Outreach in Museums

Delighted to drop into the Canadian Art Gallery Educators symposium hosted at the Art Gallery of Ontario this weekend. Had a nibble with some new colleagues at FRANK Saturday night, and then returned Sunday for Lois Silverman's keynote. Lois's ideas about the social work of museums generated quite a bit of discussion later in the day, which continued on Monday during the rather impromptu Session X.  Delegates had agreed on 'museum outreach' as the topic of session, a crucial issue for museologists, whether art gallery educators, curators, interpreters or even those hiring staff, building boards, or raising funds. We're seeking an model of programming and work environment into which new ideas can integrate, but we recognize that if identity is a work in progress then we must tolerate a constant zone of discomfort - not just accept it as normal, but also welcome it as a sign we're doing well!

Was talking to Jennifer, Sue Ellen and Phyllis at the Arts Council Windsor & Region today.
I've never visited their gallery, Artspeak, but I'm hoping I'll get an excuse to drive down to Lac St. Clair sometime soon. Sounds like community art at its most accessible: Membership is only $30, gallery rental only about $100, and no commissions on anything you sell. They're hosting cool events like We-Launched ( professional development for new musicians), Ontario Arts Council info sessions on Artists in the Community/Workplace, indie film screenings (which I understand was 'packed' this week.... I've had my eye on Windsor for awhile, ever since I couldn't drive down for Broken City Lab's HOMEWORK weekend. Check out their storefront:
http://acwr.net/

Mysterious Fort York, a fringe between centuries

Hangman on Queen last night

Hanging out at Hangman. Gee, Dean's photos looked great, and he sold one of them. Rose came with me and it was so nice to see PSO Diane there with her daughter!
I distributed quite a few Rule No. 1 prints, and generated a very interesting discussion.

You know you can see a larger image of any image posted here by clicking on it. It will explode on command! Yayyyyy!

I almost forgot about this blog, but someone mentioned it to me the other day - they remembered seeing the photos of my artwork. So here I am again after a hell of a hiatus, I think. Aced grad school (I'd like to say it was easy, but actually it was really, really hard), and now I'm back at the Big Art Gallery in Chinatown, the one with the two large forms out front.

So, hello again, after all this time. I have some more art to post. I'll be joining forces with other artists at the gallery in our annual Artists of the Gallery show at the Artists' Network space in Riverdale next week. Opening is March 7th, and bound to be so ridiculously crowded that you can't see a thing, but fun and exciting, too. I'm hoping my two large kids will attend with me once more. I'll be showing another work that's never seen the light of day, and will not be for sale again. It's one of the Courtesy of a Blindfold works - a mishmash of paintings, sculptures, wooden posts with shirts tied around them. And it's, of course, like all art, a collaborative effort, so I have to thank Gary Topp for helping cut down the tree for this thing, and my mom for contributing the already stretched linen canvas. It's a kind of a group effort, and will only appear this one time. Hope to see you there. At the Hangman Gallery, March 5 to 12, on Queen east of Broadview.