Now, I want to add two more connections about the Deaf there.
Right now, and continuing until July 13th, there is a special exhibition called "Out From Under: Disability, History and Things to Remember." The exhibit uses some objects and photos to tell stories about how disabled people, or people with differences, were treated in the past. Although there is not a section about the Deaf, many of us will see similarities between how differently-abled people were treated and how Deaf children (and their families) were used.
The Museum has also created a series of podcasts in ASL that describe the exhibit and which can be downloaded by people who might want to take them and use them at the museum. The entire podcast can be found here. Or, you can find the 15 individual sections of the podcast that describe each part of the display at this link.
If you go to the Royal Ontario Museum, make sure you also visit the "First People" Gallery. Last time I talked about the museum, I mentioned the signed podcast that described a Canadian artist who did many painting about the native people of Canada. His house was later purchased by a Deaf Church in Toronto. However, I forgot to mention a much more important artist in the same gallery.
One section of the First People Gallery has several paintings by native artists. If you look at them, you will see one near the centre of the display called "Loneliness and Desire". It was painted by a great Deaf artist named Sam Ash, who started painting when he was a student at the Ontario School for the Deaf, Belleville. I remember Sam, when he was at the school, and saw some of his paintings there. Today, some of Sam's art hangs in important galleries across Canada. You can read a little about Sam at this link and also here.
