Hello Everyone,

I am hearing anecdotally that there are more tourists visiting the AGO lately. It is clear that many people are travelling, which is wonderful. This partly explains an increase in single ticket admission revenue.

What remains very clear – and is supported by statistical data – is that our audience has shifted in a very significant way in recent years. You have heard me say this over and over again. I can’t say it enough – our audience is much younger and more diverse than 5 years ago. This didn’t happen overnight. With the launch of our Annual Pass, changes to our exhibitions and programs and other adjustments, we have significantly shifted our audience. This is HUGE, and you all played a role in making this happen.

Currently, 35 percent of our visitors are in their 20s or younger and 55 percent are visible minorities. Remember, our job is to serve our public. Think about how these changes impact your work.

Take care,

Stephan

Volunteer Resources is away for the next couple of weeks. You can expect a return to volunteer blog updates the week of July 18.

As always, for exhibition and program listings – see AGOinsider (subscribe here to have AGOinsider emailed directly to you each week) or check the AGO.ca website.

Hello Everyone,

Happy Canada Day!

Stephan

Detail of a painting by Kazuo Nakamura, Blue Reflections, 1962 recently installed in the McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art.

Last week, member of the Saugeen First Nation, Dr. Duke Redbird shared an original poem in honour of the unveiling of Brian Jungen’s Couch Monster: Sadzěʔ yaaghęhch’ill, at the corner of Dundas and McCaul.

The AGO’s first-ever public art commission, Brian Jungen’s Couch Monster: Sadzěʔ yaaghęhch’ill, is now at the corner of Dundas and McCaul Streets. The work arrived in Toronto in June 2022, and at the artist’s request, the installation was blessed in an intimate ceremony led by Dr. Duke Redbird, an Member of the Saugeen First Nation, ahead of its public reveal. 

Redbird recited an original poem for an intimate crowd, dedicating it to the new sculpture.

Take a look at his poem below, entitled A Dish With One Spoon. 

A DISH WITH ONE SPOON
The Indigenous Nations
Welcomed settlers from across the seas
When they arrived in their territories
Such beauty revealed before their eyes
Was beyond their ability to describe
In all the languages that the Settlers spoke
There were no words that could evoke
With any clarity a single thought
That Mother Nature’s splendor brought
It was from the Indigenous tongues
That they learned the language of the Earth
In all Her idioms
TORONTO from TKARONTO
Trees standing in the water
A meeting place where small fish could gather
Nearby hills where Alders grow
That was called Etobicoke
In the autumn before the winter snows

The passenger pigeons rested in MIMICO
And to the west where the Great waters flow
The lake and lands were called ONTARIO
The eagle soars high with prayers for MANITOU
The MISSISSAUGA people smudge
And launch their birch bark canoes
Three sisters: corn, bean and squash
The planting season has begun
Tobacco is offered a gift to Grandfather sun
Sage, sweetgrass and cedar to Grandmother moon
There is peace, joy and contentment
In the treaty lands called
A Dish With One Spoon

A Dish With One Spoon
Dr. Duke Redbird ©
November 2, 2020

Brian Jungen Public Art Commission Talk with Julian Cox

We all really enjoyed our conversation with Caroline Shields, Associate Curator & Head of European Art, who took us through the recent re-installation of the European galleries, focusing on works from the 1700 and 1800s. For those that missed it, please find the zoom link recording (below). Up next – Watch for a session with Adam Levine, Assistant Curator of European Art, who will continue this conversation in the Medieval and Baroque galleries. We’ll schedule this in the Fall, as we take a summer break. – Holly

Here’s the link to our meeting with Caroline:

https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/2MkzfdV3Spu985eqhFCfLKqGRobmkJp9b5eQ7ewh-q_nyvVuokMpgMMhmGQqyn11.wNphMu7d4MJI1rhB?startTime=1656021750000

I’m also posting here, a link to Adam’s recent Faith and Fortune Curator’s talk ( a public talk)- on June 11:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GwHHxoqLdM&feature=youtu.be

Hello Everyone,

Today I would simply like to acknowledge everyone’s hard work and contributions to two significant milestones:

• Our first public art commission and installation – Brian Jungen’s Couch Monster: Sadzěʔ yaaghęhch’ill
• Faith and Fortune – an extraordinary summer show that is beautiful, has contemporary relevance and is part of a global conversation about colonization

I am tremendously proud of these two initiatives and of course many other activities that are happening at the AGO. You each played a role in bringing them to fruition. Do take a moment to acknowledge what we have accomplished together. We’ve been through a lot, and I’m grateful to all of you.

Take care,

Stephan

Hello Everyone,

With more staff back on site regularly, this summer is a moment for all of us to take some time to enjoy being in one another’s company, to say hi to old colleagues and welcome many new ones.

As the school year ends, so too does our last Virtual School program for 2021/22. Shout out to Zavette Quadros-Evangelista and the entire school programs team – they delivered 432 sessions this year focusing on 216 artworks from our collection with a weekly average of 1,000 students. Well done!

National Indigenous Peoples Day is next Tuesday, June 21^st. Artist Isaac Murdoch will be sharing his 7^th story from his online series Stories of the Seven Grandfather Drums. I encourage you to attend his session or listen to the recordings whenever convenient. Also on the 21^st, there is a Facebook Live performance of Métis Jiggers and Fiddlers. See the links below for more details. Please do take some time on Tuesday to reflect on the contributions of Indigenous Peoples to our country, especially in the arts sector.

https://ago.ca/events/artist-isaac-murdoch-and-stories-seven-grandfather-drums

https://ago.ca/events/metis-jiggers-and-fiddlers

Take care and stay safe,

Stephan

Hello Everyone,

This week we opened Faith and Fortune: Art Across the Global Spanish Empire. It is an exquisite exhibition that includes silverware, fine jewellery, sculpture, paintings, textiles and books from Spain, Latin America and the Philippines. In other words, there is an expansive array of works that have been carefully researched, installed and presented. The show is a global, cross-cultural study of the visual culture of the Spanish Empire and its colonizing impact. I am particularly impressed by the Philippine daguerreotypes, on view for the first time, an important moment for Toronto’s large Filipino community. A big congratulations to everyone involved.

Many of you are also preparing for Brian Jungen’s sculpture to be installed at Dundas and McCaul. This is a wonderful moment for the AGO and public art. More to follow next week.

Take care,

Stephan

Join Curators Adam Harris Levine and Tahnee Pantig and Interpretive Planner Gillian McIntyre for a conversation about Faith and Fortune: Art Across the Global Spanish Empire.

You can attend this talk in two ways:

• This talk will be taking place IN-PERSON on Saturday June 11 at 2pm in Baillie Court. Reserve your ticket, HERE. If you are NOT a Member or Annual Passholder, simply reserve a ticket as an Adult (scroll down the page slightly to do this)
• Good news! This talk will also be LIVESTREAMED (meaning you can watch at home online, in real time), HERE.

Faith and Fortune: Art Across the Global Spanish Empire brings together more than 200 sumptuous and inspiring works of art from Latin America, the Philippines and Spain made between 1492 and 1898.  This exhibition, from the collection of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, allows us to study critically the mechanics of colonization by examining the visual culture of the Spanish Empire.

(Like all AGO-originated talks, there’s a good chance this talk will make its way to the AGO Youtube account, we’ll post an updated link when it becomes available).

RBC Art Pick: Untitled (Personal Painting) by Canadian Artist Ron Terada

Recently reinstalled on Level 4 (Contemporary), AGOinsider is showcasing new acquisitions and collection highlights. For this RBC Art Pick, we have selected a painting, Untitled (Personal Painting) (1995), by Vancouver-based Canadian artist Ron Terada. 

Spanning more than two decades, Terada’s artistic practice includes painting, photography, video, music, text and publication-based works. Exploring language as the main subject for much of his art, he often uses text from a variety of sources and meticulously stencils it onto monochromatic painted canvases. 

For Untitled (Personal Painting), Terada appropriated text from a personal ad found in a print newspaper, which narrates a missed encounter between two people. This painting focuses on the deep desire for human connection and happenstance. In contrast with the neutrality of the text’s presentation, which is standardized and rigid, the underlying message is vulnerable and earnest.  

At first glance, the surface in Untitled (Personal Painting) appear commercially produced. However, in contrast to the “industrial” surfaces of minimalist paintings of the 1960s, Terada’s approach is intimate and painstakingly personal. To create the background of his canvases, he laboriously cross-brush paints his canvas, for which he may apply up to 80 coats of paint. (!!!) From there he adds the “figure” as the final step—one “coat” of text.  Read more, in AGOinsider.