Our History
Temiskaming Shores’ artistic history can be traced as far back as to the Algonquin peoples who lived in and travelled through the region and made art in their cultural and spiritual practices. Although little of these works remain locally, Algonquin art is exhibited nationally and internationally whereas local museums have collected settler folk arts and craft. Both Algonquin and folk art is widely practiced in a contemporary setting through workshops, studios, and community gatherings throughout Temiskaming Shores.
Since 1980, the Temiskaming Art Gallery (TAG) has been pivotal in promoting and showcasing visual art in northeastern Ontario. TAG has exhibited the talent of local artists alongside national and international exhibitions.
​In the mid-1970’s, members of the Haileybury Library Board saw the need for an art gallery. Two members, Bette Campbell and Eleanor Huff, had been taking art classes with artist Caroline MacArthur, leading to an art exhibition at the library. The exhibition showcased works by artists from local art clubs and MacArthur’s art classes.
Critchley and Delaine of North Bay provided initial architectural drawings while John Clark Building provided drawings for the engineers. After reaching out to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), two advisors were sent to help make practical and economical plans for the gallery. The AGO also generously sent exhibitions north to TAG as part of their outreach program creating a rare and valuable opportunity for our region to view and experience prestigious artworks. Our local artists also eagerly contributed works towards exhibitions, relieved to finally have a space for display.
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Five years after its conceptual conceivement, the Temiskaming Art Gallery opened as an extension of the Haileybury Library. The first exhibition was Colour Show, an annual juried exhibition of the Northern Ontario Art Association. TAG immediately put forth an ambitious exhibition programming showing new exhibitions every two or three weeks including works by Lionel Venne, Caroline MacArthur, Sawford-Dye, Bette Campbell, and Eleanor Huff interspersed by travelling exhibitions from the AGO and the Ontario Crafts Council. Promoting and displaying local art remains to this day, a core value here at TAG. The Temiskaming Pallete and Brush Club have a reserved annual exhibition while many other local artists have solo and group exhibitons.
While well received, the spaces for display in the library were not ideal as work was placed on shelves, desks, or wherever a space could be found. This incited a clear need for an exhibition space. The adjacent space in the library building was a town owned apartment which, once renovated, would become the new art gallery. Subsequently, a gallery committee was conceived with Bette Campbell as the chair and Jack Mason as treasurer, meanwhile, Eleanor Huff would assume the role of the library chair as Campbell's replacement. For years to come the gallery would operate in the library lead by this committee. In order to renovate the apartment into a functional art gallery, Jack Mason generously made the first donation followed by a grant from Wintario.
A New Chapter
In April of 2008, TAG boasted its grand opening in its new, rebuilt space in Temiskaming Shores’ City Hall. The new space was funded by the Canadian Heritage Society, Cultural Spaces Canada, and local fundraising efforts lead by Chairman, Walter Pape, and members of the TAG Board of Directors. The City Hall space offers better exhibiting environmental conditions, superior storage for the permanent collection, and more appropriate facilities for lectures and receptions. Additionally, the gallery sits on the beautiful and enchanting bank of Lake Temiskaming offering a spectacular view.
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A Magnet for Artists​ and a Thriving Arts Community
Temiskaming Shores’ flourishing art scene has a long history with artists like Yvonne McKague Housser, George Pepper, David Milne, Robert Carmichael, Linda Hankin, Isabel McLaughlin and Group of Seven founding members A Y Jackson, and Franklin Carmichael - all drawn to the powerful landscape and burgeoning raw mining towns such as Cobalt.
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Immediately following on the heels of interest by Group of Seven artists and others in the early half of the 20th century, local artists began organizing art clubs and a regional art organization was formed: the Northern Ontario Art Association. Among early jurors for its annual exhibitions were A.Y. Jackson and A.J. Casson In 1958 the first artists’ colony took place in Cobalt during a week in July and it has been attracting artists from the region and elsewhere ever since. The thriving local Temiskaming Palette and Brush Club acts each year as host.