Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum
The Smith Institute first opened to the public on 11 August 1874. It was an occasion for great celebration in Stirling, and the shops in the town closed at 12 noon to allow people to attend the opening. Nevertheless, there were some mixed feelings, for Thomas Stuart Smith, had died in 1869 and the location of the building was felt by many people to be too far away from the old town.
Art Gallery of Ontario
The Art Gallery was founded in 1900 as the Art Museum of Toronto. The Gallery was renamed to the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1919, and finally the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1966. Since 1974, the gallery has seen four major expansions and renovations, typically considered a high number and unseen by most galleries of the world, and continues to add spaces. The renovated and renamed J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art opened in July 2018. Prior recent renovations by Hariri Pontarini Architects include the Weston Family Learning Centre, which opened in October 2011 and the South Entrance and lounge outside the library, which opened in July 2017. The David Milne Research Centre, which opened in April 2012, was designed by KPMB Architects. Earlier major renovations were designed by noted architects John C. Parkin (1974 & 1977), Barton Myers and KPMB Architects (1993), and recently, Frank Gehry (2008).