Posts by Penny Williams
Psychedelic Poster Art — P&D October Talk
This talk series is a monthly presentation in the Marvin Gelber Print and Drawing Study Centre (“P&D”): second Friday of each month prepared and presented by members of the P&D Volunteer Group 11 a.m. – noon; free of charge October 11 – Date with Psychedelic Poster Art, presenter Mary Kirby Here is just one of […]
Our Youngest Art Collector
The next time you’re outside the Volunteer Lounge door, take a look at the space between shopAGOkids and the AR&S (AGO Art Rental & Sales) sales desk. You’ll see a work of art on display on the wall, under the bold proclamation: “Start a new family tradition: give your child the gift of art.” AGO […]
“Communicating with people about art”
In one sense, Melissa Smith is very new to the AGO. She started work as our fulltime Gallery Guide Coordinator at the beginning of September. In another sense, she has already been here for a long time indeed. “I grew up with the AGO,” says the Ottawa native over coffee in the Café AGO. Her […]
“Say Their Names, Remember” — Remembered
You’ve probably visited the Ai Weiwei exhibition by now. If so, you surely felt the impact of the wall of Chinese characters in one room and, on the floor in front of it, the installation of rebar arranged in jagged bas-relief (“Straight”). The rebar was salvaged from poorly-built schools that collapsed in the 2008 Sichuan […]
September Talk — P&D Talk Series
A monthly presentation in the Marvin Gelber Print and Drawing Study Centre (“P&D”): second Friday of each month prepared and presented by members of the P&D Volunteer Group 11 a.m. – noon; free of charge September 13 – Date with Jane Avril: Toulouse Lautrec’s Muse, presenter Helene Fallen
How They Built “Straight”
Perhaps one of the most poignant works of art in the up-coming Ai Weiwei exhibition will be the “Straight” installation. It is a ground-level 40 ft by 20 ft rectangle of rusted rebar salvaged from schools destroyed in the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province and then straightened through a laborious process. The pieces are then […]
Hanging Provisional Landscapes
Have you ever hung wallpaper? If so, you’ll appreciate the installation “Provisional Landscapes,” now lining the walls of gallery 201. Look! Every vinyl panel is straight and smooth! Visitors will appreciate it, too. In fact, these scenes of bulldozed neighbourhoods will be their first experience of According to What?, since the entrance for this Ai Weiwei […]
Handy Locations: the Reciprocal Agreement
Here it is summertime, we’re out and about, planning places to visit, events to take in. Thank goodness for the Reciprocal Agreement! It lists special deals for us in other institutions, ranging from discounted prices to free volunteer entry to free entry for the volunteer plus a guest. What kinds of institutions? For example… art […]
Volunteer help wanted for “Say Their Names, Remember”
The AGO will host a community art performance to help launch the Ai Weiwei exhibition – and we volunteers can help. On Sunday, August 18, explains Bev Carret, Chinese-speaking participants will combine to read aloud the names of all 5,200 schoolchildren who lost their lives in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The performance, called “Say Their […]
Welcome Home, Art Rental & Sales Group!
“We’ve come back home!” says Betty Meyers, a long-time AGO Art Rental & Sales Group (AR&SG) volunteer. “Again!” she adds, laughing. Elizabeth Petrova, the Coordinator, nods agreement. AR&SG has moved many times over the years, they explain: out to McCaul Street and back, around various locations within the AGO, out again (post-Transformation) to University Avenue, and […]