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.
It’s that time of year again – the days of winter storm season, inclement and changing weather patterns are upon us.
Please take note of the Gallery’s Emergency Phone Number: 416 977 5249
This number will be updated immediately if a decision is made that affects the AGO’s hours of operations. Should there be a closure, the message will explicitly indicate that the building is closed due to weather conditions. Otherwise, the AGO will be open for business as usual.
As always, if you feel unsafe getting to the Gallery in winter weather conditions, please stay home (and do not feel guilty about it!) As volunteers, you are valued members of our front-line team, but if you don’t feel safe underfoot, stay indoors.
Hello volunteers, sharing this update on the National Docent Symposium (Fall 2024), for AGO Gallery Guide and NDS Rep, Shelagh Barrington (please direct any further questions her way!) – cheers, Holly, volunteer resources
Are you interested in attending the National Docent Symposium but require funding to do so? The NDS Council is soliciting Education Grant applications for attendees to the Atlanta, Georgia, USA 2024 symposium, November 14-17, 2024
High Museum of Art, sponsoring institution of the 2024 National Docent Symposium Credit: Chris Watkins
These grants, which cover the symposium registration fee, are in service to the NDSC’s commitment to supporting docent growth and education through communication and collaboration among U.S. and Canadian docents and guides at our biannual symposia. Your donations have helped to fund this program – thank you!
Applications are being accepted now through March 8, 2024. Grantees will be notified by April 1, prior to NDS registration this spring.
Applicants must be volunteer docents or guides attending a symposium for the first time. For information about the program, eligibility requirements, and to submit an online application, please click on the link, HERE.
Hello volunteers! Starting this week, Monday, January 8, a portion of the “Teal Seating Area” on the Concourse Level (area outside the entry to the volunteer lounge) will be closed and converted into a holding area for art crates from the KAWS: FAMILY exhibition.
photo of seating area impacted
Due to upcoming construction for the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery, the Gallery needs space to keep these large crates on-site for the duration of the exhibition. This will likely be the first of many ongoing adjustments for construction, and we will keep you updated as we go.
What seating areas can staff, volunteers and visitors use on the Concourse Level?
Seating will still be available for staff, volunteers and visitors at:
The West end of the Teal Seating Area
The Annex (formerly the AGO cafe)
The South Entrance
Volunteers: the volunteer lounge, our usual gathering space, remains open as usual! No changes.
A short note to say best wishes to all for the new year, and to thank everyone, again, for the work we achieved together in 2023. The holiday season was very busy at the AGO – I visited three times, and the building was bursting with enthusiastic visitors. Indeed, our attendance was roughly 32% above last year’s winter holidays. 2024 is a new year with new challenges – and new opportunities.
