The John M. Kelly Library supports an Exhibition Program that seeks to directly engage with the larger University community to support active learning and critical inquiry through primary sources. Exhibitions are regularly curated by members of the University of St. Michael’s College community, including students, librarians, faculty, and staff. Items on display are most often drawn from the library’s own rich holdings, including from our rare book and archival special collections. Support for the Exhibition Program is generously provided by the University of St. Michael’s College and the Friends of the Kelly Library.
All exhibitions are hosted in the library’s ground floor exhibition area unless otherwise stated. This is an accessible space and is open during regular library hours.
Current Exhibition
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.
Ongoing Online Exhibitions
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 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.