Tom Thomson gallery exhibition spaces closing for HVAC upgrades

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The Tom Thomson Art Gallery exhibition spaces are to close until spring as aging HVAC systems in the facility are replaced. 

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But while the exhibition rooms will be closed as of Monday, the tourism desk at the gallery will remain open to the public Monday to Friday to purchase merchandise, movie tickets and Supporter’s Circle memberships. 

The exhibition spaces are expected to open again in late March or early April with some new shows once the work is complete. 

The city awarded the contract to replace the HVAC system at the art gallery to Jayden’s Mechanical Ltd. In December 2023. The tender awarded for the project was for just over $430,000. 

The scope of the work combines three capital projects, including the replacement of two air handler units and upgrades to the building automation system that controls those units. 

According to the December 2023 report from Manager of Corporate Services Bradey Carbert, the two AHUs were installed in 2004 and approaching the end of their life expectancies. One of the units had experienced significant malfunctions, the report noted. 

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Carbert said Friday that because one of the AHUs is in the collection area where all the art is kept, the space needs to be shut down to accommodate the project.  

“It is just aged equipment that needs to be replaced, but there is a lot of demolition and we have to protect the art,” Carbert said, adding that the equipment is essential to ensuring the temperature and humidity are appropriate for the gallery’s collection of artwork. 

Some of the art has been relocated to storage to accommodate the work. 

In the meantime, the art gallery will still be offering its March Break camps at Harrison Park. Campers will explore the outdoors and experiment with painting, drawing, sculpture and using eco-friendly materials. Registration is open and available by e-mailing Heather McLeese at hmcleese@tomthomson.org. 

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Gallery staff are also undertaking the Upcycling Tom project together with the Owen Sound Waste Watchers and students from Keppel-Sarawak Elementary and Owen Sound District Secondary schools. 

The project, featuring art made from recycled materials, is to be installed in the art gallery atrium in March and showcased as part of Earth Day events on April 26. 

The new exhibitions that will be on display once the exhibition spaces reopen include: 

• Safekeeping, about the importance of taking care of the environment and protecting the future. Youth from the Owen Sound Youth Climate Action group will choose works from the gallery’s collection that connects with their work as climate activists. They will share their own creative reflections with letters, poems, drawings or photos. 

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• Soft Futures, featuring artists Rihab Essayh of Montreal, Winnie Truong of Toronto and Ashley Beerdat from Brampton. The works examine important concerns in the world like climate change, social problems and digital disconnection, and the exhibition will share positive ideas and hope about how to slow down, be kind and heal together. 

• From October 2025 to January 2026, the juried art exhibition Convergence will return. The show features emerging and established Grey-Bruce artists and their diverse works. 

“We thank the community for their patience while we undergo this much-needed project to replace the gallery’s heating and cooling systems. The HVAC units are critical to protecting the gallery’s art collection which is held in trust for the public,” Mayor Ian Boddy said in a news release. “I also want to thank our staff and team of volunteers for their hard work relocating most of the art collection so we can get this work done. 

We can’t wait to invite visitors back in April to explore all that’s coming to the TOM.” 

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