In the early 50’s the McMichael’s built a pioneer-style home on several acres of what was then wilderness in the village of Kleinburg, about 45 minutes north of Toronto. They were art collectors and supported local, Canadian artists, mostly the Group of Seven. As their collection grew, so did their home and their land until, finally, in the mid 60’s they donated their home, their land, and their art collection to the Province of Ontario. Thus was born the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

    

The gallery continues to focus on Tom Thompson and the Group of Seven and also features guest artists from across Canada. We were delighted when given a gift pass to attend one Sunday as we couldn’t remember the last time we were there.

We spent a number of hours touring through the gallery and were so enthralled I got very few pictures inside.

The start…      One of my faves…

 

Tools of the trade…  

 

A cosy place to look outside if you get tired looking in…  

For some unknown reason, I didn’t get too many more pictures outside either.

Some outbuildings used in the pursuit of art…

         

And a very fascinating carved rock…      

The gardens we saw were beautiful but I suspect they would be breath-taking in the spring and early summer. Must have been off my game, as there are no pictures…   We’ll have to plan to go back and, next time, walk some of the trails, too.

There are many reasons why I love a drive in the country and one of them that’s high on my list is sighting wildlife…