Season of Colour, Season of Art

Autumn’s ever-changing palette of eye-popping golds, reds and yellows provides a fitting backdrop to a season jam-packed with colourful art events. If you wanted to fill your every spare moment with a gallery show, studio tour, art auction or hands-on arts workshop, you could – and many artists are appearing in more than one event. 

What follows is a sampling of the season ahead, starting with a few summer shows that last until mid-September.

As autumn leaves start to fall

Chaos and Order at the Headwaters Arts Gallery in the Alton Mill Arts Centre includes 25 pieces focusing on the creative process as a “crooked path filled with obstacles.” The exhibit, which spotlights the work of artists including Caledon painter Patty Maher, Bolton painter Domenic Tuzi and Brampton’s Krishna Tyagi, closes September 14. This is also the final day of the Orangeville Art Group’s 53rd Annual Art Show and Sale, celebrating the organization’s 70th anniversary. Exhibitors include painter Milly Tseng and Orangeville multimedia artist – and In The Hills contributor – Stephanie Casino Esguerra.

Threads and Strokes: A Tapestry of Expression is a solo exhibit by Megan Mare, the maker behind hand-crocheted line Cozy Knits N Knots (and the friendly program co-ordinator at Shelburne’s Streams Community Hub). The show, at the Shelburne Town Hall Art Gallery from September 8 to 26, features textured paintings, weaving and hand-painted, bleach-dyed pieces. 

Peter Dušek’s Field Work exhibit captures the quiet serenity of rural architecture, including barns, silos and other countryside buildings – and their relationship with the land and sky. Look through the lens of this Hockley Valley artist and photographer at the Museum of Dufferin from September 13 to January 31, 2026.

The much-anticipated Headwaters Arts Fall Festival Juried Art Show and Sale follows, from September 17 to October 5, at the Alton Mill. Talented creators whose works will be featured include Erin photographer Amy Tendera; Mono textile artist Lynn Gilbank; Orangeville-based acrylic painter Bill Carroll; Caledon illustrator – and longtime In The Hills contributor – Jim Stewart; Brampton painter Sherry Park, who maintains a studio in the Alton Mill; Guelph painter Natalie Thomas, and Toronto-based painters Piera Pugliese and Sandamali Angunawela.

The opening night soirée, which takes place September 18, is a grand affair with a silent auction, art show and sale, and live entertainment by vocalist Shelisa Akbar and guitarist Paul Llew-Williams. On September 27 an Outdoor Arts Market will feature a variety of vendors.

Celebrate Culture Days

Autumn marks the return of the annual Canada-wide Culture Days celebrations of the arts, which take place over three weeks from September 19 to October 12. And as Headwaters communities gear up to join the festivities, Caledon leads the way.

After the town’s programming was ranked among the top 10 in the country last year, Caledon was named an official 2025 Ontario Culture Days Provincial Festival Hub. This year’s events will offer free studio tours, exhibitions, live music, dance and hands-on activities.

On September 27, for example, the Caledon Creative Arts Festival at the Caledon East Community Complex offers a record number of workshops, including brush lettering, paper quilling, weaving, foraged-ink painting, cyanotype printing and collage painting, while CultureFest on October 4 at the Humber River Centre in Bolton celebrates diversity by offering dance and musical performances, a fun zone for kids and a variety of world cuisines to sample.

The Caledon Studio Tour on October 4 and 5 invites art lovers to take a self-guided tour to see local makers in situ, including folk-inspired artist Mary Scattergood; Alton painter Paul Morin; contemporary, multidisciplinary artist Andie Trépanier; fine porcelain potter Debra Gibbs; and scratchboard artist Shelly Hawley-Yan, as well as the studio artists of the Alton Mill. And the artists, musicians and authors of Artful Caledon will share their talents at the Caledon East and Albion Bolton public libraries. Oil, watercolour, and scratchboard artist Derek Germano and acrylic painter Kimberley Popoff are just two of the folks taking part.

As part of Belfountain’s Bicentennial Bash on October 4, painter Cindy Leeman, Wendy Mitchell of Treehouse Pottery and others will be at the Belfountain Art Show at the Belfountain Community Hall to present Paint Historic Belfountain, a homage to the hamlet’s distinctive heritage buildings. On September 27, Mitchell will also show visitors how to use hand-carved block prints on posters and pennants.

The Museum of Dufferin is also doing its bit by hosting the inaugural Earth & Fire: Clay and Glass Festival on September 20. In addition to attractions such as crafts for kids, tours of the glass gallery, workshops and a silent auction, the works of various artists will be on display and for sale. Among them will be works by Mulmur-based Jen Main, Simon Heath of Creemore and Sandra Sobolewski of Claymore Ceramics in Mono. Watch for the mixed-media mosaics of Caledon East’s MaryLou Hurley and pieces by Terra Cotta woodturner Sam Meandro.

And on September 20 and October 8, visit Orly Breitner at her Forest View Studio in Mono to see how she combines 3D embroidery, watercolour and resin art to create richly textured works.

The Creemore Arts Fest from October 3 to 5 features more than 45 artists on location along Mill Street, at the Station on the Green, and in local storefronts and homes. Participants include bronze and freeform wire sculptor Ann Clifford of Dunedin; Nottawa’s Amber Harloff, whose recent work embraces metal, resin and limestone; and featured artist Samay Arcentales Cajas, a Toronto-based Kichwa digital media artist.

Opening night for Metal Paper Clay takes place on October 3 at Gallery Lagom, where sculptor Frith Bail, printmaker Liz Eakins and jeweler Andrea Mueller present an intersection of three distinct yet resonant materials. At the Creemore Village Green and other locations, you’ll find family activities, food trucks and a makers’ market. This year’s live entertainment includes Canadian indie rocker Begonia at Avening Hall and clowning around with The Gogo Show at the Creemore Log Cabin.

As winter looms

The Southern Ontario Visual Artists group exhibits How the Artists View It II at the Shelburne Town Hall Art Gallery from October 6 to 24. Members displaying their work will include Orangeville’s Robert Chisholm and Alton Mill artists Lynden Cowan, a painter, and Margaret Pardy, whose scratchboard creations focus on wildlife.

Then, if you’re keen to invest in a beautiful piece of original Canadian art, the three-day McMichael Canadian Art Collection’s Autumn Art Sale Fundraiser in Kleinburg from November 7 to 9 is an opportunity to purchase one-of-a-kind finds by artists working in acrylic, oil, watercolour, wax, mixed media, pen and ink, sumi-e, stone, wood, glass, steel, iron and paper. Some of the returning top draws from last year’s sale are origami artist Andrew Wang, landscape painter Lee Munn and abstract animal artist Laura Stevens. 

And at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives, find a peaceful escape with Stuart Clifford Shaw’s exhibit En Plein Air, on until January 2026. His dreamy impressionistic work that captures life by the lake – it should help get you through the coming winter. 

Find more events in our What’s On page, and check event websites for details and schedules.