Hi friends! I’m Betty and I’ve been an evening/weekend Gallery Guide at the AGO since 2012.

About a year ago, I started a Podcast with a friend of mine from Chicago – Quinn Rose. It’s called “Pictorial Podcast” (https://www.relay.fm/pictorial) and we talk about … you guessed it – art! Anything and everything that you would consider art. We’ve talked about artificial intelligence creating art, the most expensive paintings ever sold, video games as an art form, how to experience art during a pandemic, art looting, postcards and mail art, as well as dive into specific artists like Carl Beam, Shelley Niro, Hank Willis Thomas, Jean Michele Basquiat, Ai Weiwei, Willem Kurelek and many more! We even have done a few interviews podcasts with well known Authors/YouTubers such as Sarah Urist Green from the Art Assignment. This past fall we even did a review of the Da Vinci code in our special membership episode. In the future – when we are out-the-other-side of this pandemic tunnel, Quinn and I may also explore art galleries and hangouts in and around Toronto and Chicago for future podcast episodes!

Some of you may know that I’ve hosted a YouTube art and architecture show called “ARTiculations” for years (https://youtube.com/c/articulations). I’ve always wanted to do a Podcast as well, but the only problem was – I had no idea how to start one! But about a year and a half ago, when I randomly met Quinn – a professional podcaster who also happens to be an art lover – it was like a match made in heaven! Thus Pictorial was born!

Pictorial is available wherever Podcasts are hosted, for example:

Pictorial on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1490090243

Pictorial on Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1490090243/pictorial

Pictorial on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7k6u0EIJIOWcN0GhCcYY67?si=gND60vL8Rg6WimfJDBWHyg

Pictorial on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCegn7iI-_sKZOCP3UA7PQw

Pictorial RSS Feed: https://www.relay.fm/pictorial/feed

You can also follow us on: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pictorialpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pictorialpod/

Pictorial is hosted by the awesome RelayFM network and new episodes come out every other Tuesday! I would love it if you guys would give it listen, tell me what you think, and maybe even leaving an iTunes review!

Tuesday, January 19, 2 pm via Zoom (click here to register)

(Can’t make it? Don’t worry! Remember, most AGO talks are posted on the AGO’s youtube account, following initial broadcast)

Join artist Kapwani Kiwanga for a conversation with the AGO’s Devyani Saltzman about her recent work.

Kapwani Kiwanga is a Franco-Canadian (b. Hamilton, Canada) artist based in Paris. Kiwanga studied Anthropology and Comparative Religion at McGill University in Montreal and Art at l’école des Beaux-Arts de Paris. Kiwanga’s work traces the pervasive impact of power asymmetries by placing historic narratives in dialogue with contemporary realities, the archive, and tomorrow’s possibilities. Her work is research-driven, instigated by marginalised or forgotten histories, and articulated across a range of materials and mediums including sculpture, installation, photography, video, and performance. In 2020 Kiwanga was awarded the Marcel Duchamp Prize. In 2018 she was the winner of the Frieze Artist Award and the annual Sobey Art Award.

Devyani Saltzman is a Canadian writer and curator with a deep interest in relevant, multidisciplinary, programming at the intersection between art, ideas and social change. She was the Director of Public Programming at the AGO, and the former Director of Literary Arts at the Banff Centre, the first woman and first woman of colour in that role, as well as a Founding Curator of Luminato, North America’s largest multi arts festival.

via AGOinsider

Wednesdays, January 6 – February 24, 3 pm, via Instagram (click on the agoyouth instagram link on January 6 at 3pm to watch the first workshop, broadcast live)

Join Funky Facilitators for 8 weekly workshops on the Hustle and Whacking; two dance forms that came out of the disco era.

Hustle is a partner dance created by Puerto Rican teenagers in South Bronx in the early 1970s to disco music. It has common features of mambo, salsa and swing dance. The dance is designed to be dynamic and flashy traditionally with a lead and a follow.

Whacking/Waacking/Punking was formed in the disco era, originated in LQBTQ LA club scene and was popularized by Soul Train. Dancers express themselves by embodying a character while throwing sharp hand and arm movements, striking poses, and using soulful footwork to move around the floor. The dance has a strong emphasis on musicality and interpretation of rhythm.

Funky Facilitators are a collective of dancers  that teach, create and facilitate practice sessions, workshops, and battles to help grow and build Toronto’s street dance and club dance culture. Their mission is to create accessible spaces for others to build relationships, self-confidence, and self-expression through dance and music. 

Happy New Year, volunteers! You are invited to attend this free online concert, in celebration of Black History Month, and organized by Joy Bullen, AGO volunteer and Volunteer Council member. Read on! – Holly

Every year since 2015, I have created a concert featuring extraordinary young Black Canadians excelling in areas where our voices and presence has often been silenced or ignored by history. And I have taken it to cities across Canada during Black History Month.

This year, we introduce,  with our first virtual concert, the music of little known Black classical composers, presented by four young Canadian classical musicians, whom we are determined that history will not forget.

This FREE concert will be streamed online from February 1, 2021 to February 28, 2021.

Plan your watch parties with your family and friends, and join us from the comfort of your home.

Just sign up from the convenient RSVP button on the homepage of www.joybullen.ca  and enjoy unlimited viewing

After you sign up we send an acknowledgement and then in January we will send the link for you to ‘attend’

The link will be good for unlimited viewing any day or time during the entire month of February.

You and all of your friends and family, and neighbours – in Canada all over the world!  …can be the first to sign up and reserve your place.  Please share widely.

(The concert will be on a dedicated YouTube channel so you can watch it on your smart television!)

Warmly, Joy

Stuck at home for New Year’s Eve? Join the Gallery’s New Year’s Eve Countdown, Thursday, December 31, from 4 pm – 5pm
Join amazing artists and friendly AGO families for this live virtual event, inspired by the new exhibition Studio 54: Night Magic.

You can join the livestream, or register here to attend.

Dear Everyone,

This afternoon, Premier Ford confirmed that the entire province of Ontario will be going into lockdown as of December 26. Restrictions for southern Ontario (including Toronto) will not be lifted until January 23 at the earliest. This means that the AGO will continue to be closed to the public until at least January 23.

Many of you have spent countless hours preparing to open Studio 54: Night Magic, and I’m disappointed that audiences won’t get the opportunity to visit over the holidays. However, we must follow the directive of our public health professionals and the government as the health, safety and well-being of our visitors, employees, volunteers and our extended AGO community is always our top priority.

Although the AGO is closed, we will still be serving our public in the following ways:

• AGOBistro will continue to offer takeout and curated dinners
• shopAGO will continue to take and fulfil online orders with curbside pickup
• Using Studio 54: Night Magic as the theme, we will be hosting an online New Years Eve Countdown, with family friendly activities and a countdown from 4 – 5pm.
• After the holiday break, on January 11 our virtual schools program will continue providing parents and schoolchildren with art classes every weekday.
• Our online courses and talks will continue as planned

This newest lockdown will have an impact on labour. After we closed in November, thanks to our union leadership and the Board of Trustees, a plan was approved to pay scheduled/active employees who work onsite for the initial 28 day closure. At that time, we stated that if the lockdown was extended past December 20, employees who did not have meaningful work beyond that date would be served temporary lay-off notices. Notifications have taken place. This is difficult news for our colleagues who have been impacted and we hope to be able to bring these team members back as soon as possible. I want to also take the opportunity to reiterate that the uncertainty of the spread of the virus can be stressful.

We are committed to following the advice of health and government officials and we will continue to communicate with you regularly during the closure. Please reach out to your manager or Leadership Team member if you have any questions or concerns.

Hang in there, everyone. 2020 is almost over. In the coming months, the vaccine will be here and we’ll turn the corner on COVID-19. Until then, continue to focus on your own health and safety.

Sincerely,

Mike Mahoney

Capital Projects & Operations

Wednesday, December 16, 2020 – Wednesday, March 31, 2021 via Instagram

Distance Dress Up invites everyone to dress up in their favourite party outfit, take a selfie of themselves and post on Instagram (you must have an Instagram account to participate) with the tag #distancedressup! This participatory photo project is inspired by the exhibition Studio 54: Night Magic and the social restrictions that are currently in place due to Covid.  

We’ll launched our new Distance Dress-Up project on Wednesday December 16 at 11 am with curator Geneviève Wallen, who offered a personalized take on playing dress-up at home and gave us the details of her look, in conversation with Sarah Febbraro, AGO’s Assistant Curator, Youth & Engagement. Watch (via the facebook launch) here.

Now through March 31 2021, everyone is invited to share their distance dress-up look with us on AGO Youth Instagram using #distancedressup. 

Geneviève Wallen is a Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal and Tkaronto/Toronto based independent curator and writer. Wallen’s practice is informed by diasporic narratives, intersectional feminism, intergenerational dialogues, BIPOC alternative futures and healing platforms. Her ongoing research focuses on the notion of longevity as a methodology of ongoing resistance and care work in the arts.   

She is an Exhibition Coordinator at FOFA Gallery, a member of  YTB (Younger than Beyoncé), is the co-initiator (with Marsya Maharani) of Souped Up, a thematic dinner series conceived to carve spaces for care and support building among BIPOC curators and cultural workers, a member of the Black Curators Forum, and an advisory member for the BLACK PORTRAITURE[S]: Toronto, Absent/ed Presence conference (BPTO).  

Dear Everyone,

Due to the continued rise in the number of COVID-19 infections, this afternoon Premier Ford announced that the City of Toronto will remain under lockdown and restrictions will not be lifted on Monday, December 21. The Premier will make an announcement on Monday at 1pm about further restrictions as we head into the holiday season. This means that the AGO will continue to be closed to the public until further notice. We anticipate that this will extend into January.

I know that this uncertainty is hard. We must follow the directive of our public health professionals and the government as the health, safety and well-being of our visitors, employees, volunteers and our extended AGO community is always our top priority.

I will provide an update on Monday as soon as we hear more.

Sincerely,

Stephan

2020 has been a year that none of us will soon forget. With the second closure of our beloved AGO due to Covid-19, we are reminded that we are still in the midst of a serious global pandemic and that everyone’s health & safety remains #1 priority. 

During a Volunteer Connector call in August, Stephan told volunteers how much we are missed in the gallery and was transparent that it will be some time before we return. As we look ahead to an uncertain 2021, we do our best to plan knowing that we must stay flexible and adapt. Our primary focus from a learning and development perspective will be rolling out Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) training and subsequent discussion groups (more on that in the New Year!)

We will continue to use the Volunteer Blog and Facebook group to share:

• Updates from Stephan and the AGO 
• Messages from the Volunteer Council (VC)
• Resources of interest to volunteers including: online programs, events, talks and links 

Stay up-to-date with what’s happening at the AGO by signing up for the AGO Insider and by following the AGO on social media (@agotoronto) on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. 

We encourage everyone to stay connected during this time and to reach out to one another directly, as many of you have been doing since early March. 

Wishing you all good health.

The Volunteer Council (VC)

The second installment of the AGO’s online Senior Social premiered on November 20, featuring Tuesday GGs Laurie Herd and Carolyn Roth. We asked them about their experience making the video with staff members Doris Purchase, Art Educator, and Lauren McKinley Renzetti, Art Instructor. You can watch the three-part video featuring works by Mary Hiester Reid and Helen Galloway McNicoll here

What inspired you to sign up for the Senior Social online video?

Laurie: I was inspired to volunteer for the Zoom Senior Social because I thought it would be a good way to stay connected to the AGO while we are not able to do in-person tours.  It feels good to do something to make life more interesting for people who are isolated or unable to get out.  Hopefully it will encourage people to experiment with art-making.  It is an enjoyable way to pass the time.

Carolyn: Yes I have to agree with Laurie about the willingness to take on the Senior Social. Although it took courage to attempt something new, I thought it would be a way to keep in touch with people and appreciate art together. The people in our Tuesday Group at the AGO all miss doing their tours and this seemed to be a way for me to communicate my love for art differently. The Zoom experience was relatively new but at times one would forget that the chatting was on screen. 

Did you have any previous experience with art interpretation or art making? What was it like to do it over Zoom?

Carolyn: Art has been central to my life always. I studied Fine Arts at university and taught Visual Arts throughout my career at different levels. Being at the AGO has allowed me to continue my vocation. Experiences ‘making art’ have suffered in the last few years in that I had let time slip away with other things to do. However both my husband and I have resolved to make a new start once again. It is a way to lose oneself and create.

Laurie: I am a Tuesday Gallery Guide and I have had many years of experience talking about art so the conversation part of the Senior Social felt easy and relaxed.  I have had very little experience making art and I was nervous about creating art while being recorded.  While I have become used to being on Zoom over the last several months, I did find it difficult to talk and make art at the same time.  I found I was working away while the others were chatting.  I almost forgot that we were being recorded. 

What surprised you (good or bad) about the experience?

Laurie: I am surprised that my work looks better than I thought it would.  I enjoyed working with Doris, Lauren and my Tuesday colleague Carolyn because they are very professional and fun.  I would encourage others to consider volunteering for the Senior Social even if they have limited or no art making experience.  It is an enjoyable way to stay involved with the AGO and our volunteer role.

Is there anything you would change about it?

Carolyn: Would I change anything? Well perhaps the art making could be a more spontaneous exploration of techniques. Lauren did a great job of talking us through various ways of doing the composition, the application of colours etc., but I was nervous about having to have a product at the end. Maybe puddling in paint and chalks together would lessen the tension. I hope that someone who watches these videos about discussing and making art would feel emboldened and jump right into exploring. It is so good for the soul!

What would you like people watching online to take away from the video?

Carolyn: I think the Senior Socials might just encourage the people watching to explore art making as it is a way to feel that one can make a contribution and feel good about newly found ability, no matter what level of expertise. I have a very close friend who in her senior years has taken up painting in acrylics which at times escapes from the canvas to making ‘rock paintings’ which are left along the trails when walking. She is ecstatic!

I really enjoyed working with Doris and Lauren and of course my friend, Laurie, from our Tuesday Group of Gallery Guides. It was SO much fun!

You can read about the first Seniors Social session here. The next ones are scheduled for December 18, January 15, February 19 and March 19. More info here.