Transformation AGO Campaign
You can feel the excitement mounting as the structure of the new Art Gallery of Ontario takes shape - its breathtaking façade of wood and glass stretching along Dundas Street West, drawing you in and holding out the promise of great things to come.
We have now closed our doors for a number of months to perform the crucially important task of preparing the new galleries to display our greatly expanded collections, including the extraordinary gift from the Thomson family, in the most dramatic and inviting ways possible.
Last February, the Transformation AGO community campaign launched with an outreach in support of the Building Fund. I'm delighted to say that our members and patrons embraced this opportunity to participate in our transformation by donating nearly $1.9M.
Raoul Dufy (French 1877-1953), Terrasse et Chaise Longue, c.1913, oil on canvas 73.0 cm x 60.0 cm. Gift of an Anonymous Donor, 2006. © Estate of Raoul Dufy/SODRAC (2007)
I'm confident and hopeful that our friends - all who believe in the importance of art in everyday life, and of the important role of a public institution that dynamically brings art and people together - will continue to demonstrate how much art matters to them as we enter the next phase of the community campaign in support of art installation.
In a transformed AGO, 110 galleries displaying 5,000 works will provide imaginative new ways for you to experience art from other places and times. Complementing our Contemporary, Canadian, European, Print & Drawing and Photography collections will be stunning new acquisitions dedicated to the traditions of world culture. The new AGO will be home to one of the most prestigious collections of African art in the world and our Inuit collection will have a new profile.
More than ever, contemporary art will play a significant role in defining who we are as an art museum. Permanent galleries devoted to contemporary art will rise from behind the historic Grange House, occupying two floors of a newly constructed tower overlooking Grange Park and the city beyond. Contemporary art will be a new destination in your AGO.
Please join us today in creating an extraordinary Art Gallery of Ontario. Your gift in support of art installation will help fashion a special place where people and art meet as never before. It will be your Gallery, and it will express your belief in how art teaches, empowers and gives pleasure.
- MATTHEW TEITELBAUM
Director and CEO
Transformation AGO Donors Are Outstanding! For the full list, please click here.
