Lesley North and Paul Ayers report on the most recent Town Hall:
Director Stephan Jost reiterated his previous messaging about heeding Protective Services Officers in the course of executing their duties: “Security is your friend – be their ally.” He also communicated the importance of “being kind to people,” and that we should strive to acknowledge when we have been unkind to others but also that we shouldn’t be afraid to tell others when they have been unkind to us.
President of the AGO Board of Trustees, Bob Harding, spoke of the board’s priorities, which include working with Stephan to develop a long-term plan for the institution (10 years, in addition to the current cycle of 3-year strategic plans). Among other things, “we want the AGO to reflect the community we serve,” said Bob, and this not only refers to hiring but also to our visitor welcome, acquisitions and “volunteer presentation.” Stephan referred back to these priorities , stating that they would incorporate “extraordinary art and exhibitions, increasing access and facilitating learning…we need to make sure learning is baked in to everything we do.”
Stephan called At Home With Monsters “a case where we took some risks and they paid off” when relating that the attendance was tracking 60,000 visitors higher [to date] than had been projected. He expressed that he himself had doubts about the success of the exhibition, but praised the programming and marketing efforts that supported it. Chief Financial Officer Rocco Saverino indicated At Home With Monsters is tracking at 33% over target – while member numbers are what was expected, paid admissions are 83% higher than were expected.
Referring to the recent creation of the Canadian and Indigenous curatorial department structure (headed by, respectively, Georgian Uhlyarik and Wanda Nanibush), Stephan noted that the AGO is “one of the earliest adopters of this model in North America,” acknowledging that it has been in place in New Zealand “for decades.” He added that “we’re trying to link the Canadian and Indigenous conversation with the global conversation,” and concluded by crediting Nanibush with the original idea for the structure.
Acknowledging the questions around hiring non-Canadian Julian Cox as Chief Curator, Stephan noted that while “we had a strong bias towards hiring a Canadian,” there was no internal candidate and no candidates from Montreal or Vancouver. He joked that the fact that Cox’s wife being from Quebec influenced the successful candidate’s willingness to relocate from the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. He also spoke of the “Trump effect…the quality and quantity of American applicants was jaw-dropping.” Stephan added that the “historical flow of talent is towards the outside of Canada,” and that “people leave the AGO because of the lack of growth opportunities.”
Stephan talked about how the AGO’s leadership team is looking at diversity, having brought in various consultants to speak on the subject of “how do we reflect the community we serve?” Consultants included the head of diversity from RBC, a consultant from New York City, one from the provincial government and a Regent Park community activist. “Just talking about it starts the conversation,” said the director.
PP&L Chief Judy Koke, Director of Learning and Interpretation Keri Ryan, and new Assistant Manager of School and Teacher Programs Audrey Hudson gave a presentation on their sprawling department – “we support access – not just accessibility, but price, the welcome and the feeling of belonging,” said Koke – and cleverly illustrated their part of the organization with a participatory game involving matching program areas with sections of their department.
Concluding Q&A
Q: When will the AGO develop a cultural diversity and professional development policy?
A: First we must develop a cultural diversity strategy and a professional development strategy, and we must also develop mechanisms for review and accountability. It takes a long time, there’s a lot of steps you have to take; it calls for relentless incrementalism. “I’m not a huge fan of flash in the pan” approaches. Professional development needs strategic development, and recent budgetary good news may make this possible.
Q: Will we ever consider being open Mondays permanently?
A: “Yes, but I don’t think we’re quite ready…I’m a little concerned about burnout.” He made note of the experience of other museums…they expect overall attendance to remain static (but even out through all their days), but what happens is that overall attendance increases because of the increased convenience.
Q: What are the takeaways from the Leadership Team’s training on diversity?
A: That there are multiple approaches…”people are well-intentioned, but as an organization we need to work on intentionality.” Also, “we need to work on our acquisitions. The goal sounds simple – serving our community – but maybe too simple. We could be better at telling the stories about what we are doing .”