Exploration
Launching in August, 2027 in collaboration with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, this bold new Arctic expedition will guide travellers through some of the same waters that inspired some of Canada’s most iconic artists
What if you could stand in the exact spot where A. Y. Jackson set up his easel to begin painting Aurora (1927), or gaze upon Mount Lefroy (1930) from the precise perspective that inspired Lawren Harris’s masterpiece of the same name? That’s at least one of the propositions behind a bold new expedition from Adventure Canada, created in collaboration with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinberg, Ont.
Departing August 31, 2027, High Arctic Expedition: Where Art Meets Land will retrace parts of the northern journeys that inspired these and other defining works of members of the Group of Seven. And, with the McMichael’s extensive ground-breaking research for this venture, the revelations won’t stop there.
Why did these images become so defining of the far north for so many Canadians? What were these works missing? And what was the broader social context at the time of these century-old voyages that shaped what the artists saw? Over roughly two weeks aboard the expedition ship Ocean Nova, travellers will delve into these and other big questions — questions that feel more timely to revisit now than ever before.
I hope to see you on board in 2027. But for now, here’s just a taste of what to expect from this fascinating new Adventure Canada journey.
Listen in.
People & Culture
A century after the Group of Seven became famous for an idealized vision of Canadian nature, contemporary artists are incorporating environmental activism into work that highlights Canada’s disappearing landscapes
People & Culture
In an era when the art world favoured abstraction, E.J. Hughes painted life as he saw it, and his favourite subject was Vancouver Island
People & Culture
Scott and Grit McCreath reflect on the birthday gift that sparked a 20-year collecting journey and why they’re sharing its works with visitors to The Canadian Canoe Museum
People & Culture
Canadian painter and filmmaker Cory Trépanier explores the sublime and rapidly changing Canadian Arctic