Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, Arts club in downtown Toronto, Canada
The Arts and Letters Club occupies St. George's Hall, a three-story brick and stone building at 14 Elm Street built in 1891, mixing Romanesque, Flemish and medieval elements. After moving in in 1920 the club added new windows and a large stone fireplace in the neo-Gothic Great Hall, a two-story room used for concerts, plays, lectures and meals. The premises also hold a lounge, two meeting rooms, a library and an art studio.
The club was founded in 1908 and moved to St. George's Hall in 1920, bringing together Canadian professionals from literature, architecture, music, and visual arts. This relocation established its presence as a central gathering place for creative practitioners.
The club's artistic life is organised around the "LAMPS" disciplines: Literature, Architecture, Music, Painting and Stage, originally Sculpture. The nucleus that would form the Group of Seven met in the club's rooms, and in 1927 it hosted Bertram Brooker's show, the first solo exhibition of abstract art in Canada. Women have been members since 1985 and now make up half the club.
The club is a private members' club at 14 Elm Street, in a building protected under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act since 1975. Non-members can go inside most Fridays from 4 to 7 pm and during Doors Open Toronto. The Great Hall, lounge, library and art studio are reached from the Elm Street entrance.
The club's artistic life is organised around five "LAMPS" disciplines: Literature, Architecture, Music, Painting and Stage, the last originally called Sculpture. The categories are loosely drawn and also take in photography, screenwriting, urban planning and other fields. Two members have become Nobel laureates, Frederick Banting and John Macleod.
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