1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from
Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The
Governor General of Canada,
John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, was its first patron. The painter
Lucius O'Brien was its first president. The objects of the Academy as stated in the 1881 publication of the organization's constitution were three-fold: • First - the institution of a National Gallery at the seat of Government; • Second - the holding of Exhibitions in the principal cities of the Dominion; • Third - the establishment of Schools of Art and Design. In the same publication, two levels of membership were described: Academicians and Associates. No more than forty individuals could be Academicians at one time, while the number of Associates was not limited. All Academicians were required to give an example of their work to the collection of the
National Gallery. They were also permitted to show more pieces in Academy-sponsored exhibitions than Associates. Additional academicians and associates were added each year until the membership had more than doubled by 1890. Members were drawn from all areas of the country and included anglophones and francophones. Men continued to out-number women and those female members were identified as painters not as designers or architects. The third objective—to encourage the teaching of art and design in Canada—was found to be more challenging to address with the limited financial resources available to them. The centennial year of the Academy was honoured by a 35 cent, 3 colour postage stamp. The stamp features an image of the original centre block of the
Parliament Buildings and the text "Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 1880–1980", with the name "
Thomas Fuller", a member of the Academy and the Dominion Architect of Canada who had designed the original building. ==Members==