In recognition of the Volunteer Endowment’s Trust’s donation to support the AGO’s Access program, please join Director and CEO Stephan Jost, Volunteer President Maya Kotlarenko, and Alexa Greist, Associate Curator, Prints & Drawings, for an exclusive volunteer thank you, followed by a presentation of New Acquisitions in Prints & Drawings.

You can’t register for this meeting in advance, simply click on the link to join:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81711053060?pwd=YXZ2cjVkN2hlc25RYUxFQzRUZHBJUT09

Meeting ID: 817 1105 3060

Passcode: 743108

We look forward to seeing you there!

Hello Everyone,

With lots going on, there are two moments from this week that stand out for me. The first was a presentation by three of our conservators (Lisa Ellis, Sherry Phillips and Shu-Wen Lin) speaking to a group of AGO Trustee Emeriti. Our conservators are incredibly specialized, and the trustees were captivated by their work and the way they spoke about it with such authority and knowledge.

The second was the spectacular opening event for Robert Houle: Red Is Beautiful. Robert is a leading contemporary artist who deftly blends modernism with a First Nations perspective. All of us are familiar with Seven Grandfathers in Walker Court and now we have much to learn and take in from this retrospective, which includes more than 100 works. A special dinner was held in Galleria Italia last evening and curator Wanda Nanibush read a message from Governor General Mary Simon to acknowledge aabaakwad, which is taking place this weekend at the AGO (both onsite and virtually). Thank you to Wanda and other educators and staff who have played a role in bringing aabaakwad together.

An update regarding the Volunteers of the AGO: We have developed a phased approach of returning a small group of volunteers back to the Gallery this month. Our goal is to begin with an initial small cohort of Information Guides to support wayfinding over the busy holiday season while having three major exhibitions on view. Within this phased approach, we are planning for Gallery Guides to be back in the museum at the end of January. If you see one of our volunteers onsite, please welcome them back!

Take care and stay safe,

Stephan

P.S. Our public statement on Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Accessibility has been updated on ago.ca. Here is the link: https://ago.ca/about/ago-for-all

Robert Houle is one of the most influential First Nations artists to break into the contemporary art world. His work blends abstraction, modernism and conceptualism with First Nations aesthetics and histories. Houle went from residential school to art school to museum boardrooms and on to the art world stage as an artist, curator and writer.

Robert Houle: Red is Beautiful consists of over 90 large installations, paintings and drawings created between 1970 and 2021. Themes in the exhibition include Sacred Geometry, The Spiritual Legacy of the Ancient Ones, Beyond History Painting, The Aesthetics of Disappearance, Residential School Years, and Sovereignty.

The exhibition runs December 3 – April 17, 2022

Employees and volunteers are invited to attend the One of a Kind 2021 Winter Show at the discounted rate of $13 for adult admission (regular price $15). Note: if you are a senior, the seniors regular rate of $8.50 is a much better purchase for you! Similarly, university/college students enjoy a $10 admission fee)

This year’s show takes place November 25 to December 5, 2021, at the Enercare Centre and features over 400 exhibitors from across North America.

Tickets are available online. You must purchase a timed-ticket to attend; walk up tickets will not be available this year.

Click here to be taken directly to the OOAK Ticketing Page or use the promo code AGOW21 at checkout. 

One of a Kind 2021 Winter Show Hours:

• Weekdays & Saturdays: 10 am to 9 pm
• Sundays: 10 am to 6 pm

Visit www.oneofakindshow.com to preview hundreds of gift ideas and learn more about the artisans participating in this year’s event. 

We were incredibly saddened to hear of the passing of revolutionary artist Rita Letendre

“I wanted to create a new world, and if you have a world, it has to have poetry.” – Rita Letendre

Born in Drummondville, Quebec to Abenaki and Québécois parents in 1928, Rita Letendre began painting in 1950s Montreal. Renowned for her bold and visceral style, she pushed the boundaries of colour, light and space to new heights. Letendre used the paintbrush, airbrush, palette knife and her hands to express the spirit of life. Her work embodies her ongoing quest for connection and understanding.

In 2017, the Gallery celebrated Letendre’s vibrant career with a retrospective titled Rita Letendre: Fire & Light.

There’s a beautiful article that commemorates Letendre’s life’s work in her own words in this week’s AGOinsider.

This week, AGO volunteers are invited to take part in shopAGO’s Members’ Shopping Days. Volunteers save 20% on shopAGO’s beautiful selection of prints, cards, ornaments, home decor, and much more! (some exceptions apply) Happy Shopping!

20% ends on Sunday, November 28.

Hello Everyone,

For this week’s message, I am sharing a poem by Matthew Wong, included in the exhibition catalogue:

The Shape of Silence

Drifting down the river

Of another pink morning

I think about how the empty page

Emits its own particular light,

And were a shadow to fall upon it

That, too, is but another kind of writing.

Imagine reading a novel

Where instead of looking at the words

Your gaze was fixed on the spaces

Between them. When you get to the end,

What would you say of what you saw and felt?

I close the book and look up.

A thin blue line is falling asleep on the horizon

As the breeze reaches the end of its lullaby.

I study what’s left of my reflection in the water.

I see now that your nakedness was never mine.

Take care and stay safe,

Stephan

Dear Colleagues,

Trans Awareness Week is observed from November 13 to 19 each year, leading up to Trans Day of Remembrance on November 20. This week is an opportunity to increase visibility and awareness of transgender communities and their resilience, further understanding the ongoing discrimination and transphobic violence folks encounter daily, and focus on what can be done to create inclusive spaces for 2 Spirit, trans and non-binary people – staff, artists, volunteers and visitors to the AGO.

What is Transgender Day of Remembrance? 

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), which is observed worldwide, was founded by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honour Rita Hester, a transgender woman killed in 1998. This vigil commemorated all transgender people lost to violence that year and began an important memorial that has since become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

In remembering lives lost, the ongoing discrimination and transphobic violence experienced, and the continued advocacy work we must do institutionally and in our communities, here is a variety of AGO content and external resources to support your learning:

AGO Content

• Workplace Inclusion for Gender and Sexual Diversity with Michelle Emson, Human Rights Activist, Egale Canada

Learning objective: This session is an introduction to 2SLGBTQI identities and common workplace inclusion practices that can be implemented.

Watch here

Access Passcode: AGOJun!0

• Fireside Chat on Michelle’s Journey of Transition in the Workplace

Learning objective: This learning session will explore Michelle’s personal experience of transitioning in her workplace and the practices put in place to support her journey.

Watch here (available until September 2022)

Access Passcode: AGOS3pt!3

• AGO Talks: Andy Warhol: Ladies and Gentlemen with AGO Associate Curator Kenneth Brummel, art historian Kirstin Ringelberg and artist and activist Ravyn Wngz in conversation about Warhol’s Ladies and Gentlemen 1975 portrait series of New York’s Latin and African-American drag queens and trans women, April 2021 (1 hr, 10 mins)

Online Event

• The 519 Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR), 2021

Watch

• Sort of, CBC Gem TV Series (2021): Watch the trailer, Watch the TV series on CBC Gem

Co-created by Fab Filippo and Bilal Baig, who is Canada’s first queer, transfeminine, South Asian and Muslim actor in a primetime TV show, tells an authentic story based on characters navigating transitions in their lives.

• Disclosure, Netflix (2020): Watch the trailer

Examining Hollywood’s depiction of transgender people and the impact it’s left on both the transgender community and American culture.

• Miss Major with Kelendria Nation & Syrus Marcus Ware – Moving Trans History Forward, 2021 (1hr, 28 mins)

• Speech by Ravyn Wngz for Trans Day Of Remembrance in November 2020 hosted by The 519 in reference of All Black Trans Lives Matter, 2020 (10 mins)

• The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, Netflix (2017): Watch the trailer 

Filmmakers re-examine the 1992 death of transgender legend Marsha P. Johnson, who was found floating in the Hudson River. Originally ruled a suicide, many in the community believe she was murdered.

• UN FREEZE – performance & interview by Kama La Mackerel, 2016 (7 mins)

Read

• 8 Things You Can Do Beyond Sharing A “Trans Day Of Remembrance by Robbie Ahmed, YOHOMO Toronto Queer Culture Now, 2020

• The future is trans: As Transgender Awareness Month comes to an end, what are our next steps?, CBC Arts, Nov 29, 2018

• Toilet Training: The basics of making your washrooms inclusive for everyone, Egale Canada

• Pronoun Usage Guide, Egale Canada

• Components of Human Identity, Egale Canada

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].

Cian B. Knights (pronouns: she/her)

Manager, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Hello Everyone,

I have been in New York City for the past couple of days with the Contemporary Circle, a group of AGO supporters with a deep interest in global contemporary art.

Xiaoyu Weng, our new Carol and Morton Rapp Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art, has provided a wonderful program of art viewing and experiences. We have visited numerous museums and artists’ studios. The Development Team has ensured all of our donors are having a great experience. 

I’ll be back at the AGO tomorrow to celebrate the re-opening of the Murray Frum Gallery and new visions for African Art, featuring Canadian-Congolese artist Moridja Kitenge Banza’s exhibition Et la lumière fut: And there was light, curated by Dr. Julie Crooks.

Stay safe and take care,

Stephan

Hello Volunteers! Thank you to volunteers Mary Rochon and Jennet Sandler, who have arranged this Zoom talk with Author (and Mary’s daughter!), Lisa Rochon. We’re posting here so there is plenty of time to go out and grab the book! See you in November! – Holly

The Tuscan Daughter, is set in early 16th century Florence, and is currently on the Globe and Mail bestseller list:

“… a beautifully written and very engaging book that delves deeply into the life of Florence at the start of the sixteenth century. It follows the life of a young and talented woman from a small village outside of Florence, who meets some of the most important artists of the day as she travels into the city to sell her farm’s olive oil. An artist herself, though not traditionally trained, Beatrice becomes closely involved with both da Vinci and Michelangelo, who spent a few short years working together in Florence and competing for prestigious commissions. She watches as the David is Sculpted in Michelangelo’s workshop and becomes friends with Lisa of the famous painting of da Vinci, as both of them become entwined by this woman’s oft times complicated life. While much has been written about these artists lives individually, seldom if ever, have their stories been told with such a personal touch, with the incredibly well researched details of both them and the City they lived in, allowing us to see them with new eyes. Beatrice is a wonderful character and she fights her own battles that come about because of her poor upbringing and her gender that does not support her own life as a potential artist.” (via Goodreads)

Mary has arranged to have her daughter talk to us about the book, on Wednesday November 17, from 1 – 2:30pm. Note: you cannot sign up in advance for this meeting – simply click on the link the-day-of, to attend.

Join Zoom meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89281157373?pwd=T3ZsL3JNTjFWZVlCMDFreEc0UFJkUT09

Meeting ID: 892 8115 7373

Passcode: 612316

Thank you for inviting us, Mary and Jennet! See you there! – Holly