Exhibitions - John M. Kelly Library

The John M. Kelly Library’s Exhibition Program engages the University community in active learning through primary sources. Curated by students, librarians, faculty, and staff, exhibitions feature items from the library’s rich collections, including rare books and archives. Supported by the University of St. Michael’s College and the Friends of the Kelly Library, exhibitions are displayed on the library’s ground floor, an accessible space open during regular hours.

On Now

Dante Sings the Priases of Saint Francis

The Dante Collection was established in the Kelly Library in 2013 based on a gift of books and works of art by Alberto Di Giovanni and Caroline Morgan Di Giovanni. From the beginning it has emphasized illustrated editions of La Divina Commedia, particularly facsimiles of early manuscripts. The subject of the current exhibit is the life of Saint Francis of Assisi as Dante describes it in canto IX of Paradiso. Included are images dating from the 14th to the 20th centuries, show the enduring interest in Saint Francis.

Ongoing Online Exhibitions

The Big Maps: The Sisters of Service as Canadian Trailblazers

This exhibition explores the Sisters of Service (SOS), a uniquely Canadian and untraditional women’s religious institute whose century of work spanned immigration services, teaching, nursing, social work, and more. Guided by the motto “Look at Big Maps,” the SOS embraced simplicity and flexibility in their rules and customs, allowing them to adapt to the diverse communities they served across Canada.

The full exhibition can be viewed here.

Acknowledgements

The Big Maps: The Sisters of Service as Canadian Trailblazers was curated and installed by Francesca Rousselle, Processing Archivist, John M. Kelly Library, USMC. Exhibition mounts and artifact preparation were prepared by Malgorzata Zajkowska. This exhibition was supported, in part, by the Sisters of Service and the Friends of the Kelly Library.

The Golden Rule: Social Justice and the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society

The John M. Kelly Library at the University of St. Michael’s College is pleased to mount an exhibition celebrating donation of the Scarboro Foreign Missions Society records to the Library’s Special Collections: Archives and Rare Books. Curated by Francesca Rousselle, this exhibition explores the evolution of justice-oriented mission work from the Society’s early efforts at poverty-alleviation, the anticipation and response to the Second Vatican Council, and the subsequent expansion of ministries focusing on economic, political, interfaith, and ecological justice.

The full exhibition can be viewed here.

Acknowledgements

The Golden Rule: Social Justice and the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society was curated and installed by Francesca Rousselle, Processing Archivist, John M. Kelly Library, USMC, with design and exhibition photography by Sheila Eaton, Digital and Graphic Design Manager, USMC. Exhibition mounts and artifact preparation were prepared by Malgorzata Zajkowska. This exhibition is supported, in part, by the Scarboro Foreign Missions Society and the Friends of the Kelly Library.

Celebrating L’Arche and Sr. Sue Mosteller, CSJ, OC: Online Exhibition

The John M. Kelly Library presents a commemorative online exhibition about L’Arche and Sr. Sue Mosteller, CSJ, OC, in celebration of the 55th anniversary of L’Arche Daybreak and the 60th anniversary of the first L’Arche community in Trosly, France.

This exhibition, co-curated by the library’s Special Collections team and the L’Arche Communities, will highlight the significance of Sr. Mosteller’s work in the growth and development of L’Arche. In addition, it will feature the result of ten years of Joe Egan’s long-term commitment volunteering with Special Collections that has enabled us to enrich the L’Arche Audiovisual Collection with detailed item-level descriptions to improve accessibility.

The full exhibition can be viewed here.

Acknowledgements

Celebrating L’Arche and Sr. Sue Mosteller, CSJ, OC: Online Exhibition, was curated by Teresa Wong, Simon Rogers, and Joe Egan (L’Arche) with website design by Sheila Eaton, Digital and Graphic Design Manager, USMC. We also acknowledge the support from various members of L’Arche Toronto and L’Arche Daybreak.

100 Years of Women’s Education at St. Michael’s College

For more than 100 years, women have made their mark at the University of St. Michael’s College. Whether as students, professors, or staff, women have offered deep and lasting contributions to St. Mike’s. Women’s religious communities opened the college doors for female students more than 100 years ago, with the arrival of the Loretto Sisters and the Sisters of St. Joseph as professors and advocates for women’s higher education. Through archival materials and historical accounts, this online exhibition celebrates how these two religious communities changed the face of St. Michael’s.

The full exhibition can be viewed here.

Acknowledgements

Materials for the 100 Years of Women’s Education at St. Michael’s College online exhibition, initially published in 2011, was coordinated by Michael Bramah, Head of Technical Services, and assisted by Connie Lewin, Cataloguing Technician, for the University of St. Michael’s College (USMC) archives. Text and images supplied by Linda Wicks, archivist for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto (CSJT), and Sr. Juliana Dusel, IBVM, along with Michelle Anitra Pariag, archivists for the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loretto Sisters), Canadian Province. Website and graphic design by Sheila Eaton, Digital and Graphic Design Manager, USMC.

Past Exhibitions

The Big Maps: The Sisters of Service as Canadian Trailblazers

Opening Lecture

The exhibition opened with a lecture by Mark McGowan, Professor Emeritus of History and Celtic Studies at the University of Toronto and Principal Emeritus of St. Michael’s College. He discussed the founding of the Sisters of Service amid Canada’s early 20th-century immigration boom, highlighting Catherine Donnelly’s pioneering vision and the Sisters’ role in welcoming, housing, and teaching new Canadians from diverse cultural backgrounds. The lecture was recorded and is available here.

Acknowledgements

The Golden Rule: Social Justice and the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society

Mounted to celebrate the donation of the Scarboro Foreign Missions Society records to the Library’s Special Collections: Archives and Rare Books, this exhibition, curated by Francesca Rousselle, explored the evolution of justice-oriented mission work from the Society’s early efforts at poverty-alleviation, the anticipation and response to the Second Vatican Council, and the subsequent expansion of ministries focusing on economic, political, interfaith, and ecological justice.

Opening Lecture

On January 21, 2025, we welcomed Father Robert E. Carbonneau, C.P., Ph.D., Research Fellow of the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History at Boston College and Archivist of the Passionist China Collection, for an opening lecture to mark the opening of the exhibition. His talk, Proclaiming the Gospel Truth- Reflections on History To Shape the Future, 1918- 2025: The Scarboro Mission Archives at St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto, was recorded and is available here.

Acknowledgements

Dark Flame of Poetry: Rare and Early D’Annunzio Editions

This exhibition celebrates the 160th anniversary of the birth of Gabriele D’Annunzio. Dark Flame of Poetry: Rare and Early D’Annunzio Editions showcases the works of Gabriele D’Annunzio, an often-misunderstood Italian poet, novelist, dramatist, war hero, ultranationalist, political leader, journalist, and a self-proclaimed superman. Beginning with an overview of the Decadent movement and its impact on Italian literature, this exhibition highlights rare D’Annunzio’s publications found in the library’s collections to show the diversity of his talent and close collaboration with Symbolist artists and illustrators of his generation.

Acknowledgements

The Dark Flame of Poetry: Rare and Early D’Annunzio Editions was curated and installed by Remi Pulwer, Head of Technical Services, USMC, with design and exhibition photography by Sheila Eaton, Digital and Graphic Design Manager, USMC.

The University of St. Michael’s College: 171 Years

Since 1852, St. Michael’s College has been a centre of learning in Toronto. The classes and programs have changed over time but student life has, in many ways, stayed much the same. Students have represented SMC in sports, they have lived in the dorms and eaten in the cafeterias, attended dances, and they have excelled academically. This exhibit will serve as a brief glimpse at the history of student life at St. Michael’s College over the past 171 years.

This exhibit showcases memorabilia that represent just some of the aspects of student life at St. Mike’s: achievements in sports, fun at dances, and the joy in performing for fellow students. The back wall also features the graduation portraits from 101 years ago, 60 years ago, 50 years ago, and 25 years ago. All exhibited materials come from the University of St. Michael’s College Archives. Many of these materials have been donated to the University Archives by alumni and friends of the University.

The University of St. Michael’s College: 171 Years can be seen on the ground floor of the John M. Kelly Library.

Acknowledgements

The University of St. Michael’s College: 171 Years was curated and installed by Jessica Barr, University Archivist and Records Manager, USMC, with design and exhibition photography by Sheila Eaton, Digital and Graphic Design Manager, USMC.

Kelly Library at 50: A Retrospective on Our Future

In 1969 the John M. Kelly Library had just opened its doors, drawing the College’s print collections into a modern space for a modern time. The brutalist architecture still looms, but the inside is warm and welcoming – a space for learning and growth. There are expert staff, exemplary faculty, and enquiring students – a shared community of inspiration and creation. We have three floors of resources, analogue and digital, on shelves and screens – a collection to draw local and international knowledge seekers. Here are compelling exchanges, original research, quiet study, and splendid studios – an environment to support innovation in our community and our services.

Opening with the Canadian Fine Press Exhibition and the launch of “A Tetrad” in January 2019, the Kelly Library’s 50th Anniversary Celebration wrapped up with lectures by author Anthony de Sa and former Chief Librarian Sheril Hook in November 2019.

Acknowledgements

Kelly Library at 50: A Retrospective on Our Future was curated and installed by Jessica Barr, Connie Lewin, and Noel McFerran with design and exhibition photography by Sheila Eaton, Digital and Graphic Design Manager, USMC. Work study student curatorial assistants included Lauren McAusland, Maya Pasternak, and Elim Ren.

Canadian Fine Press

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the John M. Kelly Library presented a major exhibition on Canadian Fine Press, in conjunction with parallel exhibitions at Trinity, Massey and Victoria Colleges and The Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library. The exhibitions were launched with a presentation by Robert MacDonald on 22 January 2019, and the publication of The Kelly Press’s A Tetrad. The Kelly Library exhibition featured a display of hand press processes and materials from the artisanal presses of the library’s Print Studio, and a special showcase on the fine-press and design work of St. Michael’s 1969 grad Glenn Goluska.

Acknowledgements

Canadian Fine Press was curated and installed by Deborah Barnett, Chester Gryski and Simon Rogers with design and exhibition photography by Sheila Eaton, Digital and Graphic Design Manager, USMC. Work study student curatorial assistants included Maya Pasternak and Teresa Wong.

Love Your Neighbour as Yourself: Catholic Social Teaching in Toronto

Illustrating the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching through a combination of archival materials drawn from the Kelly Library’s Special Collections, and the archives of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, the Sisters of Loretto, the Congregation of St. Basil, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, Love Your Neighbour as Yourself: Catholic Social Teaching in Toronto, illustrated how the University of St. Michael’s College community—through both scholarship and on-the-ground initiatives—reflects a deep commitment to modern Catholic Social Teaching.

What is Catholic Social Teaching?

Catholic Social Teaching is not so much a clearly defined set of principles or doctrines as it is the response to the political, social, and economic issues of the time by those with official teaching positions in the Church, including the Pope and his closest advisors. The first such response was a document issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, entitled Rerum Novarum (Of New Things), which addressed the struggle of workers in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. It called for protections to be put in place for labourers, it affirmed the dignity of work, and argued for rights to private property, as well as workers’ rights to form and join professional associations. Since this first encyclical was issued in 1891 the Vatican has continued to address social issues through the release of encyclicals and remains current to the plight of the marginalized throughout our society, including care for our environment. In 2015, Pope Francis released Laudato’si (Praise Be to You) and subtitled ‘On Care for Our Common Home’ and dealt with the ecological crisis. The Pope based his views on a method for Catholic Social Teaching of See-Judge-Act and called for people everywhere to take responsibility for their own lives and to work for justice and peace on earth.

The exhibition was jointly sponsored by the John M. Kelly Library, the Faculty of Theology, the University of St. Michael’s College, with contributions from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, the Loretto Sisters, the Basilian Fathers, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto.

Acknowledgements

Love Your Neighbour as Yourself: Catholic Social Teaching in Toronto was curated and installed by James Roussain with design and exhibition photography by Sheila Eaton, Digital and Graphic Design Manager, USMC. Conservation support was provided by Natasa Krsmanovic. Contributions were provided by Linda Wicks of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, Michelle Pariag of the Loretto Sisters, Michelle Sawyers of the Basilian Fathers, and Gillian Hearns of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto.

The Conservation Studio: Preserving our Collections

The John M. Kelly Library Conservation Studio officially opened on February 28th, 2017. Opening night included a lecture by Mark Osbaldeston (SMC 1990), titled “Unbuilt U of T: Images from the Archives,” and the opening of an exhibition highlighting conservation activities that could be undertaken in the new state-of-the-art facility. The Library houses over 27,000 pre-1900 books, more than 450 meters of official University records, private papers in our Special Collections, and many pieces from the University Art Collection, as well as our large circulating collection for use by students, faculty, and staff.

This exhibition served as an introduction to the Conservation Studio and the conservation activities that can now be completed in this new space. The exhibit highlighted examples of materials from many of our collections, and identified future conservation activities that could preserve and protect these materials for many years to come. These activities could include restoration or repair, creation of new enclosures or storage containers, cleaning or removing of mould, flattening of rolled materials, and digitization.

Acknowledgements

The Conservation Studio: Preserving our Collections was curated and installed by Jessica Barr, Noel McFerran, Simon Rogers and James Roussain with design and exhibition photography by Sheila Eaton, Digital and Graphic Design Manager, USMC.

McLuhan on Campus: Local Inspirations, Global Visions

Launched in conjunction with “The Toronto School: Then, Now, Next” international conference, the “McLuhan on Campus” exhibition invited participants to explore the development of Marshall McLuhan’s theories in the context of his academic and personal life at St. Michael’s College. The multimedia exhibition showcased Marshall McLuhan’s central role in the rise of the Toronto School of Communication, and also marked the opening of the newly refurbished first floor learning space of the John M. Kelly Library. An interactive quotation hunt “Who Said it?” invited patrons to explore the library in order to reflect on passages of texts affiliated with the community of thinkers associated with McLuhan and his contemporaries. Paul Elie was the opening speaker, 13 October 2016, for the exhibition and the conference, which also saw the unveiling of the Pied Pipers All painting by René Cera in the Canada Room of Brennan Hall.

Acknowledgements

McLuhan on Campus: Local Inspirations, Global Visions was curated and installed by Matthew Brower, Laura Cunningham, Simon Rogers and John Shoesmith with design and exhibition photography by Sheila Eaton, Digital and Graphic Design Manager, USMC. Work study student curatorial assistants included Katherine Ing and Kalina Nedelcheva.