Open Wednesday to Saturday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Toronto Gone Wild
City Meets Nature
Now Open
Toronto Gone Wild explores the city as a multi-layered habitat — starring the animals, plants, and insects that call Toronto home.
Venture through different Torontonian terrains from city streets to burrows, hives, and nests, all seamlessly woven together in our downtown exhibition space. You’ll emerge with a renewed appreciation for the interconnectedness of life in the city.
Why are coyotes such dedicated parents? What do wasps’ nests and apartment buildings have in common? When will raccoons become our urban overlords?
See for yourself just how much we share with our animal neighbours in the struggle for food, housing, and community. You may have more in common with that white squirrel at Trinity Bellwoods than you think.
Admission for this exhibition is by donation.
Tickets or reservations are not required to attend.
401 Richmond Street West
Eastern Entrance
Wednesday – Saturday: 12pm – 6pm
Sunday – Tuesday: CLOSED
Upcoming Events
Venture through Toronto Gone Wild with curators Jennifer Bonnell and Amy Lavender Harris.
Learn about urban beekeeping, the city's honeybee population, and partake in a honey tasting!
There are vibrant hues hiding in unexpected places around the city! Learn the art of creating dyes with the Contemporary Textile Studio Co-Op
Past Events
Come downtown to discover nature blooming through the concrete! Join us for an urban forest bathing experience.
A unique talk that invites you to rediscover the past, present and future of life along Toronto's waterfront.
Untold Stories of Toronto’s Waterfront: A Talk with Author M. Jane Fairburn
May 15th, 2024
Uncover how Toronto's unique world of plants and mushrooms is right at your fingertips
Acknowledgements
Toronto Gone Wild was co-curated by Jennifer Bonnell and Amy Lavender Harris.
The exhibition was co-conceptualized and developed by Museum of Toronto.
Museum of Toronto is made possible with the generous support of Diane Blake and Stephen Smith.
About the Curators
Jennifer Bonnell
Jennifer Bonnell is a historian of public memory and environmental change in nineteenth and twentieth-century Canada. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at York University, where she teaches courses in Canadian and environmental history. She is the author of Reclaiming the Don: An Environmental History of Toronto’s Don River Valley, which won the Heritage Toronto Book award and the Canadian Historical Association’s Clio Award in 2015. Her most recent book, Stewards of Splendour: A History of Wildlife and People in British Columbia, won the Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing from the BC Historical Federation. She is currently working on a new book project on the history of beekeeping and environmental change in the Great Lakes Region.
Amy Lavender Harris
Amy Lavender Harris is a geographer based in Toronto, with a keen focus on the intersection between culture and nature in urban environments. Her book, “Imagining Toronto,” received the 2011 heritage Toronto Award and was shortlisted for the Gabrielle Roy Prize in Canadian literary criticism. As a contributing editor with Spacing Magazine, Harris has contributed to various books, journals, and exhibitions exploring place and culture in Canadian art. After teaching for 25 years at institutions including York University, Toronto Metropolitan University, the University of Toronto, and Queen’s University, she retired in 2022. Harris is currently working on projects including a novel called “Acts of Salvage” and a non-fiction work, “The Space Between Us: Commentaries on a Divided Culture,” co-authored with her husband, Peter Fruchter. Beyond her intellectual pursuits, Harris is an avid gardener, composter, kayaker, cyclist, and explorer of back alleys and ravines.
Exhibition Design
elsonstudio
elsonstudio is the design practice of Christine Elson. Trained as an architect, Christine has been working with museums, galleries and other cultural clients for over 10 years, developing engaging exhibitions, installations and activations. Her studies in literature, as well as her experience working in the theatre world and film industry, have contributed to a deep understanding of the design of narrative spaces.
Special Thanks
Special thanks to: Dan Berman, Charles Catchpole, Isaac Crosby, Real and Barbara Eguchi, Jorge Figueiredo, David Fuji, Ian Hanna, Mahmood Hosseini, Richard Jacques, Shanti MacFronton, Scott MacIvor, Timothy Manalo, Audrey McMahon, Geoff McPeek, Ava Mozaffari, Vicdan Okman, Laura Robb, Mark Robertson, Jos Theriault, Jimmy Tran, Lawrence Tsui, Polly Jean Vernon, Fangmin Wang, George Wang, Byron Kent Wong, Emily Zielke, and to Iyad Taxidermist, Lakeshore Museum Center, National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Canada, Toronto Field Naturalists, Toronto Public Library, TMU Design and Technology Lab, TMU Libraries, TVO, and Wildlife Preservation Canada.
As a non-profit cultural institution, Museum of Toronto would like to acknowledge the incredible work of those featured in the exhibition. This exhibition is designed for teaching, scholarship, education, and research purposes only. Our intent is to present an engaging experience that respects the rights of creators, and fosters a spirit of shared knowledge through the “fair dealing” under the Copyright Act of Canada.
