Hello Everyone,

On Wednesday, the AGO Board of Trustees met to talk about art and our collecting strategy, and to think ahead about our future – and potential – post-COVID. It was a good discussion and our trustees are supportive and engaged. Our president, Bob Harding, will attend Town Hall next week to share a few words on behalf of the board. Bob has been a remarkable leader during this period and I am deeply grateful for his support.

With the current closure, we continue to offer lots of content on AGO.ca. The high quality and amount of content is impressive. Check out https://ago.ca/agoinsider/stories-tell and explore works from our collections created by artists from the African Diaspora.

Many of you and others in our city are celebrating the Lunar New Year. I always like to look for opportunities for new beginnings. Let’s see what the Year of the Ox brings! I am optimistic.

Happy new year,

Stephan

National Ballet of Canada’s virtual Spotlight Series features excerpts of a ballet inspired by the northern landscapes of Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris.

Heralded by The Globe and Mail as “a remarkable and moving experience”, The Dreamers Ever Leave You was captured on film by Canadian director Ben Shirinian as part of The National Ballet of Canada’s virtual Spotlight Series, now on view. This immersive ballet inspired by the art of Lawren Harris, one of Canada’s preeminent modernist painters and a Group of Seven member,  made its debut at the AGO in August 2016. 

Wondering where the title The Dreamers Ever Leave You comes from? None other than Lawren Harris himself, in a poem written in 1922 titled Little Houses:

The dreamers ever leave you –
They hear a vague, far cry,
Perhaps the call of some vacant, high place,
So often only the wailing of a beckoning pain,
But the dreamers ever leave you.

Join us in reliving The Dreamers Ever Leave You and tune into The National Ballet of Canada’s Spotlight Series for more exciting digital premieres and reimaginings of existing works.

World-renowned curator Adrienne Edwards is set to give a keynote address on Black Abstraction at the next AGO Study Days

“Blackness in abstraction…shifts analysis away from the Black artist as subject and instead emphasizes blackness as material, method and mode, insisting on blackness as a multiplicity.” – Adrienne Edwards

When spoken about, analyzed or depicted, the Black experience has often been homogenized. However, in this time of heightened social responsibility, more people are becoming aware of the complex and diverse individual realities of people of African descent. Black artists who work in abstraction possess an important tool in this respect, creating art that forces viewers to acknowledge uniqueness—both in form and concept.

Exploring the importance of Black Abstraction by analyzing the groundbreaking work of Trinidadian-Canadian artist Denyse Thomasos (1964-2012) will be a feature during the upcoming AGO Study Days, typically held for a small group of curators, researchers, art scholars and students. The program will feature various presenters, and special for this session, a keynote address by Adrienne Edwards, whose presentation will be available for public viewing Wednesday, February 24 at 7pm. Making her first appearance at the AGO (virtually), the world-renowned Whitney Museum Curator of Performance will share insights about abstraction in Black art, which is her focus. 

While Adrienne Edwards’s keynote is a public talk, the rest of the Study Days sessions are invite-only. A recording of all sessions will be made available in the coming weeks. Please contact [email protected] or [email protected] to access the recording. Works by Denyse Thomasos, Julie Mehretu and other Black artists practicing abstraction will be on view at the AGO upon reopening. 

This post is excerpted from AGOinsider. View the full article, here.

RBC’s new video series From Within profiles five emerging Canadian artists, giving a behind-the-scenes glimpse into their practice and personal inspiration.

Since 2017, RBC has been an AGO Signature Partner, and for many more years, has been committed to elevating the art community, most notably, emerging talent. The RBC Emerging Artists Project supports the arts and the role they play in building vibrant communities and strong economies. By partnering with top organizations in the areas of dance, music, visual arts, theatre and literature, the project has built numerous initiatives geared towards providing opportunities for up-and-coming creatives. Most recently, RBC has developed an exciting new video series entitled From Within, which profiles five of Canada’s notable emerging visual artists, giving viewers an intimate account of the inspiration that guides their practice.

Jagdeep Raina 

Jagdeep Raina has an interdisciplinary practice in Guelph, Ontario, that spans drawing, textiles, writing, as well as video animation, photography and ceramics. Raina’s artistic approach hinges on in-depth research, with a goal of dismantling homogenous ideas of history/historical memory. In his From Within segment he discusses his unique work with Phulkari, a traditional Punjabi style of embroidery.  Take a visit inside Jagdeep’s studio, here.

Anique Jordan

Anique Jordan is an award-winning Toronto-based artist, writer and curator who looks to answer the question of possibility in everything she creates. For From Within, Jordan shares her perspective on the sacredness of her cultural influences, the importance of documenting/archiving, and the concept behind her new piece memorializing a Black Canadian hero.  Take a visit inside Anique’s studio, here.

Marigold Santos 

Marigold Santos pursues an interdisciplinary art practice in Calgary, Alberta, involving drawn, painted, and printed works, sculpture, animation and sound. Through her work, Santos seeks to explore her Filipino ancestry by depicting characters from narrative folklore with her own abstract and surreal flare.  Take a visit inside Marigold’s studio, here.

Darcie Bernhardt 

Darcie “Ouiyaghasiak” Bernhardt is an Inuvialuk/Gwich’in artist from Tuktuyaaqtuuq, Northwest Territories. Her painting practice has primarily focused on the narrative of domestic life in the North stemming from memories of home. For From Within, Bernhardt speaks about her grandmother’s important influence on her life and the intergenerational principles of her art.  Take a visit insider Darcie’s studio, here.

Caroline Monnet 

Caroline Monnet is a multidisciplinary artist from Outaouais, Quebec, working primarily in visual art and film. In her practice, Monet explores the grey zones and border spaces between worlds. In recent years, she has been using various construction materials in her work as a way to comment on the isolation faced by Northern Indigenous communities in Canada.  Take a visit inside Caroline’s studio, here.

The perspectives and insights highlighted in From Within showcase the important and varied voices of emerging Canadian artists, and reiterate RBC’s commitment to elevating the art community which enriches and inspires us all. 

Hello Everyone,

In the single month of January, virtual school programs essentially filled Scotiabank Arena nearly 7 times – meaning we shared our collection with the equivalent of 7 Toronto Raptors games! To date we have hosted approximately 318,717 learners. Boom! Thank you for joining us with your children and continuing to spread the word. 

This past Monday, the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, held a session with Black leaders in the museum sector discussing their experiences and visioning in new ways for museums to be inclusive and address institutional barriers. You can view the session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGUMQMZysxY.

Some staff had the opportunity to spend a bit of time with Rhoda Roberts yesterday afternoon, asking questions about her experience at the Sydney Opera House. She has been very generous to the AGO. Here are details about the Reconciliation documents that Rhoda helped write: https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/general/corporate-information/reconciliation-action-plan.html.

I encourage everyone to take the time to review these resources. Our learning continues.

Next week, the AGO Board of Trustees has a retreat to discuss our two-year plan (we will emerge from COVID from a position of strength); a look back at the last five years including collection growth; and a high level conversation about upcoming opportunities. We have an outstanding board and our trustees always have a lot to contribute. I will report back.

Take care,

Stephan 

We’re happy to share an initiative led by Volunteer Council members Barbara Glaser & Veronica Ha. Read on! – Holly

The AGO Recipe Exchange group is excited to reveal its virtual collection!

This group started back in the spring, as an initiative for AGO volunteers with a passion for food to stay connected virtually outside of the Gallery, and it has taken off with a life of its own. This first recipe collection is formidable, filled with tons of ideas, inspiration, and stories contributed by fellow AGO volunteers.

The first phase of our project is complete and has already been launched with our founding group. If you would like a copy of the AGO Volunteers Recipe Exchange Collection, please email project co-lead Veronica Ha at [email protected]

Now in phase two, we want to expand opportunities to participate and be a part of this group. We plan on connecting online in between get togethers as well and having more fun!

Pinterest is specifically geared for us foodies. A social media platform where we will exchange recipes, various food content and connect via a private AGO Volunteers group set up specially for you in mind. All AGO volunteers are welcomed to connect. If you’d like to join us, contact co-lead Barbara at [email protected] who will lead you through the sign-up.

Note: this collection is a project of the AGO’s Volunteer Council and volunteers for educational purposes only. Use of this Collection is exclusively for AGO volunteers and may not be sold, reproduced, or distributed beyond this intended group and is meant for personal, non-commercial use.

We look forward to hearing from you! Thank you again and bon appetit!

Veronica Ha and Barbara Glaser

On February 9 at 7pm fashion icons André Leon Talley and Diane von Furstenberg connect live via Zoom for a chat about Studio 54 style

Read more about these amazing fashion trailblazers in AGOinsider.

Register for the talk Studio 54 and the Art of Fashion, here.

Hello Everyone,

We are in the second month of 2021. There is more sunlight every day. In a couple more months, it will be spring. Day by day, month by month, we are getting closer to brighter, more hopeful days.

On Wednesday, I shared our upcoming exhibition schedule at the Board of Trustees meeting. There is a lot of excitement about shows like Warhol, Fragments of Epic Memory and Picasso to lift spirits and help the AGO lead the recovery in the cultural sector. It was also reported that the AGO remains on track to achieve a balanced budget by the end of March. Thank you to everyone for your focus on achieving financial equilibrium, one of our key institutional values.

This week’s D & I resource, provided by Curator of Indigenous Art, Wanda Nanibush, focuses on the purpose and significance of territorial acknowledgement including the Dish with One Spoon Wampum: https://facingcanada.facinghistory.org/the-dish-with-one-spoon-wampum. Please take a few moments to read and watch the video.

While closed, there is amazing Studio 54 programming available online. I am particularly excited about an upcoming talk on “Studio 54 on the Art of Fashion” featuring my friend André Leon Tally in conversation with Designer Diane von Furstenberg (February 9, 7pm via Zoom). André is an incredibly insightful and intelligent person with deep knowledge and passion for art history. He is a trailblazer. Some of you will remember when he spoke at the AGO in person two years ago. I look forward to welcoming André back, albiet online, next week. Here is the link in case you are interested in listening to the discussion: https://ago.ca/events/studio-54-and-art-fashion.

February is Black History Month. Hope you will find a way to celebrate and learn more about Black communities in this month and beyond. Next week we will share what we are doing to support these important conversations.

Take care,

Stephan 

The Gallery’s virtual school programs are celebrating Black creatives all month! We spoke to I.M.F, a guest facilitator who will be using the power of spoken word to inspire students.

Happy Black History (Futures, Liberation) Month! This month presents a great opportunity to commemorate the past, acknowledge the present and envision the future. The AGO’s Virtual Schools Program is marking the occasion by celebrating Black creatives. Every Friday in February, students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 can gain a  deeper understanding of art from the AGO Collection created by Black artists. These dynamic school sessions incorporate spoken word poetry and great music. The goal is to support teachers as they engage students in contemporary conversations about Black communities.

Led by spoken word/music tandem I.M.F (In My Feelings) and Raffiki, along with an AGO Art Educator, the sessions will include an introduction to the art of the spoken word and an exploration of the artwork in the AGO Collection through the use of critical analysis. The creative duo will also share their music and poetry during the session. 

To learn more about I.M.F, to find out about her and Raffiki’s origin story and how they plan to approach their work with AGO Virtual School Programs, click HERE.

Hello Everyone,

Communicating with our members and public during the pandemic has been critical. We do this in many ways including through the weekly AGO Insider, which reaches nearly 250,000 people every Tuesday. Based on responses we receive, it is clear the AGO’s connection with our audience remains strong. Today I thought I would share a few:

“Hello. Just to say a big thank you for the AGO newsletters, which are such a brilliant and creative alternative to being able to visit the AGO itself. I am so proud to have such a wonderful institution in our midst, and proud that you have responded so creatively to the COVID crisis. Stay safe, everyone!”

“I just want to commend you and your team for the incredible job you have done staying in touch with the members…you have been very inclusive and informative in the fluid changes of our current pandemic life. When I bought my membership, I was so excited to come and visit and I still haven’t been which is disappointing……. I still feel a part of what you have created though. I just wanted to say thank you.”

“I MISS YOU and all the art. I can hardly wait until you are open again and full of art lovers. Thank you very much for the emails AGO.” 

“One of the things I’ve been missing most, especially as we navigate the second lockdown in Toronto, is popping by the Art Gallery and spending time with favourite paintings and discovering new works of art. I was able to visit the gallery a few times in the fall of 2020 and was grateful for that.”

“I particularly like the experience of going to a museum. The quiet escape from a noisy city. And to be with others as well appreciating and being challenged by art. I have appreciated your revision of the white cis male art cirque and it has shown up powerfully in your curation. I think you as an organization have from the outside at least taken a hard look at equity issues in art and made visible steps to change that. I appreciate it a lot. It challenges me a lot. I have been lucky to have a full time job with benefits throughout the pandemic so my choices around programming would be that I want it to go back to what it was before if possible. I respect whatever choices you need to make and I’m sorry if we don’t all rise up to meet you. All the best.”

Thank you to our communications staff and everyone involved for keeping our public close to us and informed of AGO activities this past year.

Take care,

Stephan