A place for AGO volunteers to share, learn, and connect
Hello Everyone,
It is a big week. The final steel beam was installed in the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery, and it is National Volunteer Week!
Did you know that there are 400+ volunteers in the AGO volunteer program? Last year, I had the pleasure of connecting with some of our longest-serving volunteers over coffee (see attached). Together they have contributed nearly 300 years of service! The AGO would not be what it is today without our volunteers.
Take care,
Stephan
Celebrating our wonderful AGO volunteer community at a glance:
To each and every one of our volunteers – thank you – we couldn’t do all that we do, without you!
Hello Everyone,
This week marks my 10th work anniversary at the AGO – but this pales in comparison to others who have been employed at the AGO for much longer.
Paul Mathiesen, Senior Lighting Technician, joined the AGO in early 2005. Paul literally brings light to our organization and promotes excellence and creativity in his work every day. He is retiring, and his last day is April 22nd before he takes some well-earned vacation.
We wish Paul all the best and are grateful for his contributions to the AGO.
I look back over the past 10 years at what we have accomplished together. It takes a team effort to fulfill our mission for the public, and I take great pride in what we all do, collectively. Thank you for being part of this journey.
Enjoy the weekend,
Stephan
Hello Everyone,
Earlier this week I was in Bentonville, Arkansas at the invitation of Art Bridges, a foundation that supports making art museums more accessible. Art Bridges was founded by Alice Walton (part owner of Walmart), who also founded an extraordinary museum in Arkansas called Chrystal Bridges. I spoke at a gathering of museum leaders who were brought together to talk about how to make museums more environmentally friendly. I was very proud to share the great work you have all done to make our existing building more environmentally efficient, and that the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery will have a net zero carbon impact. Indeed, the project was awarded a certificate from the Canada Green Building Council – yesterday – acknowledging the achievement of Zero Carbon Building Design. Congratulations, everyone – this is a really big deal! When it is done, the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery will be among the most energy efficient art museums in the world.
Today is the last day at the AGO for someone who has worked here for 42 years. That person is Fraser Lawson, who is a longstanding Protection Service Officer. He has seen and been a part of many changes at the museum over decades of service. Please join me and thanking Fraser for his incredible contributions to the AGO! Thank you, Fraser.
Take care,
Stephan
Dear Volunteers:
Every year as Volunteer and President, look forward to the Volunteer Endowment Trust (VET) process and the collaboration with fellow Volunteers, leadership and what the Development team will propose for us.
This year is no exception, as the Development team led by Erin Thandani (Associate Director, Philanthropy and Planned Giving) always give us such vast and unique choices, this year four in total, we are most grateful for and this collaboration on the important VET process where we as volunteers have say. Please see attached (2026-27) PDF document on the details and proposal’s with important information from the Development Team for review by the Volunteers and the voting link on your final choice where the VET funds will be distributed.
This is indeed a wonderful opportunity for us all as Volunteers to contribute as to where the Volunteer Endowment Trust (VET) funds will be distributed to and vote in a democratic process, each vote truly counts and matters, so please be sure to include your vote and say, only one vote per volunteer.
Background:
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 manages and holds all AGO Endowment Funds.
The VET was established in 2001 with a Letter of Agreement between the AGO, the AGO Foundation and the Volunteers of the AGO. The original capital that created the fund continues to remain invested, each year, an annual distrubtion of the fund (approximately $50,000 – $75,000) is graciously given to support a Gallery project or exhibition, chosen by AGO volunteers.
To ensure only one vote per volunteer, we are asking you to include your name, email and placement type. This will also help us to identify trends in volunteer priorities. Please be assured that your individual responses will be kept confidential and only viewable by Barbara Glaser, Volunteer President and Holly Procktor, Volunteer Coordinator.
Please see the email package sent earlier this week with the PDF on the proposals from the Deveolpment Team and choices to vote for via the link provided.
Thank you to the team of Volunteers for your ongoing infinite support, and participation in this voting process on the VET.
Best,
Barbara Glaser
AGO Volunteer President
We are sad to share the news of the recent passing of Gallery Guide, Carolyn Roth
A long serving volunteer, Carolyn held a number of positions at the Gallery, going back to 1999, including School Programs Guide, and AGO-on-the-Go Community Ambassador, culminating in her most recent post as Gallery Guide with her beloved Tuesday crew. Carolyn had an artful way of living, and is remembered so fondly by the warmth by which she greeted and welcomed everyone. She had a deep, sing -song voice (which could have easily featured on the radio!) and was a consummate host. She enjoyed most the good company of colleagues and friends and we will miss her optimism, laughter and stories shared in the volunteer lounge.
Though mobility issues had impacted her ability to continue to volunteer in recent months, she tried so hard to be with us. We were fortunate to spend time with her just a couple of weeks ago, in the volunteer lounge, where she was holding court (as usual!) We were all so happy to have her back and bask in her glow. Fondly missed and remembered always. Condolences have been sent on behalf of us all to Carolyn’s family.
Sharing remembrances from Carolyn’s volunteer colleagues:
I remember meeting Carolyn for the first time twenty-three years ago, when I was a new Docent in the high school tours program. She was welcoming, positive, and generous with her encouragement and knowledge. One day I forgot my glasses at home and she offered me the use of her ‘cheaters’, as she called them. That is the person I have known all these years – kind, unpretentious, and always gracious. This is how I will remember Carolyn. – Laurie Herd
Carolyn’s obituary follows, here: We are deeply saddened to share the news that Carolyn Roth passed away on April 1st 2026 at 86 years of age, surrounded by her immediate family.
Carolyn was a remarkable person and loved by many. Her smile was ever present and she lit up any room she entered. She was always generous with her attention, her laughter, and her joy for life as she effortlessly engaged with the world. Above all else she loved gathering with friends and family.
Toronto was Carolyn’s birthplace and home. In her youth she was a Kingsway girl that enjoyed the city that was forming around her. Through the arts she shaped her life and how she shared it with the world. Music was an early joy and her voice was wonderful. Visual art was the backbone to her career and life as a leading art teacher and nurturing creative mother. Always visionary, during her career as a teacher she was involved in many projects that helped redefine the way people approached learning through the arts. Her natural manner was to always include, engage, and make things better for all. To Carolyn life was an opportunity for beauty which informed the way she curated the world for others to experience, always enriching our lives.
Carolyn will be greatly missed by her family: husband Paul, daughter Lindsay, son-in-law Matt and grand-daughter Lily, and her extended family and friends. A small and intimate funeral will be held. However, friends who want to remember Carolyn with the family are welcome at our home from 1pm onward April 9th.
The family appreciates all expressions of sympathy during this difficult time. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Mennonite Central Committee, Daily Bread Food Bank or a favourite charity in Carolyn’s memory are welcome.
Hello Volunteers, the AGO is open for Holiday hours this weekend, on the following schedule:
With the exception of front-of-house, the Gallery’s administrative offices are closed Friday April 3 and Monday April 6. We look forward to seeing you next week!
It’s 1879 in Stockholm at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, and a studio portraiture class is in session. A group of women art students assemble in a circle, readying their painting stations, eager to construct an interpretation of today’s subject: Pierre Louis Alexandre. A life model who unassumingly left his mark on history, he was likely the most frequently depicted Black sitter in pre-20th-century European art.
For a Black man in Europe during the late 19th century, earning income as a life model was far from conventional. Although the system of chattel slavery had been abolished in recent decades, Black communities were still navigating immense hardship and marginalization. How, then, did Alexandre wind up being paid handsomely to pose for dozens of Sweden’s leading artists? Read on, in this week’s Foyer feature, linked HERE.
Hello Everyone,
Yesterday the provincial budget was announced and it included some very good news for the AGO. We received a $35 million grant to support construction costs of the Dani Reiss Modern & Contemporary Gallery. So what does it mean for us? It means we have the construction costs covered and that we can spend the next 18 months raising money to endow the operations of the building. We want to make sure that once we open the expansion we can pay for the operations – mainly the utility costs and the salaries of the facility and protection services teams.
Many people were involved in advocating for this grant including several trustees and our lead donor, Dani Reiss. I’d also like to acknowledge the staff team of Jay Xie and Erin Prendergast who have been heavily focused on this effort for many months. The Province of Ontario is our most significant funder and partner and we are grateful for their support. We also received confirmation that our base annual funding is secure going forward – we are awaiting more details on the amount.
Last week’s March Break was tremendously successful and I’d like to reiterate my thanks to the E&P team for providing a great program as well as to the security and visitor services staff for helping to offer a safe and welcoming experience for the public. I’d also like to complement our facilities team for their hard work in keeping the building clean and extra sparkly. With so many kids and families visiting the AGO it’s important to maintain all elements of the building and facilities did a wonderful job. It’s International Cleaning Week – I’m very proud to celebrate our team at the AGO and to recognize the essential work that they do, every day. Thank you, Facility Services!
Thank you all,
Stephan
This is a painting you might not only see, but maybe even hear.
Take a look at Edna Taçon’s (1905-1980) Improvisation No. 2 (1946). Perhaps you can trace a crescendo of harmonies or sense the embellishment of smooth vibrato and exciting trills. Or, maybe, you can simply feel the rhythm of the painting.
For Taçon, painting and music were windows into the soul, spirit, and mind. An accomplished concert violinist turned abstract painter, Taçon fittingly found herself within the non-objective art movement. Drawing inspiration from musical expression, non-objective art uses abstract shapes and lines to transcend the material world and explore spirituality, expression, and meaning.
As both an artist and musician, Taçon had a particularly intimate understanding of the connection between music and non-objective art; the former heavily influencing her approach to the latter. In comparing the two, Taçon has been quoted as saying, “just as an orchestra produces a symphony through sound, non-objective art produces a symphony through colour.”
Music and art were part of Taçon’s life from an early age. Starting her violin training as a child, she turned to art as an outlet to relax. Up until the mid-1930s, Taçon focused primarily on her musical career, studying at Toronto’s Hambourg Conservatory and the University of Toronto. She was likely introduced to non-objective art through her husband, Percy Taçon, who was also an artist, and her visits to the Art Gallery of Toronto (now AGO) in the 1920s. As she later travelled to Europe for her musical career, Taçon remained connected to the non-objective art movement independently.
By the 1940s, Taçon began formally exhibiting her work, and quickly became one of Canada’s leading non-objective artists. She was particularly influenced by Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), who believed that painters shouldn’t rely on the material world the same way musicians do not rely on it for their music. Like Kandinsky and other non-objective painters, Taçon often titled her paintings with musical terms.
Taçon was no longer practicing as a professional musician when she created Improvisation No. 2. But, as demonstrated by this watercolour painting, music remained intrinsically linked to her artistic practice. In this painting, Taçon departs from the geometric approach present in her earlier works, opting instead for expressive, flowing lines that give the work a visual rhythm. The rich red background, accented with the blue, white, and yellow strokes, creates an ethereal atmosphere. Improvisation No. 2 is a fitting example of how Taçon explored the visuality of sound through divergent shapes, lines, and colour fields. The AGO acquired this work in 1947, just one year after Taçon painted it.
Experience Tacon’s musicality on paper by visiting Improvisation No. 2, as part of the exhibition Edna Taçon: Verve and Decorum, on view on Level 1 of the AGO in the Nicholas Fodor Gallery (gallery 140 and 141).
The Royal Bank of Canada sponsors in-depth looks at art via the RBC Art Picks, featured each month in our online magazine, Foyer. Find a full listing, HERE.