Hello Everyone,

It’s hard to believe the time has come, but after 34 years at the AGO, Bev Carret, Manager, Government Relations, is retiring to spend more time with family, especially her beloved granddaughters.

Starting at the AGO as the Executive Assistant to Director Bill Withrow, Bev has spent most of her career focused on government and community relations.  I have worked with Bev for 18 months and I have found her to be smart and strategic, passionate about art and the community, a wonderful collaborator and always mission focused. I know that Bev has made the AGO a better place.

Bev has accomplished a great deal during her time here, but highlights include:

• Successfully advocating for a special one-time $4.5 million grant from the provincial government at a critical moment during TransformationAGO.
• Building and growing the AGO’s community access programs to meet the needs of community organizations, while being financially sustainable.
• Leading Say Their Names, Remember, the special performance that took place during Ai Weiwei: According to What? where over thousands of volunteers read the names of the 5,000 schoolchildren who died in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
• Turning around neighbourhood relations from suspicious to collaborative – leading to the partnership between the AGO, the City and the local community to revitalize Grange Park, a project that started in 2008 and was completed this July.

Bev’s last day at the Gallery will be on September 29. Everyone is invited to her farewell party, taking place Friday, September 22 from 3:00 – 4:30pm in the WFLC, Seminar Room #1.

Please join me in thanking Bev for her invaluable contributions to the Gallery and wish her well in retirement.

Sincerely,

Stephan