Dear Staff and Volunteers,

To help focus the priorities and strategies of our 2015-2018 Strategic Plan, I have developed a Position Statement that was shared with you at our November Town Hall meeting (3 parts):

• Art is at the centre of everything we do.   
• Our AGO will be locally beloved and globally respected –welcoming people to gather with purpose and to engage with works of art and with each other. We declare that art is rooted in the world in which we live and will share, with our audiences, a point of view that encourages dialogue.
•  Our AGO celebrates creativity, advocates for artists, and shapes the conversation about art in our local and international communities. We connect to the world through collaborative and innovative partnerships which provide opportunities to share fresh ideas and discover new voices.

In the meeting, attendees used the statement and worked in teams to answer the question: “If we live this, what will the AGO look like in three years?” I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their thoughtful responses.  It is evident to me that we all share a common purpose – to provide our audiences with an exceptional art experience in all that we do, regardless of our role within the institution.

I also want to take the opportunity to highlight that the Position Statement fits within and extends the context of our Mission, Vision and Values: 

Our Mission:

We bring people together with art to see, experience and understand the world in new ways.

Our Vision:

We will become the imaginative centre of our city and province. We will be welcoming to our visitors, inspiring for our audiences, and innovative in the ways we gather people together to create community through art. we will become a preferred cultural partner for artistic visionaries from all over the world.

Our Values:

We believe the experience of our visitor is paramount.

We commit to excellence in the acquisition, collection, preservation and presentation of art in our care, in our time and for future generations.

We commit to the highest standards of scholarship, while engaging new methodologies and welcoming new points of view.

We celebrate art and artists as central to our sense of who we are.

We listen and contribute to our communities.

We foster respect and recognition for all who visit and work here.

The statement will be used to keep the priorities and goals set out in our 2015 – 2018 Plan clear and focused and will be embedded into our final plan – expected to be approved by our Board of Trustees in March 2015.

Sincerely,

Matthew