We asked this year’s award winners a bit about themselves.  This week: Phyllis Couzin, Prints & Drawings

Volunteer President Phyllis Couzin. Photo courtesy AGO photographer Craig Boyko

How did you get started at the AGO?

I started at the AGO after returning to Toronto from living abroad for 4 years.  I was a bit a loose ends, had developed a personal interest in old master drawings while living abroad, and Kathy Lochnan, then curator of Prints and Drawings, suggested I become a volunteer in the P&D Study Centre

How long have you been part of the AGO volunteer community?

I have been a volunteer for 19 years.

What roles have you taken at the gallery?

Two years after becoming a  P&D volunteer, I moved to the Gallery Guide program.  During my tenure as a gallery guide, I was co-chair of the guides for two years, co-chair of the 2009 National Docent Symposium, and Volunteer President, 2010-2014.  I served on the Volunteer Executive for 10 years, and have chaired Volunteers Connect since 2015.   Feeling that I needed a change, I left the gallery guide program in 2015 and returned to P&D.   Changing placements was an extremely difficult decision, and Melissa Smith very generously and kindly assured me that I could return to the Guides at a later date if I wanted. 

What is your most memorable AGO exhibition and why?

The Florentine Gold.  I am especially interested in Italian art from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance.

What is your most rewarding volunteer moment or experience at the gallery?

I have had many experiences that were personally rewarding.  Bringing the Docent Symposium to fruition and opening it with my co-chairs Ann Wilcox and Debbie Kennedy was extremely meaningful.  Being President for four years and working closely with both staff and volunteers was also a special experience.  I have very much enjoyed taking on challenging roles. 

What is your background, have you always been involved in the arts?