The fonds consists of seven series of textual, photographic, audio-visual, art records, and ephemera that document the personal and professional activities of David Silcox.
The Publishing and Exhibitions series includes annotated books and research material, drafts, publishing documents, colour proofs, and correspondence pertaining to the production of The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson, Silence and the Storm, Christopher Pratt, and various other published articles, essays, and book contributions. The series also contains research material and ephemera related to exhibitions of the works of John James Audubon and Jack Bush. Advisory boards and committees contains textual records, including correspondence and published documents, relating to the cultural agencies, boards, and committees which Silcox served on and/or chaired throughout his career. The records for the series Sotheby's Canada include written and e-mail correspondence, client lists, auction catalogues, financial records, press clippings, performance reviews, invitations, ephemera, and advertising material documenting Silcox's duties as Director of Canadian operations. The Professional Government Career series is comprised mainly of textual records, including ministerial documents, schedules and agendas, correspondence, memos, theatre-related documents and playbills, speeches, and drafts of government reports relating to Silcox's tenures with the Canada Council, Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, Department of Communications (Government of Canada), and Ministry of Culture and Communications (Province of Ontario). The series documenting Silcox's Professional Academic Career contains textual records relating to his role as Senior Fellow of Massey College, as a member of the Victoria University Board of Regents, Director of the University of Toronto Art Centre, and as a professor and Dean for York University's Faculty of Fine Arts. Personal and Juvenilia contains Boy Scouts material (including documentation of the Canadian Coronation Contingent); greeting cards and personal correspondence from Silcox's boyhood through to 200-; personal and legal documents; Silcox family documents; invitations and social engagements; awards and certificates, including records relating to the Order of Canada and the Governor-General's Award in Visual and Media Arts; programs from performing arts events; political contributions and philanthropic donations; and material relating to various artist friends, including the N.E. Thing Co.. The Art and Design series includes a set of Olympic posters from the Artists-Athletes Coalitions, comic books, artists' books, Harold Town material, design work and ephemera relating to Roy Thompson Hall, and a collection of posters relating to the arts.
The fonds also contains black & white and colour photographs and slides of Silcox, Harold Town, and Christopher Pratt, among others, as well as personal slides and photos from travels, family events, and the Milne catalogue launch. Also included are photos taken of Silcox in a professional context while serving as the Deputy Minister of Culture and Communication for the Province of Ontario. A selection of colour slides show images of Tom Thompson and other paintings used in the preparation of Silcox's published works.
