Harper Government Invests in McMichael Canadian Art Collection

From the Depart­ment of Cana­dian Her­itage Newsroom

Octo­ber 5, 2012

Invest­ments in arts and her­itage by the Gov­ern­ment of Canada will increase tourism, cre­ate jobs and ben­e­fit res­i­dents and vis­i­tors. Sup­port for the McMichael Cana­dian Art Col­lec­tion was announced today by the Hon­ourable Julian Fan­tino, Min­is­ter for Inter­na­tional Coop­er­a­tion and Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment (Vaughan), on behalf of the Hon­ourable James Moore, Min­is­ter of Cana­dian Her­itage and Offi­cial Languages.

This invest­ment will sup­port the redesign and upgrade of the museum’s three art col­lec­tion stor­age vaults. New spe­cial­ized com­pact stor­age units will be installed to improve the effi­ciency of the avail­able space. The fund­ing will also sup­port the nec­es­sary move of the per­ma­nent col­lec­tions to tem­po­rary stor­age dur­ing the ren­o­va­tion of the vault stor­age areas, pro­tect­ing the valu­able Cana­dian artwork.

“This year marks the start of the five-year count­down to Canada’s 150th birth­day in 2017,” said Min­is­ter Moore. “Our Gov­ern­ment is proud to invest in projects like the McMichael upgrade, which con­tribute to our col­lec­tive iden­tity and define who we are as Cana­di­ans.  On the road to 2017, let us con­tinue to cel­e­brate all of the things that make Canada the united, pros­per­ous and free coun­try we are today.”

“The McMichael Cana­dian Art Col­lec­tion offers our com­mu­nity and vis­i­tors a truly Cana­dian expe­ri­ence,” said Min­is­ter Fan­tino. “With the fund­ing pro­vided by our Gov­ern­ment, the art gallery will improve the pre­sen­ta­tion and preser­va­tion of its col­lec­tion for all Cana­di­ans to enjoy.”

“Our museum holds in trust for the peo­ple of Ontario and Canada a superb col­lec­tion of the works of the Group of Seven and other Cana­dian and Abo­rig­i­nal artists,” said Vic­to­ria Dick­en­son, Direc­tor and CEO, McMichael Cana­dian Art Col­lec­tion. “We are delighted that the fed­eral gov­ern­ment is help­ing us to pre­serve these works for the enjoy­ment and inspi­ra­tion not only of today’s vis­i­tors but for future generations.”

The Gov­ern­ment of Canada has pro­vided total fund­ing of $145,000 through two pro­grams of the Depart­ment of Cana­dian Her­itage: $95,000 through the Canada Cul­tural Spaces Fund and $50,000 through the Museum Assis­tance Pro­gram. The Canada Cul­tural Spaces Fund seeks to improve phys­i­cal con­di­tions for artis­tic cre­ativ­ity and arts pre­sen­ta­tion or exhi­bi­tion. It is also designed to increase access for Cana­di­ans to per­form­ing, visual, and media arts, and to museum col­lec­tions and her­itage dis­plays. The Muse­ums Assis­tance Pro­gram pro­vides fund­ing to Cana­dian muse­ums and related insti­tu­tions for projects that fos­ter excel­lence in museum activ­i­ties and that facil­i­tate access to the trea­sures of our col­lec­tive heritage.