Jeanne Parkin

Image: Museum of Toronto.

Jeanne Parkin is a proponent of public Canadian art. In 2006, the City of Toronto awarded Parkin with a Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrating her decades-long contributions to the visual arts scene of Toronto.

Born in 1922 | Art & Collections Specialist and Curator

After completing a Masters in Art History at Harvard University, Jeanne Parkin began her career as Head of Circulating Exhibitions and Adult Education at the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the Art Gallery of Ontario) in 1947. At the gallery, she would join the Women’s Committee, an all women’s volunteer group that worked tirelessly to fundraise and help the gallery build a significant collection of art works. Parkin’s career would lead her to working on large scale public art projects around the city, like Art in the Subway in 1974.

Eventually Parkin established her own company, Jeanne Parkin Arts Management Ltd., where she aided private corporations and institutions in building their own art collections and launching arts-based initiatives.

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