In 1977, Ken and Ruth Tolmie opened the first Tolmie Gallery in a large Victorian house outside of the small town of Bridgetown, in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley. Ken began his Bridgetown Series in this location.

In the mid-1980s, Ken moved with his family to Toronto; the Tolmie Gallery continued in Bridgetown in another late Victorian home. Peggy Hutchinson managed the gallery, which exhibited only Ken Tolmie’s works. Ken held a major annual exhibition here for decades, and the gallery drew Canadian and international visitors.

In 1993, Ken and Ruth came back to Nova Scotia and bought an eighteenth-century Cape Cod home in Mahone Bay on the South Shore. The Tolmie Gallery moved into this house in 1994. The Window Series was begun in this location; Ken also founded Tolmie Productions, and began working on various television projects.

In 1999, the Tolmie Gallery and Tolmie Productions moved to a renovated loft space in Toronto’s west end, part of a community of important art galleries. This gallery hosted a continuous exhibition of Tolmie’s newest works, most notably the large Window Series oils. The artist’s studio was attached to the main gallery, where from time to time visitors could view works in progress alongside finished pieces.

The Tolmie Gallery also housed an edit suite, where Tolmie pursued his film projects; Tolmie’s ZeD pilot and the feature film It’s for You (2000) were produced there. This last incarnation of the Tolmie Gallery was a unique experiment, designed to combine all three functions -- exhibition space, artist’s studio, film studio -- into one seamless operation.

The Tolmie Gallery closed in May 2003.