Hello everyone,

This week, we re-opened to the public and will be free all weekend. It is clear our audiences are happy to be back. It was a huge effort to get things ready by Tuesday and I want to thank all of you for helping make this happen.

I am especially thrilled that we can now welcome visitors to Making Her Mark. A special thanks to those who finalized the installation in time for Tuesday’s opening. Congratulations to curator Alexa Griest and others for bringing the exhibition thesis to life – there are many, many incredible objects and art works in the show. A big congratulations to Alexa and the publishing team on the beautiful publication, which won a Canadian Museum Association Award of Outstanding Achievement for excellence in research.

While it is exciting to have people back in the building, I do acknowledge, again, that the last several weeks were very difficult for everyone, especially OPSEU members. The strike was hard. It will take time to feel like everything is back to normal.

This weekend, we are free. A big thanks to those staff and volunteers who will be on-site greeting and welcoming people back to the AGO. Having our public back is one big step towards normalcy and re-engaging with our mission. Word of mouth through our visitors is the best way to get more visitors. This weekend will jump start the buzz.

Take care,

Stephan

Coming together: Exclusive tour for AGO Volunteers May 13th 1pm

One of my mandates as Volunteer President is I firmly believe in supporting our Volunteer community, crossing over with various volunteer groups to connect initiatives and even outside gallery walls socially with our cultural partners and personal artistic connections. This also falls under the umbrella of Volunteer Recognition and Appreciation in support for all you do, and we are so appreciative. Holly and I are working hard on this initiative. The 2024 theme for Volunteer Appreciation week is “Every Moment Matters” which we will carry through the year. Making new memories, coming together and creating connections with moments in our rich volunteer history.

On that note, I’m very pleased to share the exciting news that we will have the opportunity to have an exclusive tour of the DECADE: 10 Years of Creation at Youngplace (see details below) with Curator David Liss, on Monday May 13, at 1pm. They are opening their doors one more time- after the public closure – just for our AGO Volunteers group, which we are most grateful for! This is truly an exclusive opportunity that we hope you can join us in!

Afterwards there will also be an optional social component (following the format of our recent outing to the Gardiner). We will come together at one of the many eateries in the Queen West /Ossington area – please feel free to let me know any choices on that as well. Including any other excursion’s that are on your dream list, look out for further details on that coming up. Many thanks to the volunteers that have contributed those ideas. Stay tuned for further updates!

• Date: Monday May 13th, at 1pm
• Address: Artscape Youngplace. 180 Shaw St., Suite 104-105
• Duration: one hour plus with questions

RSVP / Registration is required: Please email [email protected] to sign up. Additionally, in your reply, please indicate if you also plan to join us in coffee, snack after to make reservations.

Capacity: 50 volunteers, first come. (Note: they have portable chairs for 25 that can be taken around on the tour if you require seating)

Given three short months to organize the exhibition, Curator David Liss researched and met with each of the artists, discussed their past and current work, and selected recent artworks that highlight their various media, methods and meanings. Participants will learn more about each of the artists’ works and have the opportunity to ask probing questions. 

David Liss is an independent curator, writer and artist currently living in Toronto. From 2000 to 2020 he was Director, Curator and Artistic Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto. From 1995 to 2000 he was Director and Curator of the Gallery of the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts in Montreal. During the early 1990s he contributed art and music reviews to the Montreal Gazette, Vice, Canadian Art, and other publications. Since the late 1980s he has organized, curated, written texts and essays, published books and developed interdisciplinary programs for numerous exhibitions and projects in Toronto, Montreal, and venues across Canada and internationally.

https://kofflerarts.org/Exhibitions/Gallery/Gallery-Exhibitions/DECADE-10-Years-of-Creation-at-Youngplace

The Gallery has decided to offer free admission this weekend, all weekend long!

It’s also OCAD Grade X: OCAD’s graduate exhibition and open house, featuring the work of OCAD U’s class of 2024 (always so inspiring!) The latter part of this week saw the Gallery filled with high school students, touring OCAD U campus (and the AGO). If this week was any indication, the whole neighbourhood should be popping on the weekend.

Enjoy the spring weather, and an extra special thank you to all the volunteers who join us this weekend to help welcome and support our new and returning visitors!

Hello volunteers!

As the Gallery has now reopened, we are looking forward to welcoming you back this week, starting tomorrow – Tuesday April 30. All volunteer shifts can resume! Please join us this week if you can; we have missed you.

With thanks for your patience and support during this challenging time; we are so looking forward to seeing you.

A quick reminder: Jackman Hall Entrance remains closed for construction. Please use the main entrance (Dundas Street), to enter the Gallery. 

Welcome back!

Saturday April 27

Hello Volunteers,

The Gallery is very pleased to share that OPSEU Local 535 concluded their vote Friday, and an agreement has been ratified. The Gallery will reopen on Tuesday April 30. Please await additional messaging from me on Monday, about volunteer return.

Have a great weekend,

With thanks for your patience and support,

Holly

Thursday April 25

Hello Volunteers,

Gallery Leadership is very pleased to report that the Art Gallery of Ontario has reached a tentative agreement with OPSEU/SEFPO Local 535. The agreement is subject to ratification by the union local members with a vote scheduled on Friday, April 26. 

The return-to-work / volunteer date will be confirmed after the agreement is ratified.

On Volunteer Appreciation week, as Volunteer President I wanted to write a few words and a big thank you for everything! appreciative of how welcoming everyone volunteer’s and staff have been on my arrival over the past few months. Collaborating together with Holly is wonderful and to be working with the best Volunteer crew and staff! One of the highlights being how great to meet, listen and speak with many of you. I’m taken away with the level of talent, art knowledge, chats and our conversations, grateful for all you do. We are off to an exciting great start with new initiative’s and more to come! We truly care and are here to listen, as always, please feel free to send through your ideas and any thoughts as a collaborative volunteer community.

These are the priorities I’m working on in my role as your Volunteer President:

1. Open door policy, being present-hands on approach with volunteers as President visits, email, office hours.
2. Connection, socializing and enrichment. Bringing volunteer groups with the President from across the gallery to meet over enrichment and social opportunities. Look out for new and exciting excursions, field trips to come that are planned. Volunteers will be also called upon to collaborate here.
3. Artists initiative for volunteers to showcase and highlight their individual talents to support and for us acknowledge in various ways.
4. Highlight a volunteer in the blog. Volunteers will be involved in interviews, writing for the blog.
5. Enrichment. Learning together via online virtual opportunities to study and discuss.
6. Social media on Volunteer Facebook page postings for the whole group interactive any of the volunteers in the group are welcome to share, post art based content.
7. Gallery workshops, talks, occasional programs with staff specifically geared for the volunteers.
8. Volunteer Endowment Trust and the voting process for volunteers, more exciting details to come here.
9. Art based speakers for the volunteers, either online or in person.
10. Volunteer collaboration and involvement as a team.

Dear Volunteers,

Next week, April 14 – 20, Canada celebrates National Volunteer Week. Though the current Gallery closure means our formal celebrations will be delayed, we still want to thank you for so generously giving of your time, energy and skills to support our staff, visitors, membership and one another.

Your contributions are felt throughout the Gallery: by welcoming visitors through wayfinding; facilitating folks in deep chats and conversation about art; helping to organize & build our library holdings; and supporting our summer art camps and family programs.

We’re pleased to share a snapshot of some of the exceptional impact volunteers have had this year, here at the Gallery:

• AGO volunteers contributed over 35,000 hours of volunteer service this year
• Information Guides helped welcome over 790, 000 (!) visitors in 2023, and 38,650 visitors in March Break alone
• Print & Drawings volunteers welcomed over 1200 visitors to the popular Wednesday Open Door program, supporting the close-looking of artworks from the vaults, engaging with visitors in art, and leading meaningful conversations averaging over 110 visitor interactions each month
• Gallery Guides engaged visitors in the deep appreciation of art, through chats and conversations averaging over 1250 interactions each month

You are a committed, passionate and intelligent group, always willing to lend a hand, expertise and opinion. You are there for us, and each other. This week, we want to thank you particularly for your sensitivity to our current situation, and for your patience. Volunteer recognition and appreciation planning is underway, and we look forward to celebrating together, at the Gallery, when we can.

Most recently, we also want to recognize all the ways we have come together outside the gallery’s walls as a community: our recent outing to the Gardiner Museum to view the special exhibition, Magdalene Odundo: A Dialogue with Objects combined with a private docent-led tour followed by a social group lunch. We also visited volunteer Aliye Akbarzadeh’s artwork showing at Sahar K. Boluki Fine Art Gallery; and enjoyed this past weekend’s visit to the Artist Project to view Janne Reuss’ artwork. These are among a growing list of volunteer initiatives we have planned to support our learning and engagement to show how much we care for our community, and as a way to equally support you and give back.

We look forward to future outings and opportunities that build connection – across placements, and shifts, with each other, and the greater GTA volunteer community. We are working hard to strengthen the bonds that tie us together, even in challenging times.

With thanks for all of your incredible support, commitment and achievements this year.

Holly Procktor, Coordinator, Volunteers

Barbara Glaser, Volunteer President

shared from Volunteer President, Barbara Glaser:

Hello fellow volunteers,

This week, Toronto welcomes “The Artist Project” – an exhibition of over 250 independent artists –including our own AGO volunteer and Gallery Guide, Janne Reuss. I will be there this Saturday, April 13, at 1pm, and will be meeting with other volunteers to go together as a team, with those who express interest. Please join us. This is a great opportunity to meet fellow volunteers! Please let me know if you’d like to meet up by emailing me at [email protected]

• The Artist Project
• Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place, 195 Prince’s Blvd

Please note: volunteers will need to purchase their own individual tickets to visit the show– online, click HERE: https://theartistproject.com/home/ , or at the door

• Adult entry:  $22 (online / purchased in advance) / $24.00 at the door
• Seniors (65+):  $18.00 (online/purchased in advance)/ & $20.00 at the door

We will continue to highlight opportunities where we can view our fellow volunteers’ art and come together as a community to support each other. Stay tuned! There are so many talented artists in our volunteer group! There will be further opportunities to highlight.

Posted for Barbara Glaser, Volunteer President:

One of my mandates as Volunteer President is to build connections. Highlighting here, a volunteer to volunteer initiative; we can view fellow volunteers’ art/ exhibitions, and come together as a community, to support our fellow volunteers.

Sharing some photos from my recent visit, this past Thursday April 11, to see Gallery Guide Aliye Akbarzadeh‘s exhibition “How Do I Look”, closing this weekend at the Sahar Gallery, 160 Davenport Road (view by appointment).

Love her art, its meaning, context and bringing to life her creativity and back story with such a contemporary lens.

Website link:

https://www.saharkboluki.art/