Toronto art legend Katharine Mulherin’s son is carrying on her legacy with a new west-end gallery

Two decades ago, Toronto rent was unfathomably cheap and Queen Street West was a louche artists’ playground—totally unrecognizable from the corridor of upscale boutiques it is today. Much of that scene coalesced around art dealer Katharine Mulherin, who opened Bus Gallery in 1998, an experimental space that sold the artworks of both stars and unknowns, launching the careers of many young artists.

Related: Katharine Mulherin, the woman who built Queen Street West

Katharine was prolific, opening multiple galleries over the years, and despite the hardships of a changing real estate landscape and a rapidly shifting economy, many endured for over 20 years. Then, in 2019, she died tragically by suicide, and one by one her galleries shuttered. Now, her son Jasper Mulherin is honouring her legacy with a newly opened second iteration of Bus Gallery, this time at Dundas West and Sorauren.

Jasper was raised in his mom’s galleries. When he was a child, they lived for a time in a windowless back storage room, and he helped his mom at international art fairs before he was even a teenager. After her death, Jasper took time away from the art world to grieve. But, last year, he began working with a private art collection as an archivist, and his employer offered Jasper a tucked-away industrial unit next to the tennis courts in Sorauren Park to use as a gallery.

Related: A behind-the-scenes look at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s most iconic paintings

It was the perfect way to re-enter the industry on his own terms. The second Bus Gallery’s inaugural show is a group exhibition called Give Me My Ghost Back, which investigates the haunting sensations of grief. It’s on now until March 29. The show features two photographic self-portraits from Katharine’s series Never a Bride alongside a range of works by artists like Mike Bayne and Claire Greenshaw. Alongside its big names, the show features a variety of up-and-comers—the same mix Jasper’s mother believed in.

Jasper told the Globe and Mail that he hopes to rekindle Toronto’s fervour for visual arts and community—and the uncommodified gut-level taste that Katharine championed. “I feel like it’s more healing than anything, as cheesy as that sounds,” he said.