Ontario society of artists

Founded in 1872, the Ontario Society of Artists is Canada's oldest continuously operating artistic society. Its founders were John Fraser, J. W. Bridgman, R. F. Gagen, James Hoch, Marmaduke Matthews, C. S. Millard and Thomas Mower Martin. The Society???s mandate was ???the fostering of original art in the province, the holding of annual exhibitions, and the formation of an art library and museum and a school of Art.??? To date (2010): it has held annual exhibitions continuously since 1873; in 1876 it founded the art school now known as the Ontario College of Art & Design; in 1900 it founded the museum now known as the Art Gallery of Ontario; and it is the parent organization of the Canadian Society of Graphic Arts, the Ontario Association of Architects, the Sculptors' Society of Canada, the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Sources: Ontario Government Archives - http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-exhibits/osa/index.aspx; Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art - http://www.ccca.ca/history/osa/english/references/osa100yr-2.html?languagePref=en&o; and the Ontario Society of Artists - http://ontariosocietyofartists.org/about_the_osa. Prepared and contributed by M.D.Silverbrooke.