#RetroAGO: Painting in the park

Does the name Arthur Lismer ring a bell? Best known as an artist and a founder of the Group of Seven, Arthur Lismer has another important connection to the AGO – and Grange Park, the wonderful green space behind the AGO. A respected art educator, and the former principal of what is now the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) in Halifax, Lismer was invited to establish an art school at the AGO in 1928 – an opportunity he gladly accepted as it allowed him to explore new approaches in art education and to spread the ideals of a new “Canadian” art.

Prior to Lismer’s new school at the Art Gallery of Toronto (as it was then called), art instruction consisted mainly of copying great works of art. But Lismer felt art education should promote self-expression – that students should see and discuss artworks, and make art to bring their own “desires, inclinations and dreams” to life. He wanted students to draw from their own imagination and from nature. Much of Lismer’s own work as an artist focused on our Canadian landscape, and the outdoors. In nice weather, many classes were held outside so students could sketch and paint in the park, or even embark on field trips around the city. The photograph above shows Lismer with just such a group of children, in Grange Park in 1934. Almost 100 years later the newly revitalized park offers many opportunities to practice ones’ skills. The organic lines of the new plants, trees and gardens, as well as the geometric hard edges of the buildings and playground structures, offer us all an opportunity to practice our seeing and drawing. In fact, our City Explorations: Traveller's Sketchbook course follows in Lismer’s footsteps, offering artist instruction in both the park and the city at large.

In 1938, Arthur Lismer left the AGO to become an art educator at Columbia University in New York, and he later started another art centre at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. His legacy here lives on in our approach to engaging people with art and artmaking, and encouraging the artist in each of us. If you’d like to read more about Lismer’s career in art education, read Angela Nairne Grigor’s book Arthur Lismer: Visionary Art Educator, published in 2002.

If you’re inspired to explore your inner artist, check out the many program and courses offered by the AGO – there’s something for budding artists of all ages.

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