Tour of the City of Toronto Artifact Collection with Tara Bowyer and Dr. Hillary Walker.

Wednesday, November 5, 2025, 1:30PM.

Thursday, November 6, 2025, 5:00PM.

The Canadian Society of Decorative Arts is pleased to invite its members to a special private tour of the City of Toronto’s Collections & Conservation Centre in Liberty Village. The heritage-designated building houses museum staff offices, including a registration department, an exhibit design studio, and a conservation lab. It also serves as the main storage facility for the City’s Artifact Collection, which contains approximately 150,000 objects and one million archaeological specimens. The collection reflects Toronto’s cultural, civic, and artistic history and is used across the City’s 10 museums, such as Gibson House and Spadina Museum.

The tour will be led by Tara Bowyer, the Supervisor of Collections and Conservation, with the assistance of Dr. Hillary Walker, Historian with the City of Toronto History Museums. Attendees will have a unique opportunity to view selected highlights, discover hidden treasures, and learn how the City preserves and interprets its holdings.

Registration is limited to a maximum of 15 registrants per tour.

TOUR 1: Wednesday, November 5, 1:30PM - 3:00PM

TOUR 2: Thursday, November 6, 5:00PM - 6:30PM

REGISTER

Visitors will need to climb three steps to enter the building on Atlantic Avenue. There is an elevator inside the building, so no further stair climbing will be required.

BIOGRAPHY:

Tara Bowyer is the Supervisor, Collections & Conservation at the City's Museum and Heritage Services. She has been working in museums for the past 20 years and based at the Collections & Conservation Centre in various roles since 2010.

Dr. Hillary Walker is the Historian with the Toronto History Museums. Her doctorate is from the University of Toronto, and her research looks at the relationship between domestic interiors and identity. She has studied house museums for nearly 20 years.