices shaping Canada today.