Join us for an evening of creativity, reflection and connection as we explore Open Studio Process (OSP), a mindful practice that brings together journaling, art-making, reflective writing and sharing in a supportive, judgment-free space. Through spontaneous mark-making, colour and creative exploration, we’ll make room to reflect on our hopes, imagine new possibilities and envision creative intentions for 2027. All materials will be provided, and no previous art experience is required – just a willingness to play, explore and see what emerges. Led by LivingRoom founder and certified OSP facilitator Mary Krohnert, this welcoming session is an opportunity to nurture creativity, listen and share, connect with ourselves and the possibilities ahead.
Come out to celebrate the opening of Nightfall, a group exhibition featuring work by Megan Arnold, Shannon Garden-Smith, Ness Lee, Shelley Niro, Chiedza Pasipanodya, Brenda Mabel Reid, and Noelle Wharton-Ayer. Light refreshments will be served, and a cash bar will be offered. All are welcome!
At 4:30pm, some of the artists will join the exhibition’s curator, Hannah Keating, in an informal tour of the exhibition, which will be followed by a musical performance with Fittonia at 6pm. Seating will be provided.
Please note: The Parade of Lights will cause road closures in the surrounding area. For more information on the road closures, visit this webpage.
Fittonia is a Peterborough, Ontario based collective who perform “little songs of the spirit” by songwriter Shannon Culkeen. Incorporating elements of traditional folk, contemporary songwriting, Appalachian devotional music, sacred harp singing, traditional gaelic music, mediaeval plainsong, and drone, Fittonia’s music is about redemption in ecological ruin, meditations on courage and virtue, and the challenge of knowing that death is coming. Culkeen, a nurse and frontline addictions worker, is no stranger to these themes and composes her music from a startlingly candid first-person perspective informed by lived experience, accompanied by a conspicuous sense of wonder and humility.
This event is free and open to everyone. If there are ways we can support your participation, please contact Brigitte at [email protected].
Still from Oliver Husain, MAXI (2026), double screen video, 17 min; cinematographer: Eva Kolcze, Khanh Tudo.
Join us for a virtual panel discussion on the history and future of IMAX cinema with special guest, astronaut Dr. Roberta Bondar. Dr Bondar will share her experiences with IMAX filmmaking in space, and how it continues to influence her work as a photographer and environmental advocate. Our panel will consist of scholars Janine Marchessault, Jessica Mulvogue, Allison Whitney, and artist Oliver Husain, whose exhibition I <3 Snail, on display at the gallery, draws on similar themes to the panel.
This event will also mark the publication of a special issue of the journal Feminist Media Histories on “Women of IMAX,” which investigates the transformative work of women as film directors, producers, museum managers, technical writers, and computing experts in the medium’s nearly fifty-year history.
This event is free and open to everyone. If there are ways we can support your participation, please contact Hannah at [email protected].
Dr. Roberta Bondar is a neurologist, physician, photographer, and Canada’s first female astronaut. She participated in the production of the IMAX film Destiny in Space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, Mission STS-42. She is a leader in space medicine research, and through the Roberta Bondar Foundation she fosters initiatives that merge scientific and artistic practice to support environmental education and protection.
Artist and filmmaker Oliver Husain is based in Toronto. His projects are often collaborations with other artists and friends; and often begin with a fragment of history, a rumour, a personal encounter or a distant memory. He uses a wide range of cinematic languages, technical experiments and visual pleasures — such as dance, puppetry, costume, special effects — to animate his research and fold the viewers into complex narrative set-ups.
Janine Marchessault is Professor in the Department of Cinema and Media Arts at York University in Toronto, Canada. She is the Principal Investigator for[DH1] Locating Transnational Collaborations in the Early History of Imax Films and Architectures (1970–1990), imax-history.ca/. She is also the commissioner for XL Outer Worlds, culminating in the production of five experimental IMAX films by Canadian artists to celebrate the invention of IMAX, www.xlouterworlds.ca/.
Jessica Mulvogue is a Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of St Andrews (Scotland) and a member of the research team Locating Transnational Collaborations in the Early History of Imax Films and Architectures (1970-1990), imax-history.ca/. She is the coeditor of The Interactive Documentary in Canada (McGill-Queens University Press, 2024) and Cinematic Ecosystems: Screen Encounters with More Than Humans in the Era of Environmental Crisis (Vernon Press, 2025). She has published work on eco-cinema, artists’ moving image, and documentary film in Studies in World Cinema, Transformations Journal, and various edited collections.
Allison Whitney is the 2026-27 Fulbright Canada Distinguished Chair in Arts and Social Sciences in Canada and North America at Carleton University, and a Professor of Film and Media Studies at Texas Tech University. Her research is on the history of film technology, with expertise in IMAX and 3D cinema. Her publications on IMAX address topics including space exploration, IMAX in science fiction and horror cinema, and the films of Christopher Nolan.
Learn about the history of how The Robert McLaughlin Gallery came to be, with a particular focus on the permanent art collection. With now over 4,700 works of art, Curator of Collections, Sonya Jones, will share stories about key works in the RMG’s collection. Storytelling forges connections between people and ideas, making it a powerful and effective tool in talking about art. Jones will share stories that bring new meaning and appreciation to the artwork in the gallery’s collection, that are both interesting and entertaining. Taking place Tuesday, September 15 at 6 PM.
LOCATION: The Speaker Series will be held at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, located at 72 Queen Street.
Installation of Austin Henderson: Talking to Papou at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, June 2026. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
This virtual workshop will explore the possibilities and limits of archival research as it relates to artistic practice. Using his experience in drawing from private (familial) and public archives, Austin Henderson will discuss how archival collections can be used to in artwork to prompt questions that are often left outside of documented histories.
Guiding participants through the basics of archival research, Austin will also share his methods for going beyond the archival record. What stories are left out and why? How can we see between the archive, exploring speculative histories?
Tailored for artists, writers, and creative researchers, this workshop invites participants to bring their works-in-progress, offering time for reflection on archival materials, be they photos, written documents, or other ephemera.
This event is free and open to everyone.
Please register to attend. If there is anything we can do to support your participation, please reach out to Hannah at [email protected].
Austin Henderson is an artist, writer, and cultural worker based in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang (Montréal) with familial roots in Oshawa, Ontario. Working in drawing, painting, printmaking, and textiles, Henderson’s practice engages with public and private archives in order to question concealed histories and reclaim joyful futures. Family photo albums, diaries, letters, and newspaper clippings are points of departure to bridge the past with the present. Interested in the effects of queer shame and secrecy as it relates to the AIDS crisis, his work considers the imperfections of the family archive and the futility of memory. Through replication and translation, he envisions an alternative space where truth and fiction hold equal weight. Henderson’s work has been presented across Canada and the United States, and his writing has appeared in publications such as Esse arts + opinions and Visual Arts News. He has participated in residencies with The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Union House Arts, Momus, and the New York Academy of Art. Henderson holds an MA in Art History from Concordia University and a BFA from Queen’s University.
Help us celebrate the opening of Lana Yuan’s solo exhibition featuring new works from the artist’s residency at the gallery this summer! Refreshments will be served at 12:30pm with remarks and an artist-led tour beginning at 1pm.
This reception will follow Family Sunday, a monthly event at the gallery open to all. From 10:30am to 12:30pm, Lana will facilitate an all-ages art-making activity inspired by her exhibition. Drop-in with your family or a friend, then stick around to celebrate Lana’s show opening with snacks and a tour!
Family Sunday – 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Exhibition Opening Reception – 12:30 – 2:30 pm
Artist Talk – 1:00 pm
This event is free and open to everyone. If there are ways we can support your participation, please contact Brigitte at [email protected].
The RBC Emerging Artist Residency Program is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation.
Maybe you’ve heard of them? Makerspaces are resource hubs, often located in libraries, museums, or universities, that provide access to digital tools. Encouraging innovation and collaboration, Makerspaces are hubs of creativity that bring people together to learn and share new skills at the intersection of artmaking, design, and digital technology.
In this virtual presentation, interdisciplinary artist Lana Yuan will share how she is building her art career with the support of Makerspaces, expanding on her traditional studio practice with the tools they provide. Using examples from her own work, Lana will explain how 3D printers, CNC routers, laser cutters, and sewing machines have become a part of her creative process. The talk will include short demonstrations of these digital fabrication technologies and reflections on what it has been like to develop these new skills as an artist. Whether you’re an artist, student, or simply curious about making, this session will explore how technology can expand, not replace, creative thinking.
This event is free and will be held online. Please register to attend. If there is anything we can do to support your participation, please reach out to Hannah at [email protected].
Lana Yuan is a Critical Making and Makerspace Assistant at York University’s Markham Campus Library, and an artist working across sculpture, kinetic works, and interactive installation. Her recent interests focus on combining sculptural practice with digital technologies such as parametric modeling and 3D printing. Her work explores patterned behaviours within urban environments, with attention to how quiet intimacy, routine, and proximity shape human experience. She recently began incorporating digital fabrication processes to translate datasets and systems into material forms. Lana graduated from the University of Toronto and has exhibited at venues including the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, YYZ Artists’ Outlet, and Red Head Gallery. She is the recipient of the 2022–2023 401 Career Launcher Prize, and her work has been supported by the Toronto Arts Foundation and the Ontario Arts Council.
In partnership with the Convergence Festival in downtown Oshawa, the gallery is pleased to invite you to experience Underlay by Brenda Mabel Reid. Featuring a large modular quilt made of construction-grade materials, Underlay is an outdoor installation designed for rest and connection. It has toured across the country, including to Saint John, New Brunswick, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Kitchener and Cambridge, Ontario.
Installed in the shady serenity of The Backyard, participants are invited to join and leave our community nap at any time. The Nap Team will be present to support your nap experience.
Musical performances and guided relaxation will take place throughout the afternoon:
Brenda Mabel Reid is an emerging non-binary visual artist with a social practice. They have a background in architecture and are based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Their work explores friction between place, care and social expectation, often through means they find humorous. They often work through collage as a way of making and understanding, collecting snippets, reinterpreting pieces, and assembling spaces and places to exist in. Their practice includes textile, print-making, sculpture, installation and audio.
Underlay is a large-scale quilt made of construction-grade materials by the artist Brenda Mabel Reid. In this quilt, thread is replaced with sheathing tape, gromets, and reflective nylon rope to create a customizable quilt composed of individual hexagonal blocks. Thanks to the work’s durable materials and flexible scale, it has been installed both indoors and outdoors, in different configurations, and under variable weather conditions. Over the years, participants have been invited to lie under the quilt next to both friends and strangers. They rest, dose off, maybe even socialize. The installation is accompanied by live music and the hospitable care of the Nap Team who support diverse engagement with the project. Through their materials, Reid combines the visual languages of textiles and construction into their work. Doing so, they blur the lines between two historically gendered forms of labour, embracing the qualities of both in a creative and inclusive gesture of community care, which is highly visible, improvised, and playful.
Underlay will be on view at the RMG later this fall inNightfall, a group exhibition exploring the passage of time, interdependence, and rest.
Established in 1993 by Oshawa violinist John Beaton, the Durham Youth Orchestra provides young musicians with the enriching experience of performing music by many great composers, including Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky. The goal of the DYO is to nurture the artistic and personal growth of young musicians through the experience of playing orchestral masterpieces. The DYO provides the wonderful opportunity for young people with a passion for classical music to develop their musical skills and hone their talent in an orchestra setting! Membership is drawn from young musicians in the community taking private and/or school-based music instruction.
The Durham Youth Orchestra performs in a minimum of three concerts each season. The orchestra’s involvement in the community includes educational concerts presented to Durham area students. Through these efforts, orchestra members gain valuable performing experience and help contribute to the musical culture of Durham Region. More information: dyomusic.com/about.
Kate Carson is a Yoga and Meditation Guide specializing in Yoga Nidra, Meditation, Heart Imagery®, and immersive sound experiences. With over a decade of experience teaching yoga rooted in deep rest and relaxation, Kate creates and facilitates transformative rest and sound experiences throughout Durham Region and Ontario.
Her work is guided by a simple purpose: to help people reconnect with themselves through relaxation practices, creative experiences, and heart-centred rituals that cultivate greater resilience, harmony, and a deeper sense of self.
Kate is also the founder of Vila — a mobile meditation studio offering immersive rest and relaxation experiences designed to support stress regulation, nervous system restoration, and the rejuvenation of mind, body, and spirit. Kate brings thoughtfully curated meditation, rest, and sound experiences to individuals, organizations, retreats, and events throughout Ontario, Canada. You can follow her online @katemcarson or @vilamobilestudio and visit her website katemcarson.com.
Join us in the art studio for an oil-pastel making workshop with Vancouver-based artist, Zoe Ann Cardinal Cire.
As part of her expanded painting and sculpture practice, Cardinal Cire creates her own pigments, paints, and oil pastels using foraged, organic and synthetic materials. Working with pigments on raw canvas, her gestures bind to the warp and weft of the canvas rather than sit atop the surface. These works resist painting conventions, positioning Cardinal Cire’s work within a personal and inherited framework wherein a canvas is a shelter, a painting is a textile, and pigment is the land.
In this workshop, Cardinal Cire will share what she has learned about lake and raw pigments, and provide a hands-on demonstration with linseed oil and beeswax to create oil pastels. Each participant will go home with their own oil-pastel stick and contribute to a sculptural work called “Lac La,” on display in the artist’s exhibition In Plains Air.
The artwork, “Lac La”, is composed of oil-pastel sculptures cast in tin cans. These sculptures refer to food eaten in the bush, and more poetically, to recipes, forms of sustenance, and vessels for berries and medicine from Cardinal Cire’s experiences in the bush on her ancestral homelands on Treaty 6 Territory.
Lunch will be served at 12pm.
The workshop is open to 8 registrants. We are prioritizing Indigenous participation. A confirmation email will be sent to participants prior to the workshop.
This event is free and open for ages 12+. Please register to attend. If there is anything we can do to support your participation, please reach out to greta hamilton, TD Assistant Curator at [email protected]
Following the workshop, participants are invited to stay for an opening reception of In Plains Air, from 1-4pm, which will feature an artist-led tour of the exhibition.
Facilitator Bio Zoe Ann Cardinal Cire is a visual artist born and raised on Treaty 6 territory of central Alberta. Cire’s work talks with the culture that raised her: her kokom’s lineage of Beaver Lake Cree Nation and her moshom’s Métis lineage. These conversations oscillate between the terrains of paint, beads and textiles, focusing on place and enlivening material associations. Here, relations speak about language and memory, where it can be found, and what it says when it reaches.
Zoe Ann Cardinal Cire, Tante, dry earth pigments on raw canvas, 66”x 49”, 2026. Courtesy of the artist.
An official welcome will be delivered in the lobby at 1:30pm, followed by an artist talk with Zoe Ann Cardinal Cire in the exhibition In Plains Air, and a curatorial tour in the exhibition Everyday Matters, with Sonya Jones.
Refreshments will be served.
Before the reception, join us for an Oil Pastel Workshop from 10am – 12pm. Cree and Metis artist, Zoe Ann Cardinal Cire, will teach an oil pastel workshop using natural materials. Participants will go home with their own oil pastel and contribute a sculpture to the exhibition.
Workshop registration is required. This workshop is open to all individuals age 12+; parents and guardians are welcome. We are prioritizing Indigenous community members for participation in this workshop. Registrants will be asked to self-identify in the form below. A confirmation email will be sent to participants prior to the workshop. Workshop RSVP form
This event is free and open to everyone. To better support your participation and access needs, please contact greta hamilton, TD Assistant Curator, at [email protected]
Zoe Ann Cardinal Cire, Tante (Detail), dry earth pigments on raw canvas, 66”x 49”, 2026. Courtesy of the artist.
Donna Ibing (Canadian, b.1947); Kitchen Window; 1973; acrylic on canvas; Purchase, 1995
Julia Dault (Canadian, b. 1977); Jazz Hands (Detail); 2014; acrylic and oil on canvas in painted wood frame; Gift of Robert Desjardins and Pamela Dinsmore, 2024
