The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880.

History

1880 to 1890

The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General of Canada, John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, was its first patron. The painter Lucius O’Brien was its first president. The objects of the Academy as stated in the 1881 publication of the organization's constitution were three-fold: In the same publication, two levels of membership were described: Academicians and Associates. No more than forty individuals could be Academicians at one time, while the number of Associates was not limited. All Academicians were required to give an example of their work to the collection of the National Gallery. They were also permitted to show more pieces in Academy-sponsored exhibitions than Associates. The inaugural exhibition was held in Ottawa and the first Academicians were inducted, including the first woman Academician, Charlotte Schreiber. Through the next 10 years, the Academy held annual exhibitions, often in cooperation with regional artists' societies. Exhibitions in Toronto were a joint project of the Academy and the Ontario Society of Artists, while those held in Montreal were held in partnership with the Art Association of Montreal. Exhibitions were also held in St. John, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Additional academicians and associates were added each year until the membership had more than doubled by 1890. Members were drawn from all areas of the country and included anglophones and francophones. Men continued to out-number women and those female members were identified as painters not as designers or architects. As Academicians joined, they donated an example of their work to the National Gallery of Canada, building the collection of the as-yet unincorporated institution. A temporary home was found for the collection in a building next to the Supreme Court of Canada and the first curator, John W.H. Watts, RCA was appointed to begin organizing exhibitions. The third objective—to encourage the teaching of art and design in Canada—was found to be more challenging to address with the limited financial resources available to them.

1891 to present

Canadian landscape painter Homer Watson was elected as an associate, became a full member and later became president of the Academy. The centennial year of the Academy was honoured by a 35 cent, 3 colour postage stamp. The stamp features an image of the original centre block of the Parliament Buildings and the text "Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 1880–1980", with the name "Thomas Fuller", a member of the Academy and the Dominion Architect of Canada who had designed the original building.

Members

The Academy is composed of members from across Canada representing over twenty visual arts disciplines. This list is not inclusive. See also Category:Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

1880 to 1890

Academy membership in 1907

Academicians • Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith, painter • Franklin Brownell, painter • William Brymner, painter • Frederick Sproston Challener, painter • Alexander Francis Dunlop, architect • Edmond Dyonnet, painter • Edmund Wyly Grier, painter • Gustav Hahn, designer • John A. Hammond, painter • Robert Harris, painter • Louis-Philippe Hébert, sculptor • William R. Hope, painter • Alfred H. Howard, designer • A.C. Hutchison, architect • Farquhar McGillivray Knowles, painter • Hamilton MacCarthy, sculptor • Thomas Mower Martin, painter • Marmaduke Matthews, painter • Andrew Dickson Patterson, painter • John Charles Pinhey, painter • George Agnew Reid, painter • James Smith, architect • Homer Watson, painter • John W.H. Watts, designer Associates • William Edwin Atkinson (1862–1926) • John William Beatty • Harry Britton • George Robert Bruenech (1851–1916) • Florence Carlyle • Arthur Cox (1840–1917) • William Cruikshank • Maurice Galbraith Cullen • Gertrude Spurr Cutts • John Wycliffe Lowes Forster • Joseph-Charles Franchère (1866–1921) • Robert Ford Gagen • James Lillie Graham • Clara Sophia Hagarty (1871–1958) • Charles Macdonald Manly • John Christopher Miles • Edmund Montague Morris (1871–1913) • Laura Muntz Lyall • Sophie Pemberton • Mary Hiester Reid • Joseph Thomas Rolph • Joseph St Charles (1868–1956) • William Albert Sherwood • William St. Thomas Smith (1862–1947) • Sydney Strickland Tully • Frederick Arthur Verner • Curtis Williamson • Emma S. Windeat

Inducted in 1973

Inducted in 1974

Inducted in 1976

Inducted in 1990

Inducted in 1991

• Arto Tchakmaktchian, sculptor

Inducted in 1999

• Chris Cran • Erica Rutherford, visual artist, writer and playwright • Hilda Woolnough, artist and printmaker

Inducted in 2002

• Catherine Crowston, arts administrator • Ann Davis, arts administrator • Trudy Golley, ceramics • Robert Mellin, architect • Pitaloosie Saila, printmaker • George A. Walker, book designer • Alexander J. Wyse, painting

Inducted in 2004

Inducted in 2006

• Paul Wm. Leathers, metalsmithing

Inducted in 2007

• Aggie Beynon, metalsmithing • Alexandre Castonguay, digital art • Douglas Coupland, sculptural installation • Karen Dahl, ceramics • James Doran, enamel sculpture • Noam Gonick, film making • Robert W. Harrison, ceramics • Enid Legros-Wise, ceramics • Laura L. Letinsky, photography • Simon Neil Minuk, architecture • Paula Murray, ceramics • Grace Nickel, ceramics • Richard James Rivet, painting, printmaking • Michael Smith, painting • Arlene Stamp, two dimensional art and design • Reva Stone, digital art • Ewa Tarsia, painting, printmaking • Ione Thorkelsson, glass • Kamila Wozniakowska, painting

Inducted in 2008

Inducted in 2009

Inducted in 2010

• Chantal Gilbert (artist), metal • Robert Jekyll, stained glass • Lou Lynn, glass and metal • Janice Wright-Cheney, textiles

Inducted in 2011

• Philip Beesley, architecture • Sonia Chow, graphic design • Richard Thomas Davis, painting, drawing, printmaking • Leya Evelyn, painting • FASTWÜRMS, mixed media • Wyn Geleynse, video art • Peter Krausz, painting, drawing • Charles Lewton-Brain, metalsmithing • Alex Livingston (artist), painting, digital art • Mike Massie, jewellery • Laura Millard, painting, photography • John Noestheden, works on paper, drawing • Stu Oxley, painting, printmaking • Anne Ramsden, installation, mixed media, photography • Dan Steeves, printmaking • Denis Villeneuve, filmmaking

Inducted in 2012

Inducted in 2013

Inducted in 2014

Inducted in 2015

Inducted in 2016

Inducted in 2017

Inductees for 2018

Others