The London Regional Art Gallery was established in 1940 and operated from the London Public Library until 1980, when the gallery relocated to a purpose-built facility designed by renowned Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama. In 1991, 20,000 square feet of vault space was added to accommodate the artifact collection of the London Historical Museum, which merged with the gallery in 1989. With an expanded mandate that included both art and history, our name changed to Museum London in 2001.
In 2018, we opened the Centre at the Forks, an expansive, thoughtfully designed space within our existing building for enhanced programming. This bright, accessible, flexible space overlooking the forks of the river includes an outdoor terrace, a studio for hands-on experimentation and learning, a digital wall, and sound and video projection technology.
Just outside the is Dundas Place, the City of London’s event flex space which opened in 2019 and hosts a line-up of year-round concerts, festivals and activities. Artworks are featured outside on the grounds of Museum London, including Ron Benner's evolving garden installation 'As the Crow Flies', Tom Benner’s ‘White Rhino,’ and digital projections animate the giant glass windows of Centre at the Forks at night.
Museum London sits at the forks of the Deshkan Ziibi / Thames River on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron, within the homeland of the Chippewas of the Thames Nation, Oneida Nation, and Munsee Delaware Nation. Several treaties are specific to this area: the Two Row Wampum Belt Treaty of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy/Silver Covenant Chain; the Beaver Hunting Grounds of the Haudenosaunee NANFAN Treaty of 1701; the McKee Treaty of 1790, the London Township Treaty of 1796, the Huron Tract Treaty of 1827, and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. With respect and humility, we acknowledge the contributions of diverse Indigenous peoples, past, present and future, to our Museum and to our communities.