Civic Museum
Celebrating Guelph’s stories!
The Guelph Civic Museum showcases Guelph’s history through permanent and changing exhibits, a fun and interactive families gallery, and special events and activities. Located in the recently renovated Loretto Convent, atop the hill at Norfolk Street and beside the landmark Church of Our Lady, the museum is home to a collection of over 30,000 artifacts that bring Guelph’s past to life.
2012
Guelph Civic Museum opens at 52 Norfolk Street, the former Loretto Convent.
2000
The “Growing Up in Guelph Children’s Museum” opens at the Civic Museum. The popular children’s gallery attracts many more visitors and significantly increases the number of family memberships.
1980
Guelph Civic Museum opens at 6 Dublin Street South, a commercial limestone building built c.1855. The building had many uses over the years but was most recently known as the Knights of Columbus Hall.
1967
Canada’s Centennial Year. The Museum opens in its first home in the horse stables, now the Farmer’s Market.
1960’s
Members of the Guelph Historical Society begin to collect artifacts and displays are mounted in store fronts and community centres.
Upcoming Events
January 2019
Decolonizing Guelph’s Founding Story
Guelph Museums is in the process of decolonization through the restructuring of our colonialist framework and by collaborating meaningfully with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples. We are committed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and we strive to initiate dialogues and create safe spaces for truth telling. These guiding principles inform all that we do at Guelph Museums. In the 1850s and 1860s, provincial and university-based museums were created across Upper Canada; however, after Confederation in…
Find out more »Indigenizing Galt
Guelph Museums is in the process of decolonization through the restructuring of our colonialist framework and by collaborating meaningfully with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples. We are committed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and we strive to initiate dialogues and create safe spaces for truth telling. These guiding principles inform all that we do at Guelph Museums.
Find out more »February 2019
Reading Galt
Guelph Museums is in the process of decolonization through the restructuring of our colonialist framework and by collaborating meaningfully with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples. We are committed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and we strive to initiate dialogues and create safe spaces for truth telling. These guiding principles inform all that we do at Guelph Museums.
Find out more »Lacrosse: The Creator’s Game
Guelph Museums is in the process of decolonization through the restructuring of our colonialist framework and by collaborating meaningfully with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples. We are committed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and we strive to initiate dialogues and create safe spaces for truth telling. These guiding principles inform all that we do at Guelph Museums.
Find out more »March 2019
Konnón:kwe
Image: Amanda Strong, How to Steal a Canoe, 2015 (still from stop-motion animation) Konnón:kwe, a Kanyen'kéha (Mohawk) word signifying “three or more women,” speaks to the power of collective agency by Indigenous women artists. Themes of wellness, community, and environmental justice weave historic artifacts and contemporary fine art into an exhibition that invites visitors to consider Indigenous futurities in the local context. As leaders who have held their ground though the centuries, Indigenous women continue to shape wellness and self-determination…
Find out more »Indianized
Curated by Naomi Smith, the exhibition Indianized traces this nation’s colonial timeline while featuring Indigenous beadworks as creative expressions of survival, crafted by historical artists. Indianized also presents beadworks by Naomi and other contemporary artists, which reflect traditional beading techniques and imagery. Naomi shares her personal reflections throughout this exhibition of everyday objects that have been embellished in visually intriguing ways. This exhibition runs concurrently with Konnón:kwe. About the Curator Native Artisan and Educator Naomi Smith had an early awareness…
Find out more »April 2019
Early ON: Downtown Playtime
Weekly program offerings for children from 0 to 6 years old and their families, offered through the EarlyON Child and Family Centre. Beginning Wednesday, September 5, Guelph Civic Museum will become the Downtown EarlyON Playtime location with free drop in family programming that promotes early learning and development from 9:30 to 11:30 AM on a weekly basis. The EarlyON Child and Family Centre at the Guelph Community Health Centre has been in existence since 2003. EarlyON have eight off-site Neighbourhood Playtimes and…
Find out more »Fourth Friday: Annie Sumi
Before Doors Open After Dark 2019 officially kicks off, warm up with a free Fourth Friday concert by Annie Sumi. On the Fourth Friday of the month, Guelph Museums offers free admission to the Guelph Civic Museum after 5 PM. Performances by Annie Sumi at 7 and 8 PM. Cash bar. Stick around! Launching the Doors Open Guelph 2019 weekend, Doors Open After Dark 2019 will celebrate Guelph’s 192nd birthday and John Galt’s 240th with history and art activations that…
Find out more »Doors Open After Dark
Launching the Doors Open Guelph weekend, Doors Open After Dark will celebrate Guelph’s 192nd birthday and John Galt’s 240th with history and art activations that position our settler heritage within a present-day dialogue with Indigenous peoples. This free event is aimed at creating opportunities to connect, explore and engage the community with history in unique ways. What's On Before Doors Open After Dark officially kicks off, warm up with a Fourth Friday concert by Annie Sumi. Performances at 7 and 8…
Find out more »May 2019
Tales from the Hill
Join Guelph Guild of Storytellers and special guests on the first Wednesday of each month. Free admission.
Find out more »Mother’s Day Tea – SOLD OUT
* Please note: Both seatings of the Mother's Day Tea are SOLD OUT! * Treat mom to an afternoon of tea, and treats at the Civic Museum. Relax and enjoy fresh scones, jam, treats, fresh fruit and bottomless pots of McCrae Private Blend and Guelph Town Garden Blend teas. There will be two seatings: 1 and 3 p.m. Tickets in advance.
Find out more »Fourth Friday: The Waverlys
Kick off your weekend with a performance by The Waverlys! On the Fourth Friday of the month, Guelph Museums offers free admission to the Guelph Civic Museum after 5 p.m. Performance by The Waverlys at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Cash bar. The Waverlys are an Alternative-Folk duo composed of cellist and vocalist Charlotte Moore and singer/songwriter Kevin Myles Wilson. With minimal instrumentation; a guitar, a cello and a vintage suitcase transformed in to a kickdrum, The Waverlys, led by smooth, sincere…
Find out more »Fifth Friday Pub Night – Queen of Craft
19+ Event | No cover charge. Fifth Friday! Something new at the Civic Museum, pub night! On Fifth Fridays, Guelph Museums offers free admission to the Guelph Civic Museum after 7 p.m. Featuring beer trivia with Queen of Craft. Cash bar.
Find out more »June 2019
Canadian Conservation Institute Workshop: Environmental Guidelines
An introduction to the strategic preservation of collections against agents of deterioration, especially environmental ones, such as light, relative humidity, temperature and atmospheric pollutants.
Find out more »
