In 1965, the museum saw its collection of European and Canadian artworks expand, with the acquisition of 340 works from the Canadian National Exhibition. During the mid-1960s, the director of the museum, William J. Withrow, pushed to have the museum designated as a provincial museum, in an effort to gain further provincial funding for the institution. In 1966, the museum changed its name to the Art Gallery of Ontario, in order to reflect its new mandate to serve as the provincial art museum.