From left to right: Erin Thadani, David Fleck, Ed Phillips, Barbara Glaser, Stephen Jost, Mary Henderson, Erin Prendergast, Holly Procktor.

The Volunteer Endowment Trust (VET) is a fund created and sustained through the continued financial support of the Volunteers of the Art Gallery of Ontario. The fund is held in Trust by the AGO Foundation, which holds all AGO endowment funds.

We are pleased to recognize the generosity of the Volunteers. The credit line to recognize this contribution will be Volunteers of the AGO. Recognition is commensurate with giving and includes:

• Recognition on temporary signage related to specific exhibition as applicable, which may include: the exhibition title wall, banners, web pages and select advertisements and verbal acknowledgement would take place at exhibition-related events
• Recognition within the exhibition catalogue
• Listing on the Annual Donor wall and the online Year in Review for the 2025-26 fiscal year
• Special engagement opportunity with curator Alexa Greist, Curator & R. Fraser Elliott Chair, Prints and Drawings, providing an update on David Blackwood: Myth & Legend. This will take place on or around December 2025.

Congratulations Volunteers! The 2025-26 Volunteer Endowment Trust funds go to David Blackwood (1941–2022), a celebrated Canadian artist and longtime friend of the AGO. DAVID BLACKWOOD: MYTH & LEGEND exhibition. Curated by Alexa Greist Associate Curator & R. Fraser Elliott Chair, Prints and Drawings.

We had the pleasure of meeting with Erin Thadani (Development), Erin Prendergast (Director’s Office), Stephan Jost (Michael and Sonja Koerner Director and CEO) and David Fleck (AGO Foundation Board) and Alexa Greist Associate Curator & R. Fraser Elliott Chair, Prints and Drawings. virtually via video on June 17th and signed the Volunteer Endowment Trust in support of the exhibition. I’m grateful to have shared this honor with the following volunteers attending Mary Henderson (57 years of service) Ed Phillips (39 years of service) and all they have given back and accomplished for the AGO as Gallery Guides. Remembering the Black Ice exhibition, Alexa Greist will bring her own unique vision on the works and David Blackwood. The AGO holds the largest collection of David Blackwood works and that is thanks to the Blackwood family legacy and his wife Anita.

Personally, being a Prints and Drawings Volunteer, I have a love and admiration of works on paper, David Blackwood works hold special resonance and taught me the intricacies of an etching with every nuance and detail while further capturing the passion of the Canadian East Coast. It’s especially fitting that David Blackwood is the Volunteers vote for the 125th celebration and 80th year of Volunteering milestone. While we also overlap with the 2024-25 Volunteer Endowment trust winner of the Joyce Wieland: Heart On Exhibition.

Blackwood was born in Wesleyville, on the coast of Bonavista Bay, in Newfoundland. His longstanding relationship with the AGO began in 1959 when he was just coming of age. He moved from Newfoundland to Toronto to study printmaking at the Ontario College of Art (OCA) – now known as the Ontario of College of Art and Design University. He made his way to the AGO soon after landing in the city; a memorable first visit which he recounted in a handwritten note: “I arrived in Toronto the first week of September on a Wednesday. The following Saturday I took a Scarborough bus to the end of the line where it met the Dundas Streetcar—which took me to the front of the Gallery. On entering the main entrance, a series of connecting galleries in the west wing showed the great painting (Tintoretto, just acquired) hanging on the western wall of the gallery. It was my first encounter with what the magazines describe as a great masterpiece—bought by public subscription. There were many numerous outstanding exhibitions, the Heritage of France, a Delacroix retrospective, a major Picasso painting show—and in my final year at OCA a major Picasso print exhibition.” After graduating from OCA, Blackwood soon launched his decades-long career. His etchings were purchased by the National Gallery of Canada when he was just 23 years old. During his lifetime, he went on to show his work in over 90 exhibitions both in Canada and abroad. By the early 2000s, Blackwood and his wife Anita donated more than 200 of his works to the AGO; a significant gift which included prints, related drawings and watercolors. A former member of the AGO Board of Trustees, he was named honorary chair of the AGO in 2003. He was also the recipient of numerous other awards and accolades, including honorary doctorates at the University of Calgary and Memorial University of Newfoundland (1992); a National Heritage Award (1993); the Order of Ontario (2002); and the Order of Canada (1993). Source: https://ago.ca/agoinsider/remembering-david-blackwood

Please enjoy this short documentary (27mins) Blackwood, linked here from the National Film Board: Blackwood – NFB https://www.nfb.ca/film/blackwood/

Alexa gives thanks to all volunteers for their support in this short video, linked HERE: 

Can’t wait to see both these exhibitions Joyce Wieland and David Blackwood and all the programming, talks with respect to the works and exhibitions.

Best,

Barbara Glaser

Volunteer President

Greetings from Halifax,

I am currently on the East Coast for the first time meeting with my counterparts at the Canadian Art Museum Directors Organization (CAMDO) Spring Conference.

One of our Lawren Harris paintings, Miners’ Houses, Glace Bay, is also in Nova Scotia as part of an exhibition honouring the centenary of Davis Day (Nova Scotia’s commemoration of miners who have died on the job) at Eltuek Arts Centre. You can read about the AGO artwork in this Globe and Mail article from earlier this week.

I am reminded regularly of the AGO’s connections locally and globally. A newer reminder is the video install in Granovsky Gluskin (GG) Hall that maps AGO artworks on loan worldwide. It puts into context the far-reaching impact of our work. Check it out if you have not already.

Take care,

Stephan

A new month, a new year of savings for AGO volunteers! The 2025/2026 Attractions Ontario, and Toronto Attractions Reciprocal Agreements are ready and updated!

IMPORTANT: This year, the documents are hosted online and will be updated as changes occur. Here are the login credentials, so you can access current offers, directly, at any time:

• Website: https://reciprocal.attractionsontario.ca
• Password (case sensitive): AoRePr2526

These programs provide AGO staff and volunteers with discounted and/or free admissions to numerous attractions across the City, GTA and province. Make sure to show your volunteer badge at participating attractions to access these savings.

Each attraction has specific instructions and conditions on redeeming offers, located on the far-left column of the document – please read these and make sure to note the volunteer offer before visiting an attraction.

Printed copies will be posted in the volunteer lounge.

Some Current Highlights:

• Art Gallery of Hamilton Free Admission for Employee/ Volunteer + 1 Guest
• Bata Shoe Museum Free Admission for Employee/Volunteer
• Casa Loma 2 for 1 Admssion, Employee/Volunteer
• Ripley’s Aquarium 50% Discount for Employee/Volunteer + up to 4 Guests
• Royal Ontario Museum Free General Admissions (excludes special,ticketed exhibitions) +15% off admission for Guest
• Toronto Zoo $10 off Admission, Employee/Volunteer + Guest

Happy Visiting!

Dear Volunteers,

The Art Rate Monitor program is returning this July, and running through to December 2025. New and improved, the Gallery’s Marketing team is looking to conduct a test run, with our technological partners, WXM, on Monday June 23, at 12pm in Walker Court (immediately following our AGO 125 Birthday Bash Town Hall)

Marketing is looking for approximately 10 – 15 volunteers to help them test-run. To confirm your attendance, please contact Kristine Irwin, Marketing Coordinator, at [email protected]

Thank you for your help!

By now, you’ve all saved-the-date for our special 125th Birthday Town Hall

• Monday, June 23
• 10:00am – 11:30am
• Baillie Court (third floor event space)

As part of this occasion, we’re shining the spotlight on some of the many artworks you know and love from the AGO Collection, using some of those featured on the AGO 125 Iconic Works list as our pool of options. 

Here’s how you can participate in the Staff & Volunteers Art Picks:

• Click here to cast your votes anonymously by Wednesday, June 18. There are five voting categories. Staff and volunteers are encouraged to cast their vote in each category. 
• If the artwork you’d like to highlight from the AGO Collection isn’t listed, write it in as an “other” option.
• The artworks that receive the most votes in each category will be revealed at our June Town Hall! 
• We also invite you to share why you voted for each artwork. (Answers to this question may be shared anonymously as part of Town Hall festivities)

Our goal is not to select “the best” artworks but to celebrate the ones that tell our stories. Here are the categories: 

• The work staff and volunteers spend the most time with 
• The work staff and volunteers would like to bring home
• The work staff and volunteers would always have on view 
• The work that connects staff and volunteers to nature
• The most iconic AGO artwork, as voted on by staff and volunteers 

Cast your votes using this form by Wednesday, June 18.

Questions about the Town Hall or the Staff & Volunteer Art Picks?

Please reach out to the Internal Communications team at [email protected]

The Gallery’s hours around the upcoming July 1 statutory holiday look a little different this year. Read below for more details on the statutory holiday and which days the Gallery will be open:

Statutory Holiday 

• Monday, June 30, 2025, is a normal workday. The Gallery will be closed to the public as usual.  
• Tuesday, July 1, 2025, is a statutory holiday for full-time and part-time staff. The Gallery will be open to the public from 10:30 am to 4 pm, and some staff (such as the Visitor Experience team) may be scheduled to work to support these operations. 

Gallery Hours  

• Monday, June 30, 2025 – The Gallery will be closed to the public as usual.  
• Tuesday, July 1, 2025 – The Gallery will be open to the public from 10:30 am to 4 pm.  

In addition, in celebration of Ontario’s first-ever Group of Seven Day on Monday, July 7, 2025, the Gallery will be open to the public from 10:30 am to 4 pm.  

Hello Everyone,

This past Wednesday, we had over 5,000 visitors, with lines back to Queen Street West. The galleries were alive with people engaging with the art, lining up (again!) to experience Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room, and enjoying the breath-taking soundscapes performed by Maria Chavez in Walker Court as part of the Luminato Festival. And not forgetting visitors enjoying the sold-out Speakeasy in the Grange Library! Thank you all.

We regularly measure our brand health to understand how audiences feel about the AGO and we are currently at an all-time high in terms of public awareness, familiarity, and favorability of who we are and what we do. It is great to see this translate into visitors in the gallery. It is important to remind ourselves that we are serving our public and they recognize the work we are doing. Again, thank you all.

Also, on the topic of recognition, our Art Rate Monitor activation was recognized at the Marketing Awards this week – earning gold in design, silver in digital, and merit in advertising (experiential/special events/stunts). Many of you, from staff to volunteers, contributed to the success of the Art Rate Monitor. Congratulations! I look forward to version 2 of the activation returning to the gallery in July in celebration of our 125th anniversary.

Take care,

Stephan

Hello Volunteers, I’m happy to share this invite with you! – please see details below and make sure you RSVP your attendance (this helps ensure we have set-up and refreshments, for all! HERE: https://forms.gle/9RNTfsHrvALqvGvK7 – Holly

Please join us for our June 2025 Town Hall celebrating the Gallery’s 125th Birthday on:

• Monday, June 23,
• from 10 am to 11:30am
• Baillie Court (third floor event space)

All staff and volunteers are invited to attend! Following speeches from 10:00am – 11:00am, we’ll all share in birthday cupcakes, coffee and tea.

Want to be a part of history? After things wrap up in Baillie Court at 11:30am, we invite all staff and volunteers to join us for a group photograph in Walker Court, at 11:45am.

See you there!

Again, please help us prepare for all of our guests, by RSVPing your attendance, HERE: https://forms.gle/9RNTfsHrvALqvGvK7

Hello Volunteers,

Our in house I.T. team has been working hard, since the Fall cyberattack, to restore AGO systems and data, while strengthening security. The link below leads to a folder called Launch Videos that includes both the recent

1) AGO Values: Working Together Town Hall, and

2) the Joyce Wieland: Heart-On exhibition launch video

• Please click on this link to be taken to the site to view https://artcloud.ago.ca/index.php/s/NbcZp4dKqgfg8H2
• Important: You will be asked to enter this Password: AGOLaunchVid$

Please click on each individual folder to view content.

A gentle reminder: these videos are internal (not edited or polished) and are intended for staff and volunteer viewing only. Not all content is volunteer-specific, but provides a unique glimpse into the work of staff across the building, including behind-the-scenes details we know volunteers will find interesting and informative. Our hope in sharing, is that you will feel prepared, engaged, excited for what’s to come, and valued for your contributions.

Did you know: we have over 600 staff at the AGO (full time, part time and occasional) and approximately 350 volunteers. The majority of us learn through these videos shared online, which help keep us all up to date (we do not have a physical space large enough to gather all together!) We will add to this resource as new videos become available over time. We hope you enjoy!

Holly (-volunteer resources)

This past weekend, AGO volunteers came together to attend a private celebration of life for AGO volunteer Karen Pai (1945 – 2025) who passed away on vacation in Phuket, Thailand, earlier this year.

Karen’s family has asked that we share the link to this memorial website, where you can learn more about her amazing life, full of art, creativity and culture – great loves – and where volunteers are invited to share memories and condolences: https://www.mykeeper.com/KarenPai

Condolences have been shared on behalf of the Gallery and volunteer community, with Karen’s family.

So come, my friends, be not afraid. We are so lightly here. It is in love that we are made In love we disappear ~ Leonard Cohen