Toronto: Canadian Modern & Beyond 43rd Annual Symposium takes place on September 26 and 27, 2025 The City of Tkaronto/Toronto is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Tkaronto/Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit. |
SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM Scroll down to Register and to Access Full Package Info |
DAY 1 (Archives, Exhibition, Studio Tours) Friday, September 26, 2025 Charter bus service and lunch is included in DAY 1 - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 |
Guided Tour of Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Robarts Library
9:00AM ET
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Image: Interior, Thomas Fisher Library (left), Exterior, Robarts Library (right) Image credit: https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/ The guided tour will highlight gems from the largest repository of publicly accessible rare books and manuscripts in Canada. Registrants will have an opportunity to examine materials and delve into the design of the iconic brutalist building by Mathers and Haldenby of Toronto with design consultant Warner, Burns, Toan and Lunde of New York. We’ll also explore the upcoming anniversary exhibition 70 Rare Books, Special Collections, Archives which features a selection of seventy items recently used in research, teaching, and learning at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. The exhibition is inspired by moments of discovery and creativity in the seminar room, reference desk, and reading room. |
Studio Tour with Brothers Dressler 11:30AM ET |
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Image: Brothers Dressler Studio Image credit: https://www.brothersdressler.com/ Brothers Dressler is the furniture studio of Jason and Lars Dressler. Since 2003 they have been creating original and award-winning lighting, furniture and installations using wood and other responsibly sourced materials. Twenty years later they are known for their craftsmanship and playful use of material, inspiring a new generation of Canadian design. Their work is displayed in distinguished collections and has been exhibited widely across Canada and around the world. |
Guided Tour of 401 Richmond with President + Founder, Margie Zeidler 3:00PM ET |
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Image: 401 Richmond, Margie Zeidler Image credit: https://401richmond.com/ This guided tour will explore 401 Richmond, a heritage-designated industrial building turned arts and culture hub. Constructed in several phases between 1899 and 1923 for the Macdonald Manufacturing Company, the building operated as a tin factory best known for its lithographic work. That artistic lineage is still seen today with a community of nearly 150 artists, cultural producers, nonprofits and microenterprises. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the various galleries and studios, as well as the Spacing bookstore, the go-to location for authentic merchandise that captures the spirit of Toronto and its neighbourhoods. Spacing works directly with designers, artists, and makers who are producing unique objects that celebrate the city. |
Special Presentation with Justine Woods, Curator of Indigenous Collections at Bata Shoe Museum 4:30PM ET
Image (L): Justine Woods Image credit (R): https://batashoemuseum.ca Session Details Justine Woods, Curator of Indigenous Collections at the Bata Shoe Museum, will deliver a presentation featuring Indigenous footwear currently at rest in the Bata Shoe Museum’s Collection. The presentation will focus on two Ancestor belongings and two contemporary pieces of Indigenous fashion footwear. Our delegates will also have the opportunity to tour the Bata Shoe Museum, an iconic building designed by Raymond Moriyama, and view the current exhibitions: Rough and Ready: A History of the Cowboy Boot and Art/Wear: Sneakers X Artists. Speaker Bio Justine Woods is a garment-artist, creative scholar, educator, and curator. She holds the role of Curator of Indigenous Collections at the Bata Shoe Museum and is a PhD Candidate in Media and Design Innovation at Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, Canada. Stretching across fields of study, including but not limited to, fashion studies, performance and embodiment, and research-creation, Justine’s work passionately situates fashion as a pluriversal phenomenon. Her research centres garment-making as a practice-based method of inquiry toward re-stitching alternative worlds that prioritize Indigenous resurgence and liberation. Justine's work has been included in both solo and group exhibitions across so-called Canada, hosted by the Art Gallery of Guelph, Quest Art Gallery, Fifty Fifty Arts Collective, Between Pheasants Contemporary, DesignTO, and the MacLaren Arts Centre. Her writing has been published in a variety of scholarly journals such as Fashion Studies, Pathways: The Ontario Journal of Outdoor Education, and Scene. To learn more about Justine, please visit her website: www.justinewoods.com. Hot Docs Cinema – E.1027: Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea 6:30PM ET
Image (L): www.imdb.com Image credit (R): www.bloorstculturecorridor.com Film Details (Optional) Enjoy this 2024, 99-minute documentary in the historic Hot Docs cinema, featuring award-winning renovations from 2012 by Hariri Pontarini Architects. The film explores the clash between two icons of modernism, designer Eileen Gray and architect Le Corbusier, over Gray’s famous 1920s Riviera house, E-1027. This is a ticketed event for registrants; CSDA will confirm attendance following completion of Symposium registration. |
DAY 2 (Lectures & Panel Discussions) Saturday, September 27, 2025 Coffee/tea/pastries and a guided walking tour of The Annex is included in DAY 2 - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 |
Marian Bradshaw Lecture Modern Heritage 9:30AM ET Session Details Exploring contrasting visions of modernism in Toronto’s postwar architecture, this presentation considers how architectural expression, material culture, and cultural value intersect in the city’s evolving heritage landscape. Using case studies like Mies van der Rohe’s TD Centre and Uno Prii’s sculptural apartment buildings, the presentation examines how differing approaches to modern design and their cultural associations have shaped what is celebrated, conserved, or overlooked in the city’s architectural legacy. Building on themes introduced in Concrete Toronto, it reflects on how both widely recognized and unconventional modernist works contribute to Toronto’s identity — and why some remain on the margins of preservation discourse. Speaker Bio A registered architect and founding Principal of ERA Architects, Michael McClelland OAA, AAA, AIBC, NSAA, OAQ, FRAIC, CAHP, has specialized in heritage conservation, heritage planning, and urban design for over 30 years. Having begun his career in municipal government, most notably for the Toronto Historical Board, Michael continues to work with a wide range of public and private stakeholders to build culture through thoughtful, values-based heritage planning and design. Michael is a frequent contributor to the discourse surrounding architecture and landscape in Canada, and has edited a number of books on urban conservation including East/West: A Guide to Where People Live in Downtown Toronto; Concrete Toronto — A Guidebook to Concrete Architecture From the Fifties to the Seventies; The Ward: the Life and Loss of Toronto’s First Immigrant Neighbourhood, and The Ward Uncovered: the Archaeology of Everyday Life. Image credit: https://www.eraarch.ca/ This lecture is sponsored by Hariri Pontarini Architects. Individual tickets for the Marian Bradshaw Lecture with Michael McClelland are available via link below: $10 for students / $20 for adults. Coffee, tea and a selection of pastries will be made available to our guests. |
Ornamentum Spotlights Modern Makers 10:45AM ET |
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Image credits (L-R): Kristy Woudstra, Daniel Gruetter, Julia Brucculieri Session Details Join Ornamentum's online editor Julia Brucculieri in conversation with quilter Kristy Woudstra and furniture designer and maker Daniel Greutter as they share their insights as modern makers in the evolving world of craft and design. From finding inspiration in their surroundings to reimagining time-honoured techniques, this session explores how these contemporary artisans are interpreting traditional practices to reflect today’s world, balancing heritage with innovation and functionality with meaning. Speaker Bios
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Paul McClure: Designer - Maker - Educator 1:30PM ET |
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Image credits: Digital by Design, Farah Kathrada, Lise Beaudry Session Details In this presentation, Paul McClure examines the convergence of biology, craft, and contemporary jewellery through his studio practice. His work investigates microscopic and cellular forms, employing them as both metaphorical and formal devices to explore themes of the body, mortality, and materiality. McClure’s ongoing technical research combines traditional goldsmithing techniques with emerging digital fabrication technologies, resulting in works that function not only as adornment but also as sculptural inquiries into the aesthetics of the unseen. In addition to discussing his studio practice, McClure will provide an overview of the renowned School of Jewellery at George Brown College (GBC) in Toronto, one of the oldest and largest programs of its kind in North America. As GBC, like many other craft programs in Ontario, faces the threat of closures and underfunding, McClure will address this crisis and its impact on the sustainability of craft skills in Canada. Speaker Bio Paul McClure (b. Canada, 1967) is an internationally recognized contemporary jewellery artist and educator. His work is held in prominent collections, including the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Canadian Museum of History, Design Museum of Barcelona, and National Museums Scotland. McClure holds a BFA from NSCAD University (1989) and an MA from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin (1999), with further studies at Escola Massana in Barcelona. He is a professor in the School of Jewellery at George Brown College in Toronto, where he has played a significant role in shaping pedagogical approaches to craft and design in Canada. In 2015, McClure received the Saidye Bronfman Award, Canada’s foremost distinction for excellence in fine craft. Paul McClure is represented by Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h in Montréal, Quebec. This lecture is sponsored by Galerie Noel Guyomarc'h. |
Canadian Modern Craft & Design: Display, Document, Interpret 2:45PM ET |
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Image credit: MMFA, Jean-François Brière |
Image credit: womenalsoknowhistory.com |
Image: G2 Stereo, Designed by Al Faux (1931-1978) and fabricated by Clairtone Sound Corporation 1966, Toronto, Ontario and Stellarton, Nova Scotia, Canada. ROM, 2020.24.2
Image credit: Royal Ontario Museum
Session Details
This session will examine institutional stewardship of post 1920 Canadian design and craft. Panelists will consider the interpretation and display of artifacts in the context of audiences, value, social culture and the critical narration of histories through objects. The importance of digital research networks will also be discussed.
Speaker Bios
- Dr. Michael J Prokopow is a historian, curator and educator who specializes in visual and material culture. He has written widely on expressive culture, curatorial and museum practice, decolonization and material life. He served as curator of the Design Exchange in Toronto between 2004 and 2008 and in 2016 he co-curated and co-authored, with Dr. Rachel Gotlieb, True Nordic: How Scandinavia influenced design in Canada. His recent publications include Hurvin Anderson (2022), Reside: Contemporary West Coast Houses (2024) and, with Stephanie Rebick: The Place of Objects: The John David Lawrence Collection (2025). He is on the faculty of OCAD University.
- Dr. Rachel Gotlieb, PhD, is a distinguished curator specializing in ceramics and design. As Ruth Rippon Curator at the Crocker Art Museum (2021–2023), she curated Portland Vase: Mania & Muse. Her leadership roles include Chief Curator at the Gardiner Museum (2011–2014) and founding curator of the Design Exchange (1990–2002), where she co-authored the seminal Design in Canada. Gotlieb has shaped major exhibitions including True Nordic: How Scandinavia Influenced Design in Canada (2016) and Canadian Modern (2022–23) at the Royal Ontario Museum. Her scholarship earned her the Theodore Randall International Chair at Alfred University and a Winterthur Museum Research Fellowship (2017). Currently, she leads the redesign of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' decorative arts collection, opening mid-September 2025. Her recent publications include Ceramics in the Victorian Era: Meanings and Metaphors in Painting and Literature (Bloomsbury, 2023) and co-editedTransnational Discourses in Nordic Design (Bloomsbury, 2024)
- Dr. Jan Hadlaw is a cultural historian whose areas of expertise include history of technology, material and visual culture, design history, and cultural economy. Her research has been published internationally in peer-reviewed journals, including Design Issues, Journal of Design History, Material Culture Review, Object et Communication, among others. An associate professor at York University, she is the principal investigator of the SSHRC-funded xDX Project, a partnership of academics, archivists, and curators working together to digitally ‘reconstruct’ the former DX collection as a linked-open-data research resource for the study of Canada’s design history.
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Annex Amble: Cliff-Dwelling in MCM Apartment Buildings
4:30PM ET
Image (L): Alfred Holden
Image credit (R): www.tocityscapes.com
Walking Tour Details (Optional)
Stretch your legs! Join journalist Alfred Holden for a walking tour of the Annex’s elegant and innovative mid-century apartment buildings. Alfred is a former staff reporter and editor for the Toronto Star, writer of the beloved City Building column, and a contributor to the books Concrete Toronto, uTOpia: Towards a New Toronto, and To the New World: Estonian Architects in Toronto. Alfred was nominated for a National Magazine Award and earned a Heritage Toronto commendation for his journalism on architecture.
We would like to thank our generous Supporters and Sponsors. Sponsors |
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Media Partner
We would also like to thank Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Robarts Library and 401 Richmond for their support
2025 Symposium Committee Members: Erin Wiley, Shi Qiu, Rachel Gotlieb, Charlotte Mickie, Julie Riches & Henry Wiercinski
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