Art and Innovation at the Guild of All Arts

Opened by H. Spencer and Rosa Clark in Scarborough in 1932, the Guild of All Arts was heavily inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement in both Britain and the United States. The movement developed in Britain towards the end of the 19th century: it opposed the country’s industrialization and embraced decorative arts and crafts. The movement included architecture, ceramics, textiles, and furniture.

Prominent figures involved in the British arts and crafts movement, such as John Ruskin and William Morris, were influenced by socialism and were interested in the relationship between art and labour. They sought to reconnect the labour of a worker with their finished product, in contrast to repetitive factory work. 

Arts and crafts workshops, guilds and artist centres also sprang up across North America at the turn of the 20th century. The American movement was less influenced by socialism; centres such as in Roycroft, New York promoted self-reliant individualism and cooperation in business as positive social forces.

In their Guild of All Arts, the Clarks incorporated ideas from both American and British movements to support artists and craftspeople in southern Ontario. 

In early 1932, Rosa Brighthaupt (1888-1981) bought a large property, including an Arts and Crafts-style residence, in Scarborough. She was the heiress of Brampton’s Hewetson Shoe Company following the death of her first husband, Russell Hewetson, in 1928. As a shareholder, she campaigned for the company transition to a profit-sharing model where employees would all hold a share of the company’s profits. Unfortunately, the other shareholders did not share this vision, and as a result, the change was never instituted.  

H. Spencer Clark (1903-1986), was an engineer and a graduate of the University of Toronto. In 1931, he completed a tour of the Soviet Union to visit factories, associations and cooperatives. Around this time, he also visited the grave of prominent Arts and Crafts thinker William Morris, whose ideas and work he greatly admired. His notes and letters reveal that throughout the tour he investigated the possibilities of a co-operative business model. 

After an exchange of letters, in 1932 Rosa invited Spencer Clark to visit her newly purchased property in Scarborough. They had connected over their shared interests in socio-economics and the arts. The pair were married later that year at the site. Following their honeymoon in Roycroft, an arts and crafts cooperative in New York, the pair returned to Canada to found the Guild of All Arts at Rosa’s property. 

The Guild of All Arts was founded in the middle of the Great Depression. In a time when many individuals, including artists and craftspeople, were facing significant financial struggle, the Guild served as a point of support. In exchange for a place to stay and studio space, artists provided live demonstrations and lessons in their crafts to students, mentees, and general visitors. 

The Guild received acclaim within its first two years and it was seen as a bright spot in a difficult time. Accessible from Toronto, visitors could escape the city to wander the grounds and watch live demonstrations by professional artists. 

Despite its popularity, the Guild faced severe financial difficulties; the revenue generated from its crafts was not profitable enough to keep the Guild open. Between 1934 and 1937, extensions to the original building added an inn for visitors to stay the night. Many pieces of furniture and decorations at the Guild Inn were created by local artists. The addition of the Inn was moderately profitable and helped to support the Guild cooperative. 

A range of arts and crafts were practised at the Guild, including weaving, sculpture, pottery, woodwork, and painting. With many artists living and working onsite, the Guild created a community of artists allowing for discussion, collaboration and mentorship. It attracted both emerging artists and professionals who had achieved international success. 

With the onset of the Second World War, artists came to the Guild from all over the world. While many stayed for longer periods, others worked at the Guild only briefly before moving to cities to start their own studio and take up positions in cultural institutions. Many spoke about the unique experience and opportunity that the Guild of All Arts provided. 

During the Second World War, the inn was transformed into a training centre to host the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRNS or the “Wrens”). Responsible for radio telegraphy and often code-breaking, the Wrens were instrumental in the Canadian war effort. Towards the end of the war, the inn served as a rehabilitation centre for soldiers recovering from PTSD and other war-associated trauma. 

In 1947, the property returned to the hands of Rosa and Spencer Clark. They continued to provide studio space for artists and organized artist-led workshops. In the 1950s and 1960s, Toronto underwent a period of post-war expansion. As historic buildings were demolished, Spencer Clark began to build a collection of architectural remnants and bring them back to the Guild’s property. This collection is still available to view  at the Guild today. 

In 1978, the Inn was acquired by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, with Spencer Clark remaining the manager of the property. Rosa Clark died in 1981 at the age of 93. Five years following her death, H. Spencer Clark passed away in 1986. 

Dorsey James is an artist who was and continues to be actively involved in the Guild’s legacy. Originally from Philadelphia, Dorsey joined the United States Air Force to escape the urban violence of his youth. In the Air Force, Dorsey became interested in carving, using his skills as a mechanic as a way to pass the time. 

Listen to Dorsey James discuss how he became an artist at Guild Park.

After moving to Canada, Dorsey enrolled at York University studying Fine Art and Education. His work was influenced at first by the stories of his mother, a gifted storyteller, who would reenact biblical stories for Dorsey and his siblings when they were young. Studying at York University, Dorsey’s sources of inspiration included mythological tales from around the world. 

Listen to Dorsey James talk about his artistic practice.

While still a student in university, Dorsey exhibited three of his works in Toronto’s Gallery Danielli. It was here where Spencer Clark first saw Dorsey’s work: he purchased all three of the pieces. Dorsey later met Rosa and Spencer at the Guild Inn, where they provided him with a studio to continue his artistic practice. 

Dorsey was involved at the Guild for over nine years during the 1970s and 80s. Throughout this time he worked in the Sculpture Studio. He carved sculptures and interacted with Guild visitors and other artists in residence, including Gert Untermann and Tom Feenstra. 

Listen to Dorsey James reflect on his time at the Guild and his work on the Sculpture Studio.

Today, Dorsey’s legacy can be seen at the Sculptor’s Cabin in Guild Park. The Cabin’s carvings, originally done by Danish sculptor Aage Madsen in 1940, depicted major characters and themes from medieval Norse sagas, including warriors, dragons, and even a bat. Following the theft of the original carvings, H. Spencer Clark commissioned Dorsey to carve replicas in 1979. The work took Dorsey over nine years to complete: his intricate wooden carvings have endured to be enjoyed by Guild Park visitors today.

For a time, the future of the site looked uncertain as the property passed between four different management companies in under ten years. Multiple proposals for redevelopment of the property, including into a luxury resort, were proposed and rejected. By the 2000s, several buildings were closed and falling into disrepair, and in 2011 concerns arose around the possibility of demolition. 

However, dedicated work by local community groups helped protect the property. In 2014, the city approved a plan to work together with a developer. While the main building was transformed into a private event space, the construction of the Clark Centre for the Arts ensured that the site would continue to remain a space for artists and the public for the foreseeable future. Today, visitors can also enjoy Spencer Clark’s extensive collection of architectural fragments, as well as the Sculptor’s Cabin, at Guild Park and Gardens.