My parents are doing it. My friends are doing it. Hell, even I’m doing it occasionally. I’ve had friends in the U.S. asking me what’s going on. Art collectors wondering whether it’s going to become a problem. Everyone seems to be thinking about it.
Buying Canadian art.
We’re checking labels, looking for that little maple leaf and paying a lot more attention to where our money goes.
And with tariffs, trade wars and whatever fresh hell gets announced next, I get it. I’ve shipped several original paintings from my Ontario studio to American collectors this year and, so far, they’ve crossed the border tariff-free. I wrote about that particular circus here if you want the longer version.
But if you’re in Canada and looking to put your money behind Canadian-made, let me suggest something a bit more interesting than reading labels at the grocery store: buy Canadian art. Better yet, buy it locally. Because you like the art.
Please don’t spite-buy because you hate Trump. I don’t think he gives a crap about your cute new decor, and I sure as hell don’t want you pity-buying because you feel the need to rescue the poor starving artists. How deeply embarrassing for both of us. Buy Canadian art because our shit is good.
And if you’re in Eastern Ontario, the Apples & Art Studio Tour is happening this month. Guaranteed tariff-free.
The Apples & Art Studio Tour 2026
The Apples & Art Studio Tour happens every September throughout SDG, and it’s bigger than people who haven’t done it tend to realize. Artists and studios are spread across the region, so choose wisely. Long Sault to Alexandria is nearly an hour in the car, and that’s before you start detouring down rural roads looking for studios.
I’ve been involved with Apples & Art for years and I’m currently on the arts council, although I’m not participating as an artist this year. So I’ll give you the same advice I’ve given before: check out the artists online first, decide who you actually want to see, then look at the map and find the clusters.
I wrote a route-planning guide for last year’s tour, along with a closer look at the Lancaster-area stops. Many of those locations and clusters remain useful when you’re figuring out this year’s route.
Planning Your Apples & Arts Studio Tour 2025 Route?
Lancaster Artists Worth your Time
Vet first. Map second. Then go see some art.
Looking for an Art Gallery or Painting Studio Near You?
Funny enough, someone recently found me on Google while searching for an oil painting studio near her. Actual human. Reached out and everything. Miracles do happen.
She also asked if I was participating in Apples & Art this year. I’m not, but Cherry Bomb Studio Gallery is here in South Glengarry, near Cornwall, and open by appointment.
You can see available paintings online, arrange a studio visit by emailing me, or find select work represented through Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale.
Buy the Art Because You Love the Art
Supporting Canadian businesses doesn’t mean dutifully buying something because the little maple leaf makes you feel virtuous. It means making the effort to look for Canadian first, or better yet, looking at what’s being made locally. Then be picky. This is art, after all. You’re going to have to look at your poor decision every single day. National pride can only do so much for a bad painting. Voice of Fire, anyone?
So ask yourself: do you love it? I mean, fucking love it? Because if I find one of my paintings in a Value Village someday, I might actually cry. Seriously, you will make me cry.
Buy it because you can’t stop looking at it, or because you walked away, came back and thought, fuck it, I want that. That’s how I want someone to buy my art.
So yes, look for Canadian first. Go see what’s being made twenty minutes down the road, find the good shit, and if you fucking love it, buy it.