A place for AGO volunteers to share, learn, and connect
The AGO Library & Archives will be operating with reduced service over the holidays from Monday, December 22, to Wednesday, January 7.
The Library & Archives team wishes you a happy New Year and looks forward to seeing you in January!
Questions?
Reach out to Adrienne Connelly, Access Services Librarian, at [email protected]
Season’s Greetings, Volunteers!
We’re excited to invite you to our first Holiday Bake & Share!
From Tuesday, December 16 to Sunday, December 21, you’re welcome to contribute homemade (or store-bought, no judgement!) treats to the Volunteer Lounge to share with your fellow volunteers. Cookies, brownies, cupcakes, bars, breads… all winter delights are welcome!
A few friendly guidelines:
We know the holidays can be busy and overwhelming for some. This exchange is meant to be light-hearted and completely optional. Join in only if you have the time and energy. (Holly and Diane like to bake, so we’ll get the ball rolling!)
We can’t wait to see (and taste!) what everyone brings. We hope it sparks festive conversations, recipe sharing, and a little extra warmth during the season. Feel free to leave a recipe card or jot one down if you’re inspired.
Wishing everyone a cozy and joyful December!
PS. Biggest thanks to Diane Pellicone, our newest staff member working primarily with the Gallery Guides, for this lovely idea to help us celebrate together. Thank you for getting us into the holiday spirit!
Ranbir Sidhu fully embraces challenge. For the artist and sculptor, boundaries are merely an open invitation to make the impossible possible.
Sidhu brings this mindset to his aptly named exhibition, Ranbir Sidhu: No Limits, (opened December 11). In his museum debut, futuristic vision is realized at the AGO through three monumental works created for the exhibition: Asteroid 3033 X1 (2025), Fortress of Memory (2025), and Odyssey (2025).
Sidhu’s love of challenge goes hand in hand with his chosen material: metal. Growing up in a manufacturing environment, Sidhu was exposed to a variety of materials. He developed a particular affinity for metal because of the skill and expertise required to manipulate it. But beyond its lustre and malleability, there is also a deep poeticism that draws Sidhu towards working with metal.
“Metal speaks to me. It’s strong, reflective, and timeless. Growing up, I saw how steel, aluminum and gold could transform, holding both precision and possibility,” he said. “Metal is unforgiving — it holds that memory. Metal lets me bridge the earthly and the cosmic, turning raw material into forms that carry stories across time.”
Click here for the full story in this week’s Foyer feature: https://readfoyer.com/article/ranbir-sidhu-boundless-creation
SAVE THE DATE: On Friday, January 16, 2026 the AGO will be hosting an opening party for No Limits, (all are welcome!) Ranbir Sidhu: No Limits was curated by Julian Cox, AGO Deputy Director and Chief Curator.
Hello everyone,
Now it is starting to feel like the holidays are coming.
I am in the midst of personalizing the holiday cards I send annually. There are many folks who make the AGO successful, and a holiday card is one opportunity to thank them. This year, there are nearly 1000 holiday cards, and they feature a beautiful Tom Thomson from our collection –The Last Snow, Algonquin Park.
The AGO Artists Holiday Show and Sale was on Wednesday and your colleagues sold their art and handmade goods, including my favourite quince jam. Thank you to Holly Procktor, who organizes this event off the side of her desk every year.
This season at the AGO would not be complete without a big exhibition opening. I mentioned previously that I got a sneak peek of Ranbir Sidhu: No Limits. Julian Cox and the team worked tirelessly on installation for the opening this week. This exhibition is spectacular and totally unique.
Take care,
Stephan
Good afternoon,
I am writing to let you know that – after 7 years of extraordinary achievement – Kate Halpenny, Chief Development Officer, has decided to leave the AGO. Her last day is February 5th.
I say this with some sadness, as I have personally enjoyed working with Kate, but at the same time I understand her desire to achieve more balance in life, and to seek other adventures.
She joined the AGO in the summer of 2019 and since then her list of accomplishments is amazing:
Kate has been a great leader of her team, leading through strategic intent, kindness, and connectivity. She was also an integral member of the Joint Working Committee this past year, helping to establish the AGO’s new values.
I am deeply grateful for Kate’s many contributions to the AGO, including on the Leadership Team, where she has applied thoughtful, strategic, and invaluable input into the AGO’s campaign and operational priorities.
The Chief Development Officer is a key partner for the Director & CEO. I truly enjoyed our partnership, and I admire Kate’s professionalism, integrity, and kindness. Her commitment to culture is profound.
In the new year, we will share next steps for development leadership that continues to build on the AGO’s strong philanthropic work.
Stephan
Hello everyone,
I was giving a tour of the AGO to guests new to the museum when I learned that Frank Gehry passed away. A tour of this type usually starts with the architecture of the building and inevitably highlights the ways in which Gehry literally transformed the AGO into the architectural masterpiece it is today. This tour was no exception.
Gehry was not only the most important architect of the last half century, he was also a great Canadian icon. He had many personal relationships throughout the AGO and Toronto. I cannot help but feel emotional about his passing. My deepest sympathies go out to his family.
The attached photo was taken in 2014 when Gehry and I were together in Hawaii.
Take care,
Stephan
What would it be like for the late artist Joyce Wieland (1930–1998) to experience the first retrospective of her work in almost 40 years?
This is the question at the centre of a performance series taking place in the exhibition Joyce Wieland: Heart On. Currently on view at the AGO, Heart On, brings together over five decades of Wieland’s work, showcasing how she engaged with ecological devastation, the complexities of nationhood, female sexuality and feminism, among many more topics, across media.
Commissioned for Heart On, A Fairytale for Joyce is the brainchild of Kristen Thomson, actor and playwright, and Tanja Jacobs, actress and director. In this 20-minute performance, the duo imagines Wieland’s experience visiting her exhibition, drawing from the artist’s relationship to her legacy, her work and herself. The next performance of A Fairytale for Joyce is on Sunday, January 4, 2026 (mark your new year’s calendar!)
From the initial announcement of Heart On, Jacobs and Thomson were keen to learn more about Wieland’s life; they attended dedicated study days on Wieland at the AGO and travelled to Montreal for the exhibition’s debut at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). Intimately studying Wieland’s life and art, they were struck by how she maintained her creativity and softness despite the many trials she faced throughout her life.
“We found ourselves very moved by the amount of loss and hardship in Wieland’s life alongside her vivacious, witty, and passionate output,” Thomson remembered. “She seemed light as a feather while navigating the vicissitudes of many calamities.”
Created through improvisation, Thomson and Jacobs spent countless conversations, improvisation sessions, and spontaneous writing prompts exploring Wieland’s works and personal life for A Fairytale for Joyce. While they explored different characters and angles, eventually they landed on the performance centring on Wieland exploring her own exhibition. They decided to frame the performance around the idea of fairytales after Jacobs created a fantastical notion of Wieland dreaming about having a small fairy daughter that could fit into one of the teacups in the work Cooling Room II (1964), which is on view in Heart On.
The inaugural performance of A Fairytale for Joyce took place this past September. Reflecting on this performance, Thomson was pleasantly surprised at how she and Jacobs created an impactful performance despite working at a shorter length than they are typically used to.
“The first performance of the piece was very exciting. By the time we presented the piece, we felt excited that we had a genuine offering for people attending the exhibition,” she said. “The challenge was to create something fresh that feels fully expressed and satisfying in 20 minutes. The pleasure of the piece is performing something lighthearted, playful, and short and sweet in the midst of Wieland’s work. It comes alive for us, and hopefully for audiences.”
Join Kristen Thomson and Tanja Jacobs in paying tribute to Wieland’s art, life, and love by attending the final performance of A Fairytale for Joyce, which takes place on Sunday, January 4, on Level 5 of the AGO. This performance is free with general admission. The commission of A Fairytale for Joyce was led by Bojana Stancic, Program Curator, Performance and Live, with generous support from the Richard and Beryl Ivey Canadian Art Fund.
The AGO has announced a landmark gift from the late Carol and Morton Rapp: more than 450 artworks by 203 artists. This gift, including artworks by esteemed artists such as Jasper Johns, David Hockney, William Kentridge, Robert Rauschenberg, Kara Walker, Andy Warhol and Rachel Whiteread, is one of the most significant in the AGO’s recent history.
The gift arrives at a transformative moment, as the AGO continues to build the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery, adding 40,000 square feet of gallery space. This donation will strengthen the Gallery’s Prints and Drawings Collection, enabling it to tell the full story of the medium’s renaissance in the late 1960s and 1970s and its ongoing evolution throughout the early 21st century.
The gift also underscores the Rapp’s enduring commitment to the AGO, which has spanned over six decades. The couple began donating works to the Gallery in 1966, contributing nearly 1,000 works, including this latest gift.
“More than collectors, Carol and Morton Rapp were stewards of great art, eager to share and preserve the things that brought them pleasure, beauty, and insight,” says Stephan Jost, Michael and Sonja Koerner Director and CEO of the Art Gallery of Ontario. “During their lifetimes, they contributed immensely to the cultural fabric of Toronto and the AGO, and this gift by their family is a heartfelt expression of their enduring commitment to this place.”
“Carol and Morton Rapp were passionate collectors and supported major artists for more than 60 years,” says Jay Smith, AGO Trustee and son-in-law. “They were globally connected and committed to building collections at the AGO and MoMA. One of the distinct legacies of this gift is that they worked closely with living artists and this shared energy is alive in the gift.”
See more of the works, in last week’s Foyer online magazine (scroll to the bottom of the page for a more extensive carousel of images, HERE.)
Hello everyone,
There is nothing like the brain fog and fatigue of jet lag to humble you during a busy week. It is good to be back in Toronto after a successful AGO trip to Seoul.
A highlight of this week was celebrating the 5th anniversary of the Department of the Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora with Committee members and the Curatorial team. This collecting area was established in 2020 to celebrate the creativity and excellence of artists from Africa and its diasporas. There have been many wonderful additions to the collection, including Moments Contained by Thomas J Price, Moko Jumbie by Zak Ové, Union des Esprits Sirenes by Myrlande Constant, and Written in the Sky by Naudline Pierre, to name a few.
Also this week, we continued our celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Photography Department with a Supporters Event for Collective Visions in Walker Court. With some 70,000 objects, the photography collection is central to the AGO collection and mission.
Finally, I got a sneak peek of Ranbir Sidhu: No Limits, opening December 11. It will be amazing.
Take care,
In 1995, artist Faye HeavyShield first exhibited her multimedia installation Venus as Torpedo (1995/2025). 30 years later, HeavyShield returns to this work, which has both evolved and stayed the same.
Venus as Torpedo has been restaged as part of the artist’s solo exhibition at the AGO, Faye HeavyShield: Issokawo’taan. The three works featured in this exhibition draw from HeavyShield’s personal experiences, revealing a deep relationship with the land, in particular the Kainai (Blood) Nation in Southern Alberta, where she grew up and still lives.
Venus as Torpedo emerges from the gallery wall, cresting above the wooden floor. Clothing covers this protruding appendage, hand-dyed in various shades of blood-red using ochre. Voices of women in conversation, speaking in both English and Blackfoot, softly emanate from the sculpture, beckoning visitors to come closer. Textured by clothing once worn by its owners and holding stories told by the women inside, HeavyShield speaks to many personal stories through Venus as Torpedo.
Reflecting on the initial installation of Venus as Torpedo, HeavyShield shared that work came together intrinsically.
“At the time that I was working on this, I was being fed these images of strength but also vulnerability and blood. It was one of those times where the title, the idea, the material – I just had to let them use my hands, and then it comes together.”
Three decades later, much of Venus as Torpedo remains the same for HeavyShield, who doesn’t see time as linear. Small details were changed to restage the installation: new voices were recorded, and new clothing was sourced from HeavyShield’s loved ones. While the original installation only incorporated women’s clothing, the installation now includes garments from HeavyShield’s son.
One substantial change evoked by this restaging is HeavyShield’s new perspective on the shape of Venus as Torpedo. After revisiting this shape in other works, HeavyShield came to understand Venus as Torpedo’s shape as a reflection of the coulees in Southern Alberta that she grew up with.
“So much of [Venus as Torpedo] is still the same, and so much of it is different, just like anybody who is 30 years older,” HeavyShield reflected.
Faye HeavyShield: Issokawo’taan, is on view now on Level 2 in the J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art in the Bennet (229), Ungerman (230), Jennings Young (231) galleries.