{"id":954916,"date":"2026-11-02T00:26:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T00:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/954916\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T00:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T00:26:10","slug":"why-torontos-biggest-art-fair-is-encouraging-locals-to-collect-canadian-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/954916\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Toronto\u2019s biggest art fair is encouraging locals to collect Canadian art"},"content":{"rendered":"

Art Toronto takes place annually at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. This year it featured an advisory desk to help collectors purchase local art \n<\/p>\n

The new director of Art Toronto, Canada\u2019s largest international art fair, wants to defend the Canadian art sector against U.S. tariffs by encouraging more people to collect Canadian art.<\/p>\n

Art Toronto director Emily-Jean Alexander, who stepped into her role in March, told TorontoToday that the United States is a primary market for Canadian galleries but tariffs on original Canadian-made art \u2014 50 per cent as of Aug. 22 \u2014 have significantly discouraged U.S. collectors from purchasing in Canada.<\/p>\n

Alexander, however, argued that there\u2019s a simple solution: more Canadians need to collect Canadian art.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that we\u2019re building up the collector bases here in Canada so that when and if tariffs are applied on Canadian art, we have enough support domestically to ensure we have a thriving art economy all year round,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

One of the ways Alexander intends to encourage more locals to become collectors is through Art Toronto\u2019s new \u201cReady to Collect Art Advisory Desk\u201d which connects visitors with professional art advisors on site.<\/p>\n

\"img_6487\"
\nArt advisor Kim Edmonds at Art Toronto’s Ready to Collect Art Advisory Desk on Nov. 1. Emma Johnston-Wheeler\/TorontoToday <\/p>\n

Over the course of the art fair, which took place from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, these professionals were on stand-by for the first time to share tailored recommendations for art purchases based on a person\u2019s interests, budget and collecting goals.<\/p>\n

Alexander said no matter how modest a person\u2019s budget is, they\u2019re likely to find a piece of art that speaks to them if they visit Art Toronto with an open mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur galleries are really here to have engaging conversations with people about what they like,\u201d she said. If someone spots a large painting they like but cannot afford, the gallery may be able to show them smaller works or works on paper by the same artist, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t any bad questions,\u201d said Alexander. \u201cPeople here really just want to talk you into loving art as much as they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us it’s not about selling:\u201d Portrait Gallery of Canada seeks support<\/p>\n

\"img_6514\"
\nVisitors taking a selfie in The Portrait Gallery of Canada booth on Nov. 1. Emma Johnston-Wheeler\/TorontoToday <\/p>\n

One non-profit organization was at the art fair exclusively to have conversations about Canadian art, without any intention of selling it.<\/p>\n

The Portrait Gallery of Canada wants to gain the public\u2019s support to open a national portrait gallery, a gallery featuring photos of Canadian citizens that would seek to preserve the country\u2019s history. England, Australia, Scotland, Sweden and the United States all have one, but Canada does not.<\/p>\n

The organization is now seeking to open a permanent gallery.<\/p>\n

Portrait Gallery of Canada representative Leslie McCarley said that there is currently an excitement about Canadian art that has led the organization to start pushing for this milestone. She was at the art fair to collect contact information from members of the public who are in support of a national portrait gallery, in hopes of gaining the attention of the federal government to contribute monetary support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Library and Archives [the primary federal institution for Canada’s documentary heritage] in Ottawa has some 20,000 portraits that are available online, but are not available to be seen,\u201d said McCarley.<\/p>\n

She said those images would be the starting point for exhibitions at a national portrait gallery, which she hopes could eventually be shared across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, it’s not about selling; it’s about telling the stories of Canadians that have gone before, and the people who have created Canada and are continuing to create Canada,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Art Toronto takes place annually at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. This year it featured an advisory desk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":954917,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[326413,49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-954916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-art-toronto-2026art-toronto-ready-to-collect-art-advisory-deskhow-to-start-collecting-canadian-arthow-to-become-an-art-collectorwhere-to-purchase-canadian-artthe-best-artworks-at-art-toronto-2026","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/954917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}