Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries

The Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries (GOG), formerly Ontario Association of Art Galleries / Association Ontarienne des Galeries d’Art (OAAG/AOGA), was established in 1968 to encourage development of public art galleries, art museums, community galleries and related visual arts organizations in Ontario, Canada. It was incorporated in Ontario in 1970, and registered as a charitable organization.[1] It is a successor organization to the Southern Ontario Gallery Group founded in 1947, renamed the Art Institute of Ontario in 1952. In December 2020 Ontario Association of Art Galleries / Association Ontarienne des Galeries d’Art (OAAG/AOGA) rebranded to the name Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries (GOG) which included new brand identity, logo, and website to better serve art organizations in Ontario and Canada.

GOG is an art service organization serving over 270 Public Art Galleries, museums, artist-run-centres, and arts organizations, through advocacy, professional development, and network-building. GOG fosters a sustainable, healthy, diverse public art gallery sector to further the visual arts as a key component of the cultural life of the province.[2]

Zainub Verjee was appointed as the executive director in 2015.[3][4][5]

Board of directors

Serving to AGM 2020[6]

  • York Lethbridge - Board President [2017-2020]

Serving to AGM 2021

  • Dawn Owen - Board Member [2015-2018][2018-2021]
  • Glen Bloom - Board Member [2018-2021]
  • Devyani Saltzman - Board Secretary [2018-2021]

Serving to AGM 2022

  • Christian Bernard Singer - Board Vice-president [2016-2019][2019-2022]
  • Robert Steven - Board Treasurer [2016-2019][2019-2022]

Serving to AGM 2022

  • Shelley Falconer - Board Member [2019-2022]
  • Ann MacDonald - Board Member [2019-2022]

Serving to AGM 2023

  • Nahed Mansour - Board Member [2019-2023]

Ex-Officio

  • Zainub Verjee

Founding member galleries

There are eleven founding members of the modern organization. The founding members are:

Services

Advocacy

GOG's advocacy initiatives are a pillar of their service to the sector. These services include lobbying, outreach and education, among others.[7] The organization works on behalf of public art galleries, and the cultural sector in Canada as a whole, to increase public awareness of issues affecting the visual arts and culture sectors in Ontario and Canada.[8]

Professional Development

GOG produces professional development opportunities designed to increase the capacity of their members to navigate and advance in the cultural sector, taking the form of workshops, think tanks, symposiums and other initiatives.[9] These professional development opportunities cover a wide range of relevant topics, including emerging technologies, new ways of working, accessibility, strategy, and engagement. The programmes are mainly tailored for emerging to senior-level arts professionals working in Ontario's public art galleries, but are often applicable to arts professionals across the board. GOG's membership program and various initiatives also serve as tools for network building to strengthen the body of public galleries across Ontario.

Awards

The Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries Awards program is one of the most comprehensive and established among Ontario's sectoral arts awards programs and was first established in 1978. They are also the only annual juried awards to recognize excellence and significant achievement in programming and partnerships within the Ontario public art gallery sector and, in doing so, advance, empower, and strengthen Canada's visual arts sector.

The Awards recognize new exhibitions, publications, programs and community engagements that have been produced and commissioned by Ontario's public galleries throughout the past year. In 2019 GOG introduced the Changemaker BIPOC Award. This Award celebrates the diverse and innovative arts practices of Black, Indigenous, People of Colour leaders, which are essential to the country's cultural vitality. GOG acknowledges that historic and systemic barriers have affected access to opportunities and resources for BIPOC arts professionals. This has led to marginalization and inequities for artists and arts leaders in presenting and practicing their work within public art galleries in Ontario. There are twelve award categories for artistic merit and excellence:[10]

  • Exhibition[11] (subdivided by cost)[12]
  • Curatorial writing[13]
  • Art writing
  • Public program
  • Education
  • Art publication
  • Design
  • Partnership
  • Lifetime achievement
  • Colleague
  • Volunteer[14]

Membership

Most member galleries participate in a reciprocal admissions program, where membership of one gallery gives admission to the others. The organization provides a liaison between galleries and the Ontario Arts Council.

Members can join as an institution (public art galleries or affiliate organizations), individual (someone who works in an art gallery, or a student) or business (commercial galleries or other for-profit groups).[15]

GOG's membership consists of over 270 art museums, public art galleries, artist-run centres, visual arts organizations, professional colleagues, and friends across Ontario, including:[16]

Selected publications

  • Krueger, Pamela (1991), Why you need a conservator : limitations of a gallery in coping with collections management, Toronto: Ontario Association of Art Galleries, ISBN 0-9694987-3-X
  • Mibach, Lisa (1991), Conservation cooperatives : existing models, Toronto: Ontario Association of Art Galleries, ISBN 0-9694987-4-8
  • Nasby, Judith (1991), The partnership between curator and conservator : effective collections care, Toronto: Ontario Association of Art Galleries, ISBN 0-9694987-5-6
  • "Seminar and conservation survey" Roche, Roger. 1972
  • Wellheiser, Joanne (1991), Preventive conservation : the key to preservation, Toronto: Ontario Association of Art Galleries, ISBN 0-9694987-6-4
  • Cossman, Brenda (1995), Censorship and the arts : law, controversy, debate, facts, Toronto: Ontario Assoc. of Art Galleries, ISBN 0-9694987-9-9
  • Agnew, Ella (1991), Legaleasy : a step-by-step legal guide to collecting for Canadian art galleries and museums, Toronto: Ontario Association of Art Galleries, ISBN 0-9694987-1-3
  • Zemans, Joyce (2001), Art gallery handbook, Toronto: Ontario Association of Art Galleries, ISBN 0-9681238-1-3
  • Calculating the economic impact of cultural organizations, Toronto: OAAG, 1984, ISBN 0-9690187-4-6

References

  1. ^ "GOG: What We are" GOG. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  2. ^ "GOG: What We Do" GOG. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Zainub Verjee appointed as the New Executive Director of Ontario Association of Art Galleries". 20 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Zainub Verjee".
  5. ^ "Zainub Verjee".
  6. ^ GOG: Who We Are GOG. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  7. ^ "Advocacy" GOG Website. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  8. ^ "What We DO" GOG. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  9. ^ "Past Programmes" GOG. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  10. ^ "Awards: 2019" OAAG. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  11. ^ "Jack Olson Gallery to host 'Arranging Nature'". NIU Today. 14 January 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Indigenous artists featured at GNO". Sudbury Star. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  13. ^ "Bye, RMG". Oshawa Express. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Art Gallery of Sudbury chair honoured". Sudbury Star. 2 December 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  15. ^ "Join Us" GOG Website. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  16. ^ OAAG Membership
  17. ^ "Ontario Association of Art Galleries recognizes Art Centre's excellence" Agnes Etherington Art Centre. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  18. ^ Art Gallery of Mississauga website
  19. ^ Blackwood Gallery website
  20. ^ "July 7, 2006 No Bluff! The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery receives an OAAG Award" Kitchener/Waterloo Art Gallery. Retrieved 3 March 2009
  21. ^ Kawartha Art Gallery Website
  22. ^ Rodman Hall Website Retrieved 3 March 2009.
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