Toronto 
Credit: Canadian Tourism Commission
Explore the world online! Yes. With the advent of technology and widespread availability of the internet, the world is now at your fingertips. You can travel to distant lands, tour famous museums, all from the comfort of your home. Check out this list of museums that opens the doors to online visitors.
Virtual Museum of Canada
Virtual Museum of Canada is a digital source containing experiences and stories, all contributed by Canada’s museums and heritage organizations. You can discover history, art, science, nature and more through virtual exhibits.
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg
Winnipeg Art Gallery is closed temporarily. But you can stay connected to the Gallery through daily posts by the Gallery’s CEO & Director, Dr. Stephen Borys. Through WAG@Home – My Daily Art, he will share his favourite pieces one by one each day until the Gallery reopens. Follow along on social media or website. For young people, the Gallery has the WAG@Home DIY series.
Canadian Museum of Human Rights, Winnipeg
Canadian Museum of Human Rights is renowned not only for its unique content, but also for its unique architecture. Now you can tour them both virtually. The Museum‘s app is available for download online. Learn about the diverse world of human rights travelling gallery by gallery through narration, videos and images. You can also check out various online stories.
Glenbow Museum, Calgary
Experience art outside of Glenbow’s walls, through ‘Glenbow From Home‘. While the museum is temporarily closed to combat Covid-19 pandemic, the museum has put up some great content online. Connect with them at 10am on Wednesdays, Fridays and Mondays for virtual tours, educational videos, activity ideas, webinars and more.
The Bytown Museum, Ottawa
The Bytown Museum has launched a virtual tour of three floors of exhibits in partnership with Point3D Commercial Imaging Ottawa.
Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria
Showcasing 550 million years of natural history and 9,000 years of human history in BC, Royal British Columbia Museum is one of Canada’s leading museums and research centres. The Museum’s archives can be accessed online.
The Museum’s youtube channel features short ‘This Week in History‘ clips as well as the ‘Webster!’ playlist. Learners of all ages (the content is more aligned with BC K-12 curriculum) can check out the Leaning portal, a learner-centred, inquiry-based interactive website to learn more about British Columbia.
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
The Royal Ontario Museum has a collection of 13 million artworks, cultural objects, and natural history specimens. The museum’s online collection is as diverse as the ROM’s. Enjoy them here.
Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau
Visitors to the museum are impressed by Alex Janvier’s stunning mural painted above the suspended staircase rising from the River Salon at the end of the Grand Hall. Now you can explore and appreciate this stunning artwork, the Morning Star – Gambeh Then’ online.
Also available online is Inuit Prints from Cape Dorset. This is Canada’s national collection of Inuit prints from Cape Dorset, in Nunavut publicly available for research, scholarship and appreciation.
Brockville Museum, Brockville
Explore the history of Brockville online! The entire collection at the Museum is available online via the Open Drawer Project. Connect with the museum through their facebook, instagram and youtube channels for more fun. Mondays at noon, the museum is hosting a dedicated program for kids on facebook, while Adults can tune in at noon on Wednesdays. From March 23 – April 3, the top ten “mosts” from the museum collection will be posted on instagram. This can include, the oldest, most colourful, largest and so on. For dynamic video content about the museum and its exhibits, check out their youtube channel.
Telus Spark, Calgary
Telus Spark is one of Canada’s finest science museums. Find engaging videos contents on their youtube channel named ‘Spark Science from Home’!
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Come check out The Boxwood Project! Explore stunning gothic boxwood miniature carvings that have captured the imaginations of their owners and viewers for almost 500 years.
Also available online is The Lodz Ghetto Photographs of Henryk Ross, a photographic record of human life and suffering during the Nazi Propoganda.
National Music Centre, Calgary
National Music Centre’s exhibits tells the story of music in Canada spanning over 450 years. The Centre’s top 150 Collection items can now be viewed online.
Other Canadian Museums Online
- Art Gallery of Nova Scotia – Maud Lewis Gallery
- Museum of Contemporary Art , Toronto – Shift Key
- The Power Plant – Virtual Tours
- Aga Khan Museum, Toronto – #MuseumWithoutWalls
- Halifax Citadel Army Museum – Wednesdays and Fridays
- National Ballet of Canada – features items held within the National Ballet Archives
- Bata Show Museum
- Hockey Hall Of Fame
- Canadian War Museum
- Canadian Penitentiary Tour
- Flashlight Tours with Dr. Curtis Collins of the Audain Art Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
The National Gallery of Art located at Washington, D.C. provides virtual tours of its gallery and exhibits. Enjoy virtual tours of current exhibitions, video and audio recording of past lectures by artists and curators, as well as online learning opportunities and more.
Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de’ Benci [obverse]; Photo Credit: National Gallery of Art
The Vatican Museums, Vatican City
The Vatican Museums, located in Rome, has a very extensive collection of art and sculptures that have been gathered by successive Popes over the centuries, as well as some of Apostolic Palace’s most artistic rooms. The virtual tour will take you through the grounds and treasured exhibits. You can also do a 360° virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel, where one can see the painting of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment behind the altar wall as well as the Stories of Genesis on the ceiling.
British Museum, London
You don’t have to be in London to enjoy access to Museum’s collection online. Its online database is one of the most extensive online museum search platforms in the world. You can go on virtual tour of the museum with the Google Cultural Institute. Enjoy an interactive tour of The Museum of the World that features fascinating objects from across diverse cultures, continents, and time.
National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is a treasure trove of of knowledge. Online visitors can enjoy virtual tours of select exhibits and areas. Past exhibits, as well as select collections at their satellite support and research stations can also be accessed online.
The Louvre, Paris
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Collection Online of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum features over 8000 artworks from the collection of contemporary, impressionist, post-impressionist and early modern works of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The collection also includes the works of famous artists such as Picasso, Piet Mondrian, and Franz Marc.
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
The Israel Museum provides its online visitors with virtual guided tours of exhibits as well as fun activities for all ages. The museum’s collection includes fine arts and contemporary works, Jewish costumes and collections relating to Jewish art and life.
NASA
NASA’s Langley Research Center and Glenn Research Center in Ohio offers virtual tours. For an augmented reality experience, download the app of The Space Center Houston.
You can now watch live stream from the International Space Station on youtube.
National Gallery of Victoria
Immersive virtual tours of National Gallery of Victoria‘s exhibitions are currently available online. See their popular exhibitions including Keith Haring | Jean Michel Basquiat: Crossing Lines, Kaws: Companionship in the Age of Loneliness and more content online.
Egyptian Heritage Sites
You can now explore the Tomb of Queen Meresankh III, the tomb of Menna, the Ben Ezra Synagogue, the Red Monastery, the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Barquq as well as several others. The tours feature detailed 3D modelling. To provide a more realistic experience, these tours allow viewers to walk along the structures by clicking on hotspots on the floors.
Google Art Project
A treasure trove for art lovers, the Google Art Project features priceless art works from more that 1200 leading museums from around the globe. One of the most attractive feature of this Project is the virtual tour of these museums with the aid of Google Street View technology. You can view art woks from the White House, the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum, the Whitney Museum, in addition to hundreds of others.
