A first-person perspective submitted by Shelagh Barrington, Gallery Guide and National Docent Symposium (NDS) Director for Canada

A July 19, 2023 meeting with Gallery Guides was arranged by Natalie Lam and Paola Poletto, who introduced new staff support Danah Abusido, Curatorial Associate, Artist in Residence program. Danah’s duties have expanded to include assisting with the GG program. Also introduced and linked by zoom was Audrey Hudson Chief, Education and Programming.

Audrey gave us an update on what Education and Programming has to offer. It was a good overview of the changes and accomplishments that this department has worked through during and following the pandemic. The AGO Education and Programming department is doing an amazing job of offering the AGO collection to schools and communities who are not otherwise able to access our collections in person, including remote communities in the north. The program is scheduled to expand both across the country and further afield. We now have an AGO production studio on-site. As guides we should be familiar with the programs the AGO now offers.

During the Q&A part of the presentation Audrey and Paola answered questions and provided relevant information.  

1. Can staff take on volunteer jobs? No, staff can’t do volunteer jobs and volunteers can’t do staff jobs.

• Clarification re: new GG training and ongoing training

A small group of new GGs recently joined the AGO, and welcomed with an in-person orientation and training, and additional online resources. Paola Poletto let us know that in-person training resumes this Fall for new GGs. During the summer, new GGs will continue to shadow experienced GGs and learn about the collection through research. Experienced GGs are invited to provide feedback to Natalie about what might assist the new recruits. Experienced GGs, please make new GGs welcome, and begin establishing those personal connections!

Continued in-person training for all GGs will happen as new exhibitions open, and these sessions will continue to be recorded for those unable to attend.

• Terminology is tricky and can mean something different to different audiences. But it is also flexible and can be changed. Communications is key.

• Expansion of GG duties:

Hourly walking chats resume this Fall with flexibility to guide availability and interest (if GGs are in the building, they will happen, if not, they won’t). Newly designed bright pink Let’s Chat mats (on order) and new signage, designed and displayed in Walker Court, will signal when the hourly walking chats will happen. Paola clarified that the AGO design team designs and implements signage as part of broader branding responsibility.

• Responding to our concerns:

Paola and Natalie have been responsive to Gallery Guide asks. We asked to give new visitors more of our time and they did. First the walking chat and now that is evolving into the hourly walking chats.

• The Volunteer Blog: Holly said volunteers can submit stories for the Volunteer Blog. So, if volunteers want to see more about what volunteers are doing, please write a story and provide a jpeg picture.

• Audrey Hudson stated she and her staff are interested in knowing more about what GGs do and is open to arranging for staff do a walking chat. So, GGs lets be on our game to show them our best. And that goes for other volunteers around the AGO. You are welcome any time to join a dot chat or a walking chat; just give us a heads up that you are joining the group.   

We have lost some of our GGs over this time of transition, and some found it difficult to adapt to interactive talks. But GGs still with the program are ready and looking forward to our newly expanding role.

So, Yes! The Gallery Guide community will continue with a newly reworked approach of assisting visitors that is ever-evolving and we appreciate all that the AGO has to offer.

Thank you to Holly for arranging a wonderful welcome back volunteer party/ recognition event earlier this Spring, and to Paloma and Natalie for arranging continued GG training.

Please note: If you’re a volunteer who wants to submit a first-person perspective to the volunteer blog, we welcome your submission! Please get in touch with [email protected]

Hello Everyone,

One thing I love about Toronto is the abundance of culture and creativity – whether one experiences it here at the museum or at art-making studios, at the theatre, through film, at literary festivals or at street festivals. Culture is really what makes Toronto great. Yes, Toronto is a finance, tech and sports hub, but it is also a hub for creativity. The AGO contributes to this in a big way. I am super proud of the work we all do for our city.

We are at the height of summer and there are lots of opportunities to enjoy a concert, a dance performance, a gallery show or a cultural festival outside of the AGO. Foyer often shares stories about what’s happening at other cultural organizations. I hope you all have a chance to experience something wonderfully creative during these next couple of months of warmth and sunshine.

Enjoy,

Stephan

Hello Everyone,

Tomorrow (Saturday) we are opening an exhibition by Sarindar Dhaliwal entitled When I grow up I want to be a namer of paint colours. It is on the first floor in the Lind Gallery. It is a bold and beautiful exhibition and when you go to see it you will be impressed by both the art and the installation. Renée van der Avoird did a great job on the curation and the installation team really made it beautiful. The skills needed to install hundreds of ceramic letters is impressive. Our team really can do almost anything!

One of the aspects I love about the AGO is that we all have different skills. Some of us have the skills to welcome and engage hundreds of guests a day, some of us are excellent editors, some of us are pros in the kitchen, some of us have the ability to quietly watch over art to ensure it is safe. Take a moment and think about your own abilities. Take a moment and see your colleagues’ amazing skills – the staff and volunteers of the AGO are an impressive group!

Stephan 

Learn the history behind the 11-panel archival pigment print by Toronto-based artist Suzy Lake.

“I wanted the sense of the rhythm of sweeping, not the figure, to become strong enough that the audience would feel it,” said artist Suzy Lake on her work Rhythm of a True Space #2 (2008-2009). An 11-panel archival pigment print that features Lake gently sweeping rubble on the ground, the work seemingly follows the viewer’s steps as you walk alongside it. For this month’s RBC Art Pick, Foyer dives into the past of the work. It is currently on view at the AGO as part of the exhibition Her Space, which features works representing the interior lives of women – at rest, at work, at play or in a dream state. 

Using photographs taken more than 15 years ago, Rhythm of a True Space #2 belonged to an image-based series Lake began to work with in 1994 titled Re-Reading Recovery (1996). The archival photos showed her sweeping the rubble at the site of a home renovation. Dressed in a thin cotton slip, Lake appears resolute but vulnerable and barefoot. During that time, Lake was particularly interested in exploring the concepts of beauty and the aging body. Lake has said, “Experience is positive; maturity is positive; but our culture doesn’t celebrate these attributes when associated with aging.” Read more in this week’s Foyer, linked HERE.

Hey All, in a meeting this week a question came up about volunteer content on the blog. This post is a short reminder that there are lots of ways to share information in the volunteer community:

The AGO Volunteers Facebook Group – type “AGO Volunteers” in your Facebook search bar (you need to be member of Facebook to join). Once you have asked to join a moderator (me) will add you to the group. We (volunteer resources) occasionally use this site to quickly message volunteers – but the intention of the group page is for volunteers to be able to share information (art links, etc), unmoderated, with each other.

The Volunteer Lounge Bulletin Board – a physical posting board located just inside the doors of the volunteer lounge. Feel free to post your notices and shared news, here.

The Volunteer Blog – have a story you want to submit? We are always open to volunteer voices! – email [email protected], who will happily post for you.

This week, I would like to acknowledge a very special person, someone whom, sadly, we lost last Friday – Trustee Emeritus Carol Rapp, who passed away at age 89. Carol loved the AGO. She loved art, she loved artists, and she loved new ideas. Many of you knew her – she had been part of the AGO family since the 60s, when she first became involved as a volunteer at the gift shop, and then as a long-serving member of our Board. She and her husband Mort made many important and generous gifts to the AGO all the way through Stage III to Transformation AGO to our current aspirations for the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery. Carol appreciated the past, but focused heavily on the promise of the future, and pushed us all towards that lofty goal. She made the AGO better, and it won’t be the same without her. I say this with deep affection.

Here is a picture of Carol in her signature red glasses. A salute to you, Carol, and your enduring sense of style!

Two of the featured artists in the exhibition We Are Story offer environmental insight.

Since January 2023, the group exhibition We Are Story: The Canada Now Photography Acquisition has been on view at the AGO (128, The Edmond G. Odette Family Gallery, and 129 The Robert & Cheryl McEwen Gallery), showcasing the vitality and range of contemporary Canadian photography.

This week’s Foyer offers a deeper dive into work of two of the artists, asinnajaq (work pictured above), and Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill.  Both artists’ works feature scenes found in nature and commentary about the relationship between humans and the environment. Foyer recently connected with them to find out more about their approach to creation, their works in the exhibition, and the ways in which their practices reflect each other (nice information for a Gallery Guide Dot!) Read more, HERE.

Hello Everyone,

On Tuesday, I returned from two weeks’ vacation where we visited remote corners of the UK (Shetland Islands) and had lots of social time with family in English towns. It was wonderful and I needed the time to re-charge – having said that, I’m pleased to be back at the AGO, just in time to see all the kids onsite for Art Camps. I know many of you have children who are attending camp, including a Trustee or two. It’s been a few years since we held summer camps – a big thank you to all of the Education & Programming staff and summer counsellors who are providing amazing experiences for kids engaging with art. Here is a pic attached. I love to see it!

While there is lots of activity onsite, AGO art is also on view in other parts of the world. The AGO loaned our Casa Susanna collection to a photography festival in Arles, co-curated by our Sophie Hackett: https://www.rencontres-arles.com/en/expositions/view/1488/casa-susanna. We will present our own iteration of the exhibition this December – keep under your hat for now as it has not yet been formally announced.

Summer is clearly now in full swing. Enjoy these next few months.

Take care,

Stephan

The volunteer blog will be dormant for the next couple of weeks, for holidays! Please look to a return to posts the week of Monday July 17. In the meantime, make sure to keep with up with the most current news through Foyer, our new online magazine profiling the collection, exhibitions and general goings-on at the Gallery (and beyond). Happy start to summer! – volunteer resources

For the first time since 2019, we’re hosting AGO Summer Art Camp! Beginning on Tuesday July 4 and running throughout the summer, we look forward to welcoming almost 200 summer art camp volunteers, aged 15-18 years old, here at the Gallery. Please help us make them feel welcome in the volunteer lounge.