Hello Everyone,

• I love how we had winter last weekend, spring on Tuesday, and summer yesterday. Today feels like fall. How quickly spring passed!
• Our discussions with OCAD U continue on our potential partnership plans to create space to support our mission. We’re in the “messy middle” where things are a bit undefined in terms of what is possible but I know we are getting closer to an outcome that is best for both institutions. I will keep you posted but we should have clarity by mid-June.
• Great news for Kirstin Mearns, who is moving on to an incredible opportunity at the new M+ Museum in Hong Kong. It is under construction and will be one of the largest contemporary art museums in the world…indeed, bigger than MoMA! She will be leading food and beverage and retail. We wish Kirstin well, I am proud of her. I’m grateful that she is leaving our retail operation in solid shape with a good team in place.

Additional note:

Last week in my Friday message I wrote about the offensive incident at Massive Illusion, and know that it is unresolved. This week I want to reflect on the past year and the work we have all done as it relates to diversity and inclusion, then propose immediate actions we can take as a community at the AGO.

It will hardly come as a surprise that I start with the mission of the museum and the core values of Art, Access and Learning. Our exhibition and public programs are the public facing part of the AGO that drives what we do. For the fiscal year 2017-18 we led with Georgia O’Keeffe, Guillermo del Toro and Yayoi Kusama. We also presented major solo exhibitions dedicated to the work of Florine Stettheimer, Joan Mitchell and Jean Paul Riopelle, Rita Letendre, Sandra Meigs, Anthony Caro, and Mark Lewis. Group exhibitions included Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, Every. Now. Then: Reframing Nationhood, Aimia|AGO Photography Prize and As If Sand Were Stone. In total we presented some 13 significant exhibitions and many smaller ones as well.

This year promises to follow with the reopening of the J.S. McLean Centre of Indigenous and Canadian Art, Mickalene Thomas, Rebecca Belmore, Tunirrusiangit and Anthropocene. Also, as you may know, over 60% of our significant exhibitions intentionally featured women from a wide range of cultural backgrounds and I am so proud of this.

On the Access side, a team is working on a new membership and pricing structure. It is a massive project that, if successful, will make the AGO significantly more affordable and accessible for visitors. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we aim to implement it in the first half of next year.

Internally we have much to learn when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Our goal is to better reflect our community at all levels of the organization. My hope was that we would be further along but with the vacancies in leadership positions in PP&L and SVR these initiatives have moved slower. That said, the organization should not have to wait. I am in conversation with select managers (lead by Audrey Hudson, PP&L) who can provide leadership and be a resource for us to create a more inclusive, understanding and culturally aware institution. I believe this is an immediate, positive step forward. I can share more at Town Hall.

We very much want to ensure that there are opportunities for all of us to be successful and meet our individual and collective potential in a safe and comfortable environment. Once again, thank you for the daily efforts you dedicate to making the AGO a great space for art, access and learning.

Stephan