Happy to pass along this good news from the AGO Group Sales/ Visitor Experience team. It is FREE for AGO staff and volunteers to visit The Art of Banksy exhibition. It is now part of the Ontario Attractions reciprocal program.

Staff and volunteers can get tickets depending on capacity per time slot:

As always, if you have questions about this offer (or others) make sure to reach out to the contact provided – the AGO doesn’t organize these offers, we are just reciprocal partners along with other organizations who choose to participate.

An updated Ontario Attractions Reciprocal Agreement – allowing complimentary and discounted admissions for staff and volunteers at reciprocal partners across the GTA and Ontario – has just been published. We are sharing a copy in this week’s email to volunteers (it is too big to post here) – and printed copies will be available next week in the volunteer lounge – check the bulletin board. Happy exploring!

We are very happy to have Alexa Greist, Curator and R. Fraser Elliott Chair, Prints & Drawings, walk us through Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400 – 1800.

• Wednesday June 12
• 5:30pm – 6:30pm
• Meet in Gallery

Alexa will be joining us in thanks for the volunteers’ financial support of the exhibition (through the 2023 Volunteer Endowment Trust). We hope to see you there! There is no need to register, just drop in! This tour is for volunteers only, no outside guests, please. We will likely be a big group, and we will adjust our style accordingly. We look forward to seeing you there!

More about Alexa: Prior to joining the AGO in 2016, Alexa Greist held curatorial positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Yale University Art Gallery. She holds a Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania focused on Italian printed drawing books, and a Master’s degree, also from the University of Pennsylvania, with a M.A. thesis on the early drawings of Joseph Stella. Greist’s area of specialty is Italian Renaissance and Baroque prints and drawings.

Hello everyone,

Many of you have observed activity on the east side of the AGO. The Dani Reiss Modern & Contemporary Gallery has achieved City approvals and contracts have been confirmed with EllisDon, the construction company responsible for building the expansion. I took a photo earlier this week – you can see they are starting to remove the concrete cladding.

Take care,

Stephan

P.S. I tested positive for COVID last week and was majorly slammed for several days over the long weekend. A note of caution to everyone that COVID is still out there – please get tested if you’re not feeling great and stay home if you are unwell. Health first.

Hello Volunteers,

Please see this invitation from Audrey Hudson, Chief, Education, Programming and Diversity. Volunteers are invited to participate in a survey to help define AGO values.  I think it’s great volunteers have been asked to provide input, and hope some of you will participate in the survey, linked below (Below is a long post from Audrey, that explains how the Gallery got to this point – the survey is linked near the bottom of her email).  Cheers, – Holly

Hello Everyone,

Over the past four months we have been undergoing work with a Joint Working Committee (JWC) made up of Board members and Management from different areas across the AGO. The committee was struck with the purpose of bringing clarity to governance, policies, and values alignment in a way that generates engagement and intentionality. I am co-leading this initiative with Board of Trustees member, Liza Mauer.

We have met four times since January with three more meetings to take us to the end of June in this initial phase. Having managers in this group was purposeful given the amount of added work we anticipated, and always acknowledged that there would be larger engagement opportunities for all staff and volunteers to come.

   

We recognize the need to align our organizational values before undertaking any other work, as values are fundamental, and this process can support our organizational healing as we move forward from a difficult time.

As a first step in our values development process, we participated in a group workshop facilitated by Professor Paul Ingram from Columbia University, who has extensive experience in values development. To expand our worldviews, later this month, the JWC is also meeting with Elder Duke Redbird, who will share an Indigenous perspective on value systems and beliefs.  

The immediate next step is to give all employees and volunteers the opportunity to participate in the values discussion. We invite you to take part in a two-step process with a survey and focus groups.

   

This is a significant initiative, and therefore our goal is to take the time required. Doing this work charts a positive path forward and I trust that we will all bring goodness to this initiative.    

Please complete the confidential survey developed by Professor Paul Ingram to help us understand the individual values of AGO employees and volunteers. Your input is crucial in shaping our organizational values.   

The survey should take about 5-7 minutes to complete, and your responses are anonymous.  The survey link will be available until Tuesday, May 28. I encourage you to participate.  

TAKE THE SURVEY, NOW : Survey Link:  https://columbia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8BOv12Qfpd0M3rw

Personally, I am excited about this opportunity, and I invite you to participate. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions.

Take care, 

Audrey 

Audrey Hudson

Richard & Elizabeth Currie, Chief Education, Programming & Diversity

[email protected]

M 416.560.2562

T 416.979.6660 x6835

Hello everyone, this week we’re grateful to share this beautiful post from Michael Younder. Michael is part of a dynamic duo – he (and his mother, Susan) volunteer together at the AGO, both as Gallery Guides. With Susan’s recent retirement, we share this note from Michael. With thanks, – Holly

Hi everyone, 

Some of you may have heard that my Mother, Susan Younder, decided last month to bring to an end, her over 30-year career as a volunteer guide at the AGO. Both the gallery and myself, are richer for it.

My mother’s passion for the arts began well before volunteering at the AGO. My earliest memories were her support, with the late Susan Rubes, of the Young People’s Theatre and its opening on Front Street East in Toronto for its 1977-78 season. This involved fund raising, hosting cast parties (where we got bedtime stories by Susan’s husband Jan) and of course, attending lots of plays. She also was on the board of Prologue Performing Arts during the same time – an organization whose mission still, is to bring the arts to children. Here again, she brought me along to performances in various high school gyms across the city. In high school myself, entering grade 9, I ran out of options for electives so mom managed to convince the school to let me take the grade 10 theatre arts class. I had no idea what to expect or what I was going to do. She assured me that I’d be just fine. This scenario would repeat itself as you will soon see.

The AGO was a fixture in this upbringing – well before either us volunteered. For me, it started with her taking us to see the first King Tut show in 1979. In 1982, it was Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party, where I recall asking “What kinds of plants are on the plates” to which my mother deadpanned “They’re not plants, they’re vaginas”. Right, got it. Then she started volunteering and I recall her sharing the buzz that was the Barnes exhibit, boasting that the cash register in the gift shop was so full she couldn’t close the door properly (and even getting my skeptical late Father to attend, where he said “I don’t know who this Barnes guy was, but he was a hell of an artist…”). Bowie and Ai Weiwei were two other favourites. In the middle was Transformation AGO, where she got to meet Frank Gehry. Each big exhibit involved the same pregame: the buying of the catalogue and several other books, meticulous research and planning, and expert but approachable delivery of content through her dots and tours, to literally thousands of visitors. The Province of Ontario recognized this veritas too, and bestowed a volunteer award on her. 

It was one of those exhibits, a photography collection by Canadian Scott McFarland that mom took me through in 2014 (in which, we had an animated discussion on whether or not photography is art – I convinced her it was) that she convinced me to join the AGO as a volunteer guide. I had no idea what to expect or what I was going to do. She assured me that I’d be just fine. And I was. And so was my mother, as the building, the collection and the approach to engaging our visitors, have all evolved over her tenure. 

As I come into the AGO each Wednesday night, I continue to stand on her shoulders and now will attempt to fill her impossible shoes. 

Michael Younder

—

An addition from Holly – some of you will recall a wonderful article in AGOinsider focusing on Michael and his Mum – linked, HERE.

Hello volunteers; you’ve no doubt noticed more construction activity on the corner of Dundas and McCaul this week. Soon, the former staff & volunteer entrance (Jackman Hall entrance) will be formerly used as our new shipping dock.

Most staff and volunteers have adjusted well to using the main entrance for entry/exit. Thank you! But there are still a few folks who walk into the Annex (formerly cafeAGO) area, and up the Jackman Hall ramp – to look for masks, etc. You have been seen on camera! This area is now a formal construction site and you cannot enter these areas, for your own health and safety.

Just this week, our friends in Facilities added a dedicated mask dispenser to the volunteer lounge. We really need to stop foot traffic, both up the concourse stairs to the shop, anywhere in the Annex (formerly cafeAGO) and the Jackman Hall entrance). Thank you for your cooperation and support! – Holly

Thank you to everyone who cast their vote for this year’s Volunteer Endowment Trust project. It was a tight race! The Distribution Committee of the Board formerly meets next week and all will be revealed in next week’s blog post. Stay tuned!

Tuesday May 21,

Hello Volunteers!

And happy post-long weekend. We hope you enjoyed the sunshine! We’re emailing to let you know you have until Tuesday May 22 at midnight to cast your vote to support this year’s Volunteer Endowment Trust project. It’s a tight race so far, so every vote counts! (Thank you to everyone who has voted so far – if that’s you, you can disregard this message).

• For those who were unable to attend, we’re happy to share a video recording, of our meeting with Erin Thadani, Associate Director, Philanthropy and Planned Giving, who explained each of the 4 projects for support in more detail. You can watch at your leisure, HERE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rO-L8kg1Sx9fwu6dLhDs13NGRjftCLMC/view?usp=sharing

As part of our ongoing mission to demonstrate transparency in decision-making, every AGO volunteer has the opportunity to cast an individual vote for the project they want to support, most. We tabulate everyone’s votes to determine which project wins the support of this year’s volunteer endowment trust funds. A reminder: you won’t be ranking the projects, you can just choose ONE to support. Your vote matters! PLEASE VOTE VIA THIS LINK: https://forms.gle/zbwPXNoGoPGhEATE8

Want to know more about the Volunteer Endowment Trust? 

The VET was established in 2001 with a Letter of Agreement between the AGO, The AGO Foundation and the Volunteers of the AGO. The value of the Volunteer Endowment Trust grows by reinvesting a portion of the earned income each year, and as new gifts are added to the principal of the fund. The fund is held in perpetuity, meaning the principal of the fund cannot be used. However, each year the income earned from the fund (roughly $50,000 – $75,000 depending on returns) supports a Gallery project/ initiative, which is voted on by volunteers. Initiatives for support are selected based on the strategic and highest funding priorities determined by the AGO’s Leadership Team, in consultation with the Development Team and the Volunteer President.

With thanks to all the Volunteers for your participation in this important vote and process! Look forward to the results revealed in early June!

Barbara Glaser (she/her)

AGO Volunteer President

&

Holly Procktor

Coordinator, Volunteers

Hello everyone,

It feels like spring is finally here. I hope you take a moment to enjoy the sunshine this weekend. 

This evening, we have a tribute to the exhibition, Making Her Mark, with a musical performance of Tafelmusik: Making Herself Heard in Walker Court. The performance will celebrate the creativity and artistry of women in the 17th and 18th centuries.

We are open throughout the Victoria Day long weekend. A special thank you to everyone who will be on-site welcoming our public and to everyone who maintains our spaces for that welcome.

Take care,

Stephan

Hello everyone,

It is great to see our public enjoy the AGO. Again, thank you to everyone who helped make last weekend a tremendous success. With more than 24,000 people attending, it was the perfect way to get the word out about the AGO and what we have to offer our public. Do take time to see Making Her Mark when you have a moment – it is a quiet and ambitious exhibition.

Take care,

Stephan