Hello Everyone,
- Thank you to everyone involved in the Art Toronto Opening Night event last night. There were lots of staff from Advancement and Curatorial on-site and I appreciate the collective effort – especially Development – to help make the event a success. Approximately $516K was raised in support of the AGO, which is amazing. A portion of the funds was used to acquire two works for our collection, posted on AGO Instagram last night: works by Ken Nicol and Sonny Assu – see pics below.
- Two other significant events took place this week. On Tuesday evening, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Galleria Italia with many of the Italian Canadian families who supported the creation of this incredible space. It remains a very special place to the families. And at Wednesday’s Rapp Lecture, Adam Weinberg, director of the Whitney Museum, shared the fascinating story of the Whitney and a history of the biennale.
- It was a wonderful last weekend of Rebecca Belmore – the artist herself was here and spoke to visitors. Over 100 special guests participated in a community led closing round dance ceremony to mark the end of this incredible exhibition.
- Hello from San Francisco! I am here attending the Bizot Group meeting, which is a conference for directors of the 55 largest museums in the world. Lots to learn from other leaders. As always, I will steal any great ideas I hear and bring them back to the AGO.
Enjoy the weekend,
Stephan