Spring 2026 Exhibitions at the MacLaren Art Centre

On Thursday, March 12, 6:30 – 9:00pm, the MacLaren Art Centre unveils its Spring Season of exhibitions. All are welcome to attend. Remarks begin at 7:00pm. Admission is free, registration encouraged.

Artwork by Marlene Hilton Moore, left to right: detail of Cathedral Muse, 2012, inkjet print, 33.8 x 50cm; Made to Measure 2, Thin Venus, 2008, resin, pearl autobody paint, wheels, speakers, 153 x 44 x 29 cm. Courtesy of the artist; Mysterious Fruit, n.d., painting on paper, 52 cm x 76 cm. From the Georgian College Art Collection.

Marlene Hilton Moore
Threadlines

March 12 – June 14, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 12, 6:30 – 9:00pm
Janice Laking Gallery and Gallery Three
Curated by Sandra Fraser

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.

Raised in New Brunswick and Montréal before settling in rural Ontario, Hilton Moore began shaping her artistic path after the birth of her children, advancing her practice through self-directed learning. Recognized for public art projects across Canada, this exhibition focuses on the studio as a site of inquiry, where labour, touch, and repetition are foundational. Storytelling and lived experience connect her works to narratives that foreground women’s voices and broader histories of labour, place, and social expectation.

The works in Threadlines reflect a lifelong engagement with process and the history of materials. In her eighth decade, Hilton Moore remains engaged with making, treating art as an active and relational practice.

Grateful thanks to Brian Hodges and Robert Paul for their exhibition support, and to Max Lupo for technical support.

Forbidden Fruit

March 7 – May 31, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 12, 6:30 – 9:00pm
Molson Community Gallery
Curated by students from Georgian College’s Museum and Gallery Studies program: Eden Cameron, Gabriela Ojeda Garrido, and Marissa Legrow

Women and their contributions to the artworld have long been a topic of discussion and criticism. The genre of landscapes and still life are often aligned with artists who are women because of societal constraints held against them. Forbidden Fruit includes 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.

This exhibition includes work from the collections of the MacLaren Art Centre and Georgian College.

About the MacLaren Art Centre

The MacLaren Art Centre is the major public art gallery in Central Ontario serving the residents of Barrie, the County of Simcoe, and surrounding area. The Gallery has a significant permanent collection of contemporary Canadian art and presents a year-round programme of exhibitions, education activities, and special events.

The MacLaren is located on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabek, which include the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Pottawatomi Nations, collectively known as the Three Fires Confederacy. The local bands consist of the Chippewa Tri-Council, who are made up of Beausoleil First Nation, Georgina Island First Nation, and Rama First Nation. We would also like to acknowledge the Wendat Nation (Huron) who occupied these lands prior to the middle of the 17th century.

As a registered charity, the MacLaren relies on public and private support for its operations and programs. The MacLaren gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of its Members, Patrons, Donors, Sponsors, Partners, the City of Barrie, the Ontario Arts Council, the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, and Canadian Heritage.

MacLaren Art Centre
37 Mulcaster Street
Barrie, ON L4M 3M2
T: 705-721-9696
www.maclarenart.com

Gallery Hours
Mon: Closed
Tue, Wed, Fri–Sun: 10am – 4pm
Thu: 10am – 8pm
Wheelchair accessible