Join us to ring in a new season of exhibitions for the Summer/Fall season!

About the exhibitions: Coming soon!

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Join us as we celebrate the opening of three exciting exhibitions: Portfolio 2026, commUNITY, and IT LIVES HERE: The Afrofusion Diaspora.

Drop in between 1–3 PM on Saturday, May 2 for an engaging afternoon filled with art, conversation, and community. Enjoy light refreshments, hear opening remarks, and take the opportunity to connect with the featured artists and curators as you explore the exhibitions.

Portfolio 2026 highlights emerging artistic voices from high schools across the region, commUNITY celebrates connection, collaboration, and the power of shared experiences through art, and IT LIVES HERE: The Afrofusion Diaspora. celebrates fashion designs by emerging and award-winning designers, dynamically captured by regional emerging and established photographers. Together, these exhibitions offer a dynamic and inspiring look at creativity in our community. See you there, registration is encouraged!

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Reconnect to your inner landscape of self in a kind and safe space. Join local artist and Expressive Arts Practitioner, Karin Foulds, as she gently guides you through a creative morning. Using the outline of your body as your canvas, you will create a mixed media artwork using paint, collage, and various marking tools … other modalities will be used along the way in response to the marks made which may include movement, sound and word play. Both skilled artists and the creatively curious will have the opportunity to take home a very personal and unique artwork that reflects your journey, hopes and dreams. No previous art experience is required!

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Max capacity: 10 (10 toddlers +10 adults/caregivers). You only need to pay the registration fee once per child; caregiver attends for free. 

Join us with your little one for a fun and creative morning led by local artist Golbahar H! Visit the galleries, read stories, and make some art together! Each week we will explore colour, texture, and sensory experiences that will spark your imagination using simple & creative materials in a safe environment. 

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Winterfest: Snow Painting with the MacLaren Art Centre
Date: Saturday, February 7, 2026
Time: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Location: Centennial Park
Cost: FREE, Drop-in 

The MacLaren Art Centre and the City of Barrie’s Nature Play Trailer are teaming up to offer fun, play-based experiences for families at Winterfest! Take part in snow painting and create colourful designs and low-relief sculptures in the snow. Fun for all! 

Please note: Snow Painting is dependent on adequate snow accumulation. 

Cozy Storytime by the Fireplace 
Date: Sunday, February 8
Time: 12:30 to 1:00 pm
Location: MacLaren Art Centre lobby 
Cost: FREE, Drop-in  

Join us for a very special Winterfest story time! Hosted by the Barrie Public Library, families are invited to attend a winter-themed story-time in front of our cozy fireplace. Sign up and stay for our special Family Sunday workshops in the PIE Education Centre afterwards. 

Family Sunday: Falling Snowflakes  
Date: Sunday, February 8, 2026
Time: 1:00 to 2:00 pm OR 2:30 to 3:30 pm
Cost: FREE
Location: PIE Education Centre, MacLaren Art Centre 

Spend a cozy and creative Winterfest afternoon indoors! Guided by regional artist Tessa Deneumoustier, families will explore fun mixed-media watercolour techniques to create their very own mobile full of hand-painted wintery snowflakes.  

Registration for this workshop is on the day of at the front desk, based on a first-come first-served basis.  

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Registration will be capped at 30 persons per date and time. Advanced registration is strongly encouraged. 

In acknowledgement of Mental Health Awareness Month and Children's Mental Health Week in May, New Path Youth and Family Services and the MacLaren Art Centre are thrilled to continue their partnership on the commUNITY art project – a series of free, hands-on workshops designed to bring families together through creative expression. Guided by a MacLaren art instructor Tessa Deneumoustier, participants will explore shapes and symbols, and incorporate the colour green, to create a vibrant painting that visually represents themes of growth, hope and transformation.

The resulting artwork will be showcased at the MacLaren’s PIE Education Centre beginning in May, to align with Children’s Mental Health Week, and highlight the power of art in fostering connection and wellbeing. All are welcome to celebrate at the opening reception for this exhibition on Saturday, May 2 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.

These workshops are idea for families with children ages 5 and up.

All family workshops are now sold out. There will be a first-come, first-serve waitlist available 30 minutes prior to each workshop start. We cannot guarantee accommodation.

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The MacLaren invites you to get the very first look at our Spring season of exhibitions. The evening provides a unique opportunity to hear directly from the artists and curators and be surrounded by community. All are welcome to attend.

About the Exhibitions:

Marlene Hilton Moore: Threadlines
Threadlines brings together more than three decades of studio work by senior Canadian artist Marlene Hilton Moore, whose practice spans textiles, sculpture, photography, drawing, and sound. Rather than tracing a career history, the exhibition presents an evolving body of work.

Forbidden Fruit
Curated by Museum and Gallery Studies students at Georgian College: Eden Cameron, Marissa Legrow, and Gabriela Ojeda Garrido.

The art showcased in Forbidden Fruit hosts landscapes and still life paintings, drawings, and prints by prominent contemporary artists who are women to demonstrate that these genres of art are not constraints, but a freedom of expression and autonomy over lived experience and connection to subject matter.

The art on display includes work from the collections of The MacLaren Art Centre and Georgian College.

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In celebration of Black History Month, join us for a musical afternoon with regional vocalist Michelle Guy accompanied by musician Brad Hilliker! They will entertain with a mix of songs and styles in our beautiful Carnegie Room. All are welcome!

The STATION duo is a mix of Michelle Guy’s rich and smooth vocals and Brad Hilliker’s effortless rhythmic guitar style. Their sound draws on a broad array of influences, including Blues and an Adult Contemporary style. 

Michelle launched her singing career in 1999. She played in dinner and lounge venues in the Toronto area. Brad moved to Toronto in 1989, where he immersed himself in the music scene for over 10 years. He created and performed original pieces for his band and theater productions. In 2005, Michelle and Brad met and formed The STATION duo. They were nominated the pair for Best Blues Song at Barrie New Music Fest in 2008. In 2022, CBC Radio aired Freedom Road as part of their Emancipation Day celebrations. In 2023, Michelle received the SEMBA award for Art and Literature. 

They continue to produce unique arrangements of cover songs and originals. Their singer-songwriter performances include original music and material by various Black artists. 

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The MacLaren invites you to get the very first look at our Winter season of exhibitions.  

Each in their own compelling way, the five new exhibitions ask us to be grounded in the present and look hopefully into the future. Like the winter season, they encourage us to slow down and process for intentional regrowth. The evening provides a unique opportunity to hear directly from the artists and be surrounded by community. All are welcome to attend.

About the Exhibitions:

• Every connected fibre, a theory of everything presents recent works by Toronto-based artist R.O.I Olou that include drawing, painting, animation, and pulp painting, with each medium influencing and supporting the others.
• Toward Emergent Futures brings together work by Judy Anderson, Christina Battle, Emily Pelstring, and Naomi Okabe, who acknowledging the gravity of current realities while also proposing that the future remains open to revision.
• The Seed Project reminds us that winter serves as a time to envision the growth of spring, presenting regional native plant arrangements made by participants of a community workshop (with special thanks to Ashley Hammell / Pollinate Barrie).
• Sky Screen presents prints by Robert Game, selected from the MacLaren’s collection, which project a vision of the future where nature and technology have co-evolved.
• Dazzle Days celebrates Janet Jones’ paintings from the MacLaren's collection, which open windows onto glowing, atmospheric worlds shaped by architecture and technology, hovering between the familiar and the distant.

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