Many thanks to our Education and Public Programs team, who organized and recorded this wonderful presentation. Key highlights: learn a new word! (“tronie”) and insight into Behr’s colour of the year, Peach Fuzz! Listen to the zoom recording for more! ….
Thank you so much to Adam Levine, Associate Curator, European Art for joining us, and sharing so many insights into this wonderful little gem of a show!
It was wonderful to see many of you yesterday on Zoom. Here is the link to watch Associate Curator Adam Levine’spresentation on “Painted Presence: Rembrandt and his Peers” which opens next week!
On Monday, February 5 and Tuesday, February 6 the Jackman Hall Staff and Volunteer Entrance and the Annex will be closed for event loading.
Staff and volunteers will not be able to use the McCaul Street entrance, Monday Feb 5 and Tuesday Feb 6
Staff and volunteers are asked to please use the main entrance on Dundas St. West to enter and exit the Gallery.
This closure comes in anticipation of upcoming work for the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery. The Food & Beverage Team will be loading items for two events using the Annex, the D Corridor, Logistics & Art Services (LAS) and the freight elevator.
As Volunteer President, one of my roles is to connect with, advocate for, and build connections across our volunteer program. I’ve been working with Holly and Alain to get oriented, and my early ideas are already taking shape, with exciting initiatives on the horizon. Watch this space!
I’m always interested to hear your thoughts and ideas. On that note, I wanted to share that I have an open door policy, with some flexible (and set) times in the Gallery. You can find my office next door to Holly’s in the volunteer lounge. Please drop by, stop in, and say Hello at the following scheduled times in the coming weeks:
Wednesday January 31, 12:30pm – 3:30pm
Thursday February 8, 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Monday February 12, 12:00pm – 2:00pm (following the AGO Brand presentation for volunteers – see the announcement on this week’s blogpost!)
Wednesday February 14, 2:30pm
I’m interested to meet, listen and hear from you. This is our opportunity to get to know one another, to set up an additional appointment in the office, to meet for a casual coffee, etc. If these office hours don’t line up with your shifts at the Gallery, and you’d like to make an appointment, please email me at: [email protected] and we’ll work together to find a date to meet up.
I look forward to getting to know and meeting all of you!
This week, I’m in NYC attending the annual Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) Director/Trustee Summit. This is an opportunity for AAMD members and invited guests from their Boards of Trustees to share information, knowledge and experience with one another about topics impacting our sector. The conference has a very full agenda and I will be sure to bring back any great ideas for us to consider at the AGO.
I’m hearing that Denyse Thomasos: just beyond has been a visitor favourite at the Vancouver Art Gallery, so much so that they’ve asked for a short extension to keep the exhibit on view through the Easter weekend. Our team has been able to accommodate the request by adjusting some shipping schedules. Next stop will be Nova Scotia for Summer 2024. It’s very exciting to see this AGO-led project make its way across Canada.
Come visit Prints and Drawings on Wednesday February 14th where love is guaranteed to be in the air! Various valentine-themed works from our prints & drawings vault will be on display. No need to register, just drop-in!
Did you know? Prints and Drawings monthly Wednesday afternoon Open Doorprogram is supported by a small team of volunteers. Take this opportunity to meet the group, and enjoy a short tour. Our new Volunteer President, Barbara Glaser, volunteers with this team and will be on site from 4:30pm onwards. Come say Hello!
Open Door begins at 1pm and runs until 8:30pm on Wednesday February 14.
Thank you to our Volunteer President, the Prints & Drawings volunteers, and staff Alexa Greist and Emily Miller for welcoming us!
I am writing to share an important update from the Director’s Office.
Recent global conflicts and events have impacted the cultural sector and have brought important topics to the fore, including freedom of political thought and artistic expression. The AGO is not alone in grappling with such complex issues. Creating a forum and process for conversations around these topics is an important step, as the AGO must engage to provide clarity and establish parameters for our staff and board. By working together and coming to a shared understanding of how to approach these discussions, we will build trust and confidence. Our board president Rupert Duchesne and I believe we will be best served by a Joint Working Committee of trustees and staff. Overall objectives include:
Create space for important discussions on global issues that are impacting the cultural sector
Clarify roles and responsibilities between Board of Trustees, Director and CEO, Leadership Team and staff
Review and formalize governance policies such as Values Statement, Media Policy, Code of Conduct, etc., and create other policies that may be deemed appropriate
Re-establish relationships and partnerships with artists who have become disengaged, and with Indigenous communities and other racialized communities
The structure of this Joint Working Committee includes trustees from various committees of the board and staff throughout the museum:
Board committee members:
Rupert Duchesne – ex-officio
David Binet
Zun Lee
Liza Mauer
Carol McNamara
Kenneth Montague
Liza Murrell
Staff committee members:
Stephan Jost – ex-officio
Laura Comerford – Exhibitions
Julie Crooks – Curatorial
Alain Graham – People
Kate Halpenny – Development
Audrey Hudson – E&P
Cian Knights – DEIA
Michelle Noel – Facilities
Trish Popkin – Visitor Services
Caroline Shields – Curatorial
Jay Xie – Gov’t Relations
This track of activity will focus on Governance Education (Roles and Responsibilities), Values and Policies and will also include conversations about re-engagement with Indigenous communities and other racialized communities. At this initial stage, these issues are inseparable and will be explored jointly. The timeline is estimated to be 6-10 meetings over a period of 6 months. The meetings will include a facilitator to help ensure quality and productiveness of discussions.
As the committee’s work and discussions progress, it will lead to a more focused effort towards reconciliation. In addition to the governance piece, we want to continue with reconciliation and engagement with Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and move it through the organization. We also want to understand and implement United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and topics around the broader realm of global Indigenous culture. As LT member, Audrey Hudson will be leading this committee track along with the participation of an Indigenous Elder/Advisor or Advisors, as well as both trustees and staff (compilation tbd). This process is incredibly important and will take more than six months. It will take the time that it takes so that we can be thoughtful about re-establishing relationships with Indigenous communities. The AGO remains fundamentally and fully committed to our Reconciliation journey and to showing, acquiring and programming Indigenous art, artists, and stories. More information about the structure of this separate track will be shared soon.
In each track, there will be space for input from AGO staff and volunteers.
Starting in January 2024, the AGO Library will be open to the public on Wednesdays from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, and by appointment on Thursdays and Fridays. Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we are closed.
Access to rare books, archives and special collections is always by appointment.
To request an appointment, please send an email to [email protected] with a brief description of your topic of research, and the date and time that you would like to use the library. A librarian will contact you to arrange the details of your visit. Appointments may also be made by leaving a phone message at 416-979-6642.
Annabelle Selldorf is our design architect for the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery. She is part of a team including Don Schmitt of Diamond Schmitt, executive architect, and Brian Porter of Two Row, Indigenous architect. Earlier this week I listened to an interesting podcast called “Time Sensitive” featuring Annabelle – linked HERE.
Annabelle Seldorf
This week we are saying good-bye to another long-serving employee, this time Gillian McIntyre. Gillian is retiring from the AGO effective today. Gillian joined the AGO back in 1995 as an intern and has since taken on a number of roles including coordinating the museum’s first youth program, developing an array of courses and projects as Adult Program Coordinator, and most recently as Interpretive Planner. I know you all will join me in wishing Gillian well. She has been a wonderful colleague to many and has made significant contributions to our mission, and to engaging our public. Thank you, Gillian!
Hello Volunteers! This week in the lounge, we were talking exhibitions (as usual!) and Gallery Guide Rochelle Baum led us to a great additional learning resource she found for Life Between Islands: Caribbean British Art, 1950s-Now. This exhibition, currently on view at the AGO, is circulated by the Tate in London, England. All museums tend to install exhibitions differently – based on curatorial vision, gallery space and logistics, personal preferences, etc. – Rochelle found the exhibition guide developed by the Tate helpful in outlining the major themes of the show, so we’re sharing it, linked HERE.
Sharing news of recent retirements of the wonderful Gillian McIntyre, and Donald Rance. We know volunteers have long enjoyed both presentations and research help from Donald and Gillian – for so many of us they also feel like family! We will all miss their presence and amazing institutional history.
Gillian McIntyre, Interpretive Planner
Gillian has had a long and distinguished career at the Gallery, reaching all the way back to 1995 when she was an intern here as part of the University of Toronto’s Museum Studies Master’s Program.
In 1997, Gillian was hired to train and coordinate a group of teens to work with families in the AGO’s first exhibition devoted to the work of Keith Haring. This project led to the formation of the Gallery’s inaugural youth program, Teens Behind the Scenes, which ran successfully from 1997 to 2021. Meanwhile, last year, Gillian worked closely with Georgiana Uhlyarik and the team to deliver our current Haring exhibition Art is for Everybody, so her career at the AGO, in many ways, has come full circle.
Gillian was hired to work full-time at the AGO in the position of Adult Program Coordinator in 2001. In addition to the regular programming of lecture series and courses designed to engage as broad an audience as possible, her work included pioneering programs such as In Your Face: the people’s portrait project (2006), which invited people to send in original postcard-sized portraits. We received 17,000 portraits from members of the public reflecting the individuality and diversity of Canada. The exhibition was on display at the AGO for 18 months and then travelled to Ottawa for a further year. From 2008 to 2011, Gillian designed and coordinated a three-year program funded by the Weston Family Foundation for people living with schizophrenia and other forms of mental illness. This included creating an advisory group with psychiatrists and social workers from the University Hospital Network.
While Gillian was Adult Program Coordinator, her job expanded to include interpretive planning, starting with the African Gallery from 2005 to 2008 and an array of exhibitions over the next few years. Her first exhibition assignment in 2013 as a temporary Interpretive Planner (IP) was Ai Weiwei: According to What? She moved into a permanent role as an IP in 2015 and has since worked on numerous exhibitions and installations across all our curatorial departments. Her final accomplishment was to manage a virtual reality project on the ship model Bristol 1775: From Warship to Prison Hulk.
The Curatorial Team wishes Gillian well in her next chapter. We thank her for being a wonderful colleague and for her many years of dedicated work on behalf of the audiences we serve. Gillian’s last day is Friday January 19.
Donald Rance, Reference Librarian
Donald started at the AGO in 1983 and has been a key member of the Library Reference Team, assisting with the research for countless exhibitions, acquisitions and book projects over the course of his career. Donald has curated the library’s Artists’ Books and Multiples collection for many years, building it into one of Canada’s foremost collections in this area and hosting memorable class visits for a generation of students. His talent for library acquisitions is also reflected in the depth of the library’s main book collection. We will miss his extraordinary helpfulness and the true joy he finds in putting a desired book in the hands of a reader. Donald will be enjoying his retirement with family in Vancouver.
Upon Donald’s retirement, please direct library acquisitions to Erin Rutherford, Collection Development Librarian, at [email protected], and research inquiries to the Reference Desk at [email protected]. Donald’s last day at the Gallery was January 4.
