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The Arts and Letters Club By Winter, Caroline
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The Arts and Letters Club is a Canadian private club for artists and their patrons. For more than a century, the Club has played an important role in Canadian culture, providing a meeting space for and fostering a community of visual and literary artists, actors, musicians, designers, and architects. It is housed at St. George’s Hall in downtown Toronto, Ontario, a building of National Historic Significance.
The Arts and Letters Club was founded in 1908 by Augustus Bridle, an arts journalist, to promote the arts in Canada. The Club is best known for its connection with the Group of Seven. The original Group of Seven, established in 1920, included Frank Johnston, Lawren Harris, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, Frederic Varley, Franklin Carmichael, and A. Y. Jackson. Members to join after the Group’s founding included Edwin Holgate, A. J. Casson, and LeMoine FitzGerald. The Group of Seven is known for their paintings of the Canadian landscape. These artists met frequently at the Club to socialize and share ideas.