As AGO volunteers, you make a meaningful impact at the museum. I am so grateful to you for dedicating your time and talent to our community.

In celebration of your contributions, I am pleased to invite you to a special presentation about the AGO’s Collection Strategy on May 5 at 5:30 p.m. for you and your fellow volunteers.

I hope you’ll join us as we gather our amazing volunteer community together to learn more about the future of the AGO Collection.

TO JOIN:  

( A reminder – you cannot register for this talk in advance. Please DO NOT JOIN more than 5 minutes prior to the start of the meeting):  

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/95058954991?pwd=bHVxQTczUlNXMVVDMlQ3c1U1cS9MZz09

Meeting ID: 950 5895 4991

Passcode: 897895

Thank you,

Stephan

Wednesday April 28, 6 pm (Register, HERE)

Pop-Up Studio offers an inspiring weekly look at an artwork from the AGO Collection, before leaping into a 30-minute drawing exercise inspired by the techniques found in the work.

Each week focuses on a new work and technique or style, from collage to watercolour, to drawing, with a thematic focus on a diverse array of portraits inspired by the AGO’s Portraits of Resilience project. Pop-in online after your Wednesday workday for this free session, bring along your favourite drink, pencils and paper, and connect with others for a relaxing session. This is a free experience, but it requires you to register for each new session week by week. 

Our group of Pop-Up spring sessions features pastel drawing exercises inspired by the artwork of Richard Diebenkorn.  

Materials list: Pastels, chalk or oil, as well as a heavy, toothed drawing paper (bumpy to the touch). 

Thursday, May 6 | 10 am–3 pm CDT (Central Daylight Time) Register, HERE.

Thank you to volunteer Shelagh Barrington, also a representative for the National Docent Symposium, for sharing this link to a Virtual Summit on Diversity, out of the United States (free to register, via Zoom):

Virtual Summit on Diversity

Join arts professionals from around the United States to explore best practices for nurturing diverse talent within museums and cultural institutions. Advancing Change: The Future of Museum Leadership is a free virtual summit that presents information and lessons learned over 30 years of offering the Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellowship at the Saint Louis Art Museum.

This summit will provide resources for museums seeking to create fellowship programs that cultivate future leaders from diverse backgrounds in curatorial practice, education and interpretation, audience development, and other museum professions. It will also provide an opportunity for young professionals seeking museum careers to hear from former Bearden Fellows about their experience developing careers in the field.

Registration for this event is free but required.

A full agenda and speakers are linked, here.

Tuesday April 27, at 4pm via ZOOM (register here)

Join artist Dana Slijboom (read more here) for a conversation about her work and creative process with the AGO’s Renée van der Avoird. Slijboom’s paintings are characterized by a distinctive visual language incorporating archetypal imagery and bold graphics.

Dana Slijboom is a Canadian-Dutch painter living and working in Toronto. She holds a BFA from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam NL (2009). She has exhibited both in Canada and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Towards Gallery, Ranch Dressing (2018), and  Erin Stump Projects, Romance (2019).

Renée van der Avoird is Assistant Curator of Canadian Art at the AGO. Selected AGO exhibitions include The Open Door: Mary Hiester Reid and Helen McNicoll (2020), Margaret Priest: The Construction Series and Other Concrete Matters (2019), Karl Beveridge & Carole Condé: Early Work (2019), and Betty Goodwin: Moving Towards Fire (2019).

Hello Everyone,

This week was National Volunteer Week. The AGO has hundreds of volunteers who help fulfill our mission, and I am extraordinarily grateful for the many ways that they contribute to Gallery life. They include Volunteers of the AGO, – our program volunteers – who for decades have provided tours and served our public in various other ways; Trustees who sit on the AGO Board, The AGO Foundation Board and American Friends of the AGO; AGO Curators’ Circle committee members; AGO Next committee members and other Development volunteers who assist with fundraising; curatorial committee members; and many others. Volunteers will continue to play a meaningful part in the Gallery’s future, and I very much look forward to their ongoing involvement and contributions.

Last week was April Break and the AGO offered some really wonderful programming for kids and families. Thank you to the Education & Public Programs team for your careful planning and adjustment from the traditional March Break; and also to the Marketing & Communications folks for getting the word out. The AGO’s pivot to online programming throughout the pandemic has been remarkable.

I marked a personal milestone recently – my 5^th year anniversary at the AGO. I am very proud to be a part of the team at the AGO. We have accomplished a lot together in recent years. I couldn’t be prouder of how we have responded to COVID-19. We will get through this, and there is much to look forward to.

Take care,

Stephan  

Exciting news! The AGO is launching a paid mentorship program enabling three emerging artists to pursue research, over a six-week period, into museum practices, audience engagement, or the AGO Collection. With the support of mentors from across the gallery, each selected artist will further their work with the aim of presenting their findings to the various teams at the AGO. This call is open to emerging artists working in any media.

This open call welcomes research proposals that explore our audiences, challenge the museum field, or engage with the content and programming of the AGO. Experimentation is encouraged and these proposals could examine any area at the Gallery, including but not limited to: Conservation, Collections, Curatorial, Education & Programming, Library & Archives, Food & Beverage, and Visitor Experience. 

The AGO X RBC Emerging Artists Exchange encourages submissions from populations who have not been equitably represented in museums, including Black, Indigenous, artists of colour, LGBTQ2+, women and persons with disabilities.

Deadline for submissions: May 10, 2021 at 5 pm EST
Each selected artist will complete a six-week research mentorship between June and September 2021.

READ all about it (eligibility, how to apply, FAQs, etc.) HERE

Dear Everyone,

I know we are all feeling the difficulty of the continued COVID-19 restrictions, but there is reason to be hopeful. The vaccination rollout is underway, and last night the Province announced that anyone 40 and above may now get the AstraZeneca vaccine. I have my appointment booked, and encourage you to do the same if you’re eligible.

Over the weekend an employee at the AGO tested positive for COVID-19. We are all keeping this person in our thoughts and hoping they recover quickly, and we must respect their privacy during this difficult time.

The People team has notified everyone who may have been in contact with this person, and advised that they should self-isolate. If you have not been notified and you are part of the staff currently working, you can continue your work based on the results of daily screening for symptoms of COVID-19 before entering the building.

This news is concerning and I understand you may be worried. We have done everything we can to ensure we have a safe work environment, and we take this very seriously. Most areas are already shut down, and we continue to do frequent deep cleaning. We are monitoring the situation closely and will send out further communication if needed. Your safety is our number one priority.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your Manager or Leadership Team member.

Sincerely,

Stephan

With the days getting warmer and the colours getting brighter, we think there’s no better time to connect and celebrate with our fellow AGO volunteers!

As part of National Volunteer Week, the Friday Night Gallery and Info Guide group invite you to our Virtual Spring Tour, via Zoom, happening Wednesday, April 21^st, from 6:00pm-7:00pm. Floral/Spring-themed attire and Zoom backgrounds are encouraged!

Sit back with your favourite beverage as five of our wonderful guides take you through various works in the AGO collection that answer the question “What makes us think of Spring?”. A Q&A period, along with free time to catch up and connect will follow.

Join via ZOOM:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84901458907?pwd=MGt3TXhINmVmNVlheGd4TWxhOVk4QT09

If prompted, please enter

Meeting ID: 849 0145 8907
Passcode: 306467

Looking forward to celebrating a better and brighter season with you!

• by Gabriella Goutam & Shelagh Barrington

Hello Everyone,

Today, March 31, marks the end of our fiscal year. I am pleased to report that we have achieved a slightly better than balanced budget in this exceptionally challenging year.  We couldn’t have done it without you and the significant personal sacrifices you made. The combination of your actions, private philanthropy and government support made it possible. I am incredibly grateful for your many contributions, and your commitment and passion for the AGO. The Finance Team will be doing all the end of year details in the coming weeks but what we have all achieved together is extraordinary.

For those who are celebrating – Happy Easter. Please continue to keep safe and well.

Stephan

Revisit the haunting beauty of Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu’s This You Call Civilization?, a collage acquired by the AGO in 2009

Kenyan-American Wangechi Mutu is a globally recognized contemporary artist. Widely known for her collage-based works on Mylar and large-scale installations, Mutu also works across other media, including painting, drawing, sculpture and video. Born in 1972, she was raised in the suburbs of Nairobi, Kenya, later studying in both Wales at the United World College of the Atlantic and the U.S. at The Cooper Union and Yale University.

In 2009, Wangechi Mutu: This You Call Civilization? at the AGO was the first major exhibition of Mutu’s work in a North American art museum and it featured 16 key works including collages on Mylar, videos and installation.

Created specifically for the opening of Transformation AGO in 2009, This You Call Civilization? (2008), with its washes of watercolour, intricately placed magazine clippings and granular elements (like soil and glitter), creates an animalistic abstraction of the human form. Mutu strikes an unsettling balance between the beautiful and the grotesque—the long-legged, leopard-clad figure captures a hybridization between animal, human and machine. As if to allude to the piecing together of one’s cultural and racial identity, Mutu masterfully collages together magazine cuttings including lips, eyes, motorcycle wheels, manicured hands, feathers, leaves, high-heeled shoes and fruit.

Volunteers will love to revisit this 2010 video in which Mutu discusses the creative process behind This You Call Civilization? and the thematic complexities in her work: