The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest museum in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year, making it the most-visited museum in Canada. The 74,000-square-metre (800,000-square-foot) museum building is located north of Queen's Park, in the University district, with its main entrance on Bloor Street West. Museum subway station is named after it and, since a 2008 renovation, is decorated to resemble the ROM's collection at the platform level; Museum station's northwestern entrance directly serves the museum.
Established on April 16, 1912, and opened on March 19, 1914, the ROM has maintained close relations with the University of Toronto throughout its history, often sharing expertise and resources. It was under direct control and management of the University of Toronto until 1968, when it became an independent Crown agency of the Government of Ontario. It is Canada's largest field-research institution, with research and conservation activities worldwide.
With more than 18 million items and 40 galleries, the museum's diverse collections of world culture and natural history contribute to its international reputation. It contains a collection of dinosaurs, minerals, and meteorites; Canadian and European historical artifacts; as well as African, Near Eastern, and East Asian art. It houses the world's largest collection of fossils from the Burgess Shale in British Columbia with more than 150,000 specimens. The museum also contains an extensive collection of design and fine art, including clothing, interior, and product design, especially Art Deco.
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History
The Royal Ontario Museum was formally established on April 16, 1912, and was jointly governed by the Government of Ontario and the University of Toronto. Its first assets were transferred from the university and the Ontario Department of Education, coming from its predecessor, the Museum of Natural History and Fine Arts at the Toronto Normal School. On 19 March 1914, the Duke of Connaught, also the governor general of Canada, officially opened the Royal Ontario Museum to the public. The museum's location at the edge of Toronto's built-up area, far from the city's central business district, was selected mainly for its proximity to the University of Toronto St. George. The original building was constructed on the western edge of the property along the university's Philosopher's Walk, with its main entrance facing out onto Bloor Street housing five separate museums of the following fields: Archaeology, Palaeontology, Mineralogy, Zoology, and Geology. It cost CA$400,000 to construct. This was the first phase of a two-part construction plan intended to expand toward Queen's Park Crescent, ultimately creating an H-shaped structure.
The first expansion to the Royal Ontario Museum publicly opened on October 12, 1933. The CA$1.8-million renovation saw the construction of the east wing fronting onto Queen's Park and required the demolition of Argyle House, a Victorian mansion at 100 Queen's Park. As this occurred during the Great Depression, an effort was made to use primarily local building materials and to make use of workers capable of manually excavating the building's foundations. Teams of workers alternated weeks of service due to the physically draining nature of the job.
In 1947, the ROM was dissolved as a body corporate, with all assets transferred to the University of Toronto. The museum remained part of the University until 1968, when it, along with the newly opened McLaughlin Planetarium, was reincorporated as a single separate entity. The planetarium was named after benefactor Samuel McLaughlin, who provided CA$2 million for its construction.
The second major addition to the museum was the Queen Elizabeth II Terrace Galleries on the north side of the building and a curatorial centre built on the south, which started in 1978 and was completed in 1984. The new construction meant that a former outdoor "Chinese Garden" to the north of the building facing Bloor, along with an adjoining indoor restaurant, had to be dismantled. Opened in 1984 by Queen Elizabeth II, the CA$55 million expansion took the form of layered terraces, each rising layer stepping back from Bloor Street. The design of this expansion won a Governor-General's Award in Architecture.
Buildings and architecture
The museum complex is made up of several components, including the original building completed in 1914, the eastern wing added in 1933, the curatorial centre completed in 1984, and the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal unveiled in 2007. The original building was listed by the City of Toronto on the Municipal Heritage Register on 20 June 1973, designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act in 2003, with a Heritage Easement on the buildings.
Original building and eastern wing
Designed by Toronto architects Frank Darling and John A. Pearson, the architectural style of the original building (now the western wing) is a synthesis of Italianate and Neo-Romanesque. The structure is heavily massed and punctuated by rounded and segmented arched windows with heavy surrounds and hood mouldings. Other features include applied decorative eave brackets, quoins and cornices.
The eastern wing facing Queen's Park was designed by Alfred H. Chapman and James Oxley. Opened in 1933, it included the museum's elaborate art deco, Byzantine-inspired rotunda and a new main entrance. The linking wing and rear (west) façade of the Queen's Park wing were originally done in the same yellow brick as the 1914 building, with minor Italianate detailing. This façade broke away from the heavy Italianate style of the original structure. It was built in a neo-Byzantine style with rusticated stone, triple windows contained within recessed arches and different-coloured stones arranged in a variety of patterns. This development from the Roman-inspired Italianate to a Byzantine-influenced style reflected the historical development of Byzantine architecture from Roman architecture. Common among neo-Byzantine buildings in North America, the façade also contains elements of Gothic Revival in its relief carvings, gargoyles and statues. The ornate ceiling of the rotunda is covered predominantly in gold back painted glass mosaic tiles, with coloured mosaic geometric patterns and images of real and mythical animals with symbols of the civilizations of the world from the early ages of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas through to the European Middle Ages, the latter seen as the culmination of art when the Byzantine style prevailed.
Writing in the Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 1933, A. S. Mathers said of the expansion:
The interior of the building is a surprise and a pleasant one; the somewhat complicated ornament of the façade is forgotten and a plan on the grand manner unfolds itself. It is simple, direct and big in scale. One is convinced that the early Beaux-Arts training of the designer has not been in vain. The outstanding feature of the interior is the glass mosaic ceiling of the entrance rotunda. It is executed in colours and gold and strikes a fine note in the one part of the building which the architect could decorate without conflicting with the exhibits.
Curatorial centre
Designed by Toronto architect Gene Kinoshita, with Mathers & Haldenby, the curatorial centre forms the southern section of the museum. Completed in 1984, it was built during the same expansion as the former Queen Elizabeth II Terrace Galleries, which stood on the north side of the museum before the terrace galleries were replaced with the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. The architecture is a simple modernist style of poured concrete, glass, and pre-cast concrete and aggregate panels. The curatorial centre houses the museum's administrative and curatorial services and provides storage for artifacts that are not on exhibit. In 2006, the curatorial centre was renamed to "Louise Hawley Stone Curatorial Centre" in honour of the late Louise Hawley Stone, who donated a number of artifacts and various collections to the museum. In her will, she transferred C$49.7 million to the Louise Hawley Stone Charitable Trust, created to help with the upkeep of the building and to the acquisition of new artifacts.
Michael Lee-Chin Crystal
Replacing the Queen Elizabeth II Terrace Galleries was the controversial "Michael Lee-Chin Crystal", a multimillion-dollar expansion to the museum designed by Daniel Libeskind, including a new sliding door entrance on Bloor Street, first opened in 2007. The Deconstructivist crystalline form is clad in 25 per cent glass and 75 per cent aluminum, sitting on top of a steel frame. The Crystal's canted walls do not touch the sides of the existing heritage buildings but are used to close the envelope between the new form and existing walls. These walls act as a pathway for pedestrians to travel safely across the Crystal.
The building's design is similar to some of Libeskind's other works, notably the Jewish Museum in Berlin, the London Metropolitan University Graduate Centre and the Fredric C. Hamilton Building at the Denver Art Museum. The steel framework was manufactured and assembled by Walters Inc. of Hamilton, Ontario. The extruded anodized aluminum cladding was fabricated by Josef Gartner in Germany, the only company in the world that can produce the material. The company also provided the titanium cladding for Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
On 1 June 2007, the governor-general of Canada, Michaëlle Jean, attended the Crystal's architectural opening. This caused controversy because public opinion had been divided concerning the merits of its angular design. On its opening, Globe and Mail architecture critic Lisa Rochon complained that "the new ROM rages at the world", was oppressive, angsty and hellish, while others—perhaps championed by her Toronto Star counterpart, Christopher Hume—hailed it as a monument. Some critics have ranked it as one of the ten ugliest buildings in the world. The project also experienced budget and construction time over-runs, and drew comparisons to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao for using so-called "starchitecture" to attract tourism.
The main lobby is a three-storey high atrium, named the Hyacinth Gloria Chen Crystal Court. The lobby is overlooked by balconies and flanked by the J. P. Driscoll Family Stair of Wonders and the Spirit House, an interstitial space formed by the intersection of the east and west crystals.
Installation of the permanent galleries of the Lee-Chin Crystal began mid-June 2007, after a ten-day period when all the empty gallery spaces were open to the public. Within the Crystal there is a gift shop, C5 restaurant lounge (closed until further notice), a cafeteria, seven additional galleries and Canada's largest temporary exhibition hall in a museum. The galleries added to the Crystal gave different aspects to the ROM: fascinating visuals, architectural artifacts and environment, art, correspondence between object and space and stories within the visuals. The C5 restaurant Lounge is designed by IV Design Associated Inc.
Offsite storage
Collections at the ROM not displayed at the ROM itself or in other museums are stored in various unclassified and offsite locations around the Greater Toronto Area, including a facility containing over 1.5 million preserved fish specimens.
Galleries
Originally, there were five major galleries at the ROM, one each for the fields of archaeology, geology, mineralogy, palaeontology and zoology. In general, the museum pieces were labelled and arranged in a static fashion that had changed little since Edwardian times. For example, the insect exhibit that lasted up until the 1970s housed a variety of specimens from different parts of the world in long rows of glass cases. Insects of the same genus were pinned to the inside of the cabinet, with only the species name and location found as a description.
By the 1960s, more interpretive displays were ushered in, among the first of which was the original dinosaur gallery, established in the mid-1960s. Dinosaur fossils were now staged in dynamic poses against backdrop paintings and models of contemporaneous landscapes and vegetation. The displays became more descriptive and interpretive sometimes, as with the extinction of the woolly mammoth, offering several different leading theories on the issue for the visitor to ponder. This trend continued and up until the present day, the galleries became less staid and more dynamic or descriptive and interpretive. This trend arguably came to a culmination in the 1980s with the opening of The Bat Cave, where a sound system, strobe lights and gentle puffs of air attempt to recreate the experience of walking through a cave as a colony of bats fly out.
The original galleries were simply named after their subject material, but in more recent years, individual galleries have been named in honour of sponsors who have donated significant funds or collections to the institution. There are now two main categories of galleries present in the ROM: the Natural History Galleries and the World Culture Galleries.
The Samuel Hall Currelly Gallery is an exhibition space on Level 1, connecting the east wing of the museum with its western half. The gallery serves as the building's main lobby past the museum's admission area. As opposed to most galleries at the Royal Ontario Museum, the Samuel Hall Currelly Gallery is not dedicated to a single subject. Instead, the gallery exhibits an assortment of items from the museum's collection representing them as a whole.
Costumes and textiles
The Patricia Harris Gallery of Costumes and Textiles holds about 200 artifacts from the ROM's textile and costume collections. These pieces, which range from the 1st century BC to the present day, are rotated frequently due to their fragility. Throughout time, textiles and fashion have been used to establish identity and allow inferences to be drawn about a culture's social customs, economy and survival. The gallery is devoted to showcasing transformations in textile design, manufacturing, and cultural relevance throughout the ages. Weaving, needlework, printed archeological textiles and silks are all located in this space.
Interactive
The CIBC Discovery Gallery was designed to be a children's learning zone until its closure in 2023. It housed three main areas: In the Earth, Around the World and Close to Home. The space was inspired by the ROM's collections and enabled children to participate in interactive activities involving touchable artifacts and specimens, period costumes, digging for dinosaur bones and examining fossils and meteorites. There was also a special area for preschoolers.
The Patrick and Barbara Keenan Family Gallery of Hands-On Biodiversity introduces visitors to the complicated relationships, which occur among all living things in a fun and interactive space. People of all ages can explore touchable specimens and interactive displays while gallery facilitators help visitors discover the living world around them. Mossy frogs, a touchable shark jaw, snakeskin, and a replica fox's den are some of the objects that connect young visitors to the diversity and interdependence of plants and animals.
Institute for Contemporary Culture
The Roloff Beny Gallery of the Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) hosts the Royal Ontario Museum's contemporary art exhibitions. This high-ceilinged multimedia gallery of approximately 6,000 sq ft (600 m2) serves as the ICC's main exhibition space, typically featuring exhibits that tie in contemporary culture and events, with the museum's natural and world collection. The gallery has featured exhibitions on fashion photography, street art, modern Chinese urban design and architecture, and contemporary Japanese art. In 2018, it exhibited Here We Are: Black Canadian Contemporary Art, featuring Black Canadian artists such as Sandra Brewster, Michèle Pearson Clarke, Sylvia D. Hamilton, Bushra Junaid, Charmaine Lurch, and Esmaa Mohamoud.
Natural history
The natural history galleries are all gathered on the second floor of the museum, containing collections and examples of various specimens such as bats, birds and non-avian dinosaurs.
The Life in Crisis: Schad Gallery of Biodiversity, designed by Reich+Petch and opened in late 2009, features endangered species, including specimens of a polar bear, a giant panda, a white rhinoceros, a Burmese python, Canadian coral, a leatherback sea turtle, a coelacanth, a Rafflesia flower and many other rare species. Included among these specimens is Bull, a southern white rhinoceros that became a famous conservation success story for his species. There are also recently extinct species displayed, including specimens of a passenger pigeon and a great auk, as well as skeletons of a dodo and a giant moa with a specimen of a moa egg, an elephant bird egg, and many other recently extinct species. The gallery presents the need to protect the natural environment and the need to educate the public about the main causes of extinction—overhunting, habitat destruction, and climate change. In September 2009, the gallery received an Award of Excellence by the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario. In addition to showcasing the museum's natural collection, the Schad Gallery also aims to promote the conservation of Earth's biodiversity.
The Life in Crisis gallery is organized into three zones exploring the central themes: Life is Diverse, Life is interconnected, and Life is at Risk. Anthony Reich, principal at Reich+Petch, called biodiversity "a big subject that's become more relevant to everybody. The challenge was how to tell this big story in a 10,000-square-foot (900 m2) space. We decided to design a dynamic, immersive experience with three core themes that hopefully will make a lasting impression on visitors."
The Tallgrass Prairies and Savannas is a part of the gallery that features one of the most endangered and diverse habitats in Ontario. The display features examples of the regions and the efforts by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry to maintain and restore the tallgrass prairies and savannas.
The Gallery of Birds has on display many bird specimens from past centuries. The Gallery of Birds is dominated by the broad "Birds in flight" display where stuffed birds are enclosed in a glass display for visitors to experience. Dioramas allow visitors to learn about the many bird species and how environmental and habitual changes have put bird species in danger of extinction. Pull-out drawers let visitors examine eggs, feathers, footprints and nests more closely. The gallery included exhibits of other extinct species such as the passenger pigeon. These exhibits were later moved to the Schad Gallery.
World culture
The world culture galleries display a wide variety of objects from around the world. These range from Stone Age implements from China and Africa to 20th-century art and design. In July 2011, the museum added to this collection when a number of new permanent galleries were unveiled. Both the Government of Canada and the Royal Ontario Museum committed $2.75 million toward the project. The galleries are located on the first, third and fourth levels of the museum.
The Shreyas and Mina Ajmera Gallery of Africa, the Americas and Asia-Pacific features a collection of 1,400 artifacts that reflect the artistic and cultural traditions of the indigenous peoples from four different geographical areas: Africa, the American continents, the Asia-Pacific region and Oceania. On display are objects such as ceremonial masks, ceramics, and a shrunken head.
The Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery holds a diverse collection of objects such as decorative art, armour and sculptures that represents the culture of Indian subcontinent. The gallery has approximately 350 objects that represent over 5,000 years of history. Due to the wide range of history and cultures on display, the gallery is split into numerous different sections—the "Material Remains", "Imagining the Buddha", "Visualizing Divinity", "Passage to Enlightenment", "Courtly Culture", "Cultural Exchange" and "Home and the World". In this gallery, visitors can find the (Untitled) Blue Lady sculpture by Mumbai-based artist Navjot Altaf.The Wirth Gallery of the Middle East explores civilizations from the Palaeolithic Age to AD 1900 found within the Fertile Crescent, which stretches from the Eastern Mediterranean and Persia (Iran) and Mesopotamia (Iraq) to the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant (Lebanon and Israel). The over 1,000 artifacts relate to the writing, technology, spirituality, everyday life and warfare of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. These Mesopotamian civilizations made major advances in writing, mathematics, law, medicine and religion, which are represented throughout the gallery, as well as that of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia. Pieces from the museum's collection that are featured at the Wirth Gallery of the Middle East include plastered human skulls made in the Levant c. 8000 BC. Another notable piece in the gallery is the Striding Lion, a wall relief from the throne room of King Nebuchadnezzar II's palace in Babylon.
The Eaton Gallery of Rome is home to a millennium of ancient Roman culture. It has the largest collection of classical antiquities in Canada, displaying more than 500 objects that range from marble or painted portraits of historical figures to Roman jewellery. The gallery also features the Bratty Exhibit of Etruria that sheds some light on the Etruscans, a neighbouring civilization that was later absorbed by the expanding Rome.
Special exhibitions
Some of the temporary exhibits are curated by the Royal Ontario Museum have been toured internationally around the world. These include:
Ultimate Dinosaurs – Dinosaurs from Gondwana. Ran July 6, 2012 to March 17, 2013. Has since been featured at Science Museum of Minnesota, Discovery Place, the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, the Cincinnati Museum Center, and the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Art, Honour, and Ridicule: Asafo Flags from Southern Ghana - Flags used by militias of Ghana. Ran September 3, 2016 to September 4, 2017 within the Patricia Harris Gallery. It also has a book.
Out of the Depths: The Blue Whale Story The Royal Ontario Museum purchased a beached blue whale off the coast of Newfoundland at Trout River and displayed its skeleton and heart as a ROM-original travelling exhibit From March 11, 2017 to September 4, 2017
Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches - Hematophagous animals and mythology. Ran November 16, 2019 to March 22, 2020.
Canadian Modern - Design of canadian products from the mid 20th century. December 3, 2022 to October 15, 2023.
Psychedelics: Art. Culture. Science - Psychdelic substances in history and culture. Ran June 6, 2026 to December 6, 2026.
Shokkan: Material Encounters in Japanese Art - Tactility in Japanese art. Ran April 4, 2026 to September 7, 2026.
Raptors: Fierce and Feathered - Dromaeosaurid dinosaurs. Runs December 19, 2026 to September 6, 2027.
Accessibility
The ROM provides accessibility programs and services for a wide range of communities in English and French. These include:
Community access network
In 2008, the Royal Ontario Museum Community Access Network was created to make the ROM more accessible to a variety of communities. it provides free general admission tickets to participating community and charitable organizations. Each year, thousands of general admission tickets are distributed to these communities. It tries to eliminate barriers that might stand between these communities and the museum. Since 2008, it has become a larger community initiative that seeks to enable learning experiences for visitors and organizations. A main goal of the program is to give the museum the power to engage, share and inspire a greater diversity of visitors by trying to break through economic and social barriers. Partners include United Way of Greater Toronto, Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada, The Hospital for Sick Children and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).