Material Culture: What does it Include?

On February 7, 2021 CSDA held an online lecture with Dr. Michael Prokopow on the subject of Material culture as it relates both to a subject area and a methodology. This talk will consider the study of human-made and human-modified things and the ways that they are classified and why. Issues of function, decoration and style will be considered. If you missed the presentation please access the recording here. 

Treasurers in the Attic: Personal Mementos from Spadina House 

On January 10, 2021 CSDA held an online talk with James Thompson, a fifth-generation member of the Austin family, who built Spadina House and later donated it to the City and the Province. James will give us a glimpse into the story of Spadina House by sharing decorative arts objects and other items he acquired when the house transitioned from a family home into a public museum. If you missed the presentation please access the recording here.

CSDA Spotlight on Decorative Arts at Waddington's

On November 22, 2020 CSDA and Waddington's held an online event highlighting objects selected by CSDA and the Gardiner Museum's Young Patrons Circle members. Bill Kime, Sean Quinn and Hayley Dawson of Waddington’s lead a discussion surrounding the pre-selected objects, which will be included in Waddington’s upcoming Decorative Arts & Design Auction.

Ornamentum Exchange virtual talk with Rosalind Pepall & Dr Rachel Gotlieb discussion Talking to a Portrait: Tales of an Art Curator book - November  1, 2020. If you missed the presentation please you can access the recording here.

In these fifteen essays we encounter artists falling in and out of love, family tragedies, the creation of the Stanley Cup, the secrets of Tiffany, Antiques Roadshow, a rootless baroness, the design craze for aluminum, small Japanese boxes called kogos, watercolour sketchbooks of the Canadian north, a beautiful prayer room in Montreal, gondolas flying through windows in Venice, and Moscovites who love Goldfinger, Order your own copy of the book here.

The Legacy of the Bauhaus: Urban Upheaval and the Rise of New Vernaculars

On October 2, 2020 Professor Marcin Kezior, Director f the Centre for Cultural Landscapes - Willowbank School of Restoration Arts presented at the conclusion of CSDA's 38th Annual General Meeting his observations on the illustrations of ornamentation and the spirit of the decorative arts did not subside during Modernism and industrialization, it was simply displaced. Modernist architects including Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright were influenced by vernacular artifacts, and movements such as Art Nouveau. Ornament did not go away, but was understood as the "celebration of a joint," the exuberance of material properties, constantly shifting light affects, a continuity with the vitality of nature, the expression of structural forces, and an alternate take on craft. 

Collectors at Home 

The CSDA/CCAD will be highlighting some of the beautiful, rare and/or sentimental pieces our members enjoy behind closed doors.

June 20, 2020 inaugural virtual event with guest curator Jennifer Franks, Art & Design Historian.  Theme - From Utility to Life: Sculptural Decorative Arts - followed by  Q&A with CSDA collectors.

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      A selection of images from the 2014 Annual Symposium,
      Scenic Views: Exploring the Historic, Cultural and Artistic
      Landscape of Niagara-on-the-Lake.