Hello Everyone,

• The David Milne Study Centre was recently renovated and has an enhanced open view out to the park and site line to the Henry Moore sculpture. It is a very inviting space and I have enjoyed seeing visitors linger in it. Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen.

• In the past 9 weeks, more than 50,000 people have signed up for the annual pass. A really big thank you, again, to all of you for spreading the word and for making our public feel welcome. An interesting point – of the total annual pass holders, just 3.5% were Members at one time. One of our concerns was that Members would move to the Annual Pass and give up their memberships…so far this is not the case.

• If you didn’t see the posting on Dartboard, please note that everyone is invited to a tour of the Brian Jungen exhibition organized by the AGO’s Inclusivity Diversity Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) team next Friday, August 16. There are two time slots available for booking: 2:30pm and 3pm. Reserve your spot via email.

• A quick reminder to please refrain from emailing/texting your colleagues after hours if something isn’t urgent. I firmly believe that we all need to focus on other aspects of our lives after hours and that the mental break from work matters is healthy and necessary. That said, when at work, game on!

Enjoy the weekend,

Stephan

P.S.     Below is a photo of the small hamlet that I spent most summers as a kid. It is called Schlappin and is a high mountain valley – the valley floor is 1650 meters above sea level – near the villages of Klosters and Davos (fun personal fact: I am actually a citizen of Switzerland). One of the highlights of my vacation was to spend several days back in Schlappin hiking with our daughter Monique.