Hello Everyone,

Leadership Team has been involved with many board committee meetings in recent weeks. These include standing committees of the board such as Advancement, Collections and Finance, as well as curatorial working committees and the Diversity & Inclusion Working Committee, which met yesterday. The Diversity & Inclusion Working Committee recommended introductory training for all board members. The committee will be working with Letecia Rose to provide similar training for the board that all staff and volunteers have received from her.

Some of you may have read about the Province giving significant extra support this year to several cultural institutions, including the Royal Ontario Museum and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. As you know, the AGO is not a government agency like the ROM and McMichael, so we are eligible for CEWS funding and have received $10.6M in wage subsides as of January 31, 2021. We are pleased to receive just over $700,000 of provincial funding for capital projects, which is in line with our annual capital allotment.

Finally – although it appears that Toronto will be entering the “grey zone” next week, nothing really changes for us at the AGO. Our existing protocols will be kept in place, which means that only core staff will be on-site. Planning will continue for the eventuality of re-opening but we do not know when. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to stay at home as much as possible, wash hands, wear masks and practice social distancing. And – enjoy your weekend!

Stephan