HME visits the AGH: visit recap

On Thursday, March 29, HME visited the AGH as a part of our ongoing series of museum/gallery visits.

We enjoyed a wonderful talk with Education Coordinator Jocelyn McKeown who introduced us to the variety of educational programs and events at the Gallery. We also got a sneak peek into their wonderfully stocked studio space! Thank you Jocelyn!

Following this, we had a fantastic tour with one of the AGH's talented volunteer docents, Hano. He showed us around several of the exhibitions, and gave us information on what it's like as a highly-trained and skilled docent at the AGH. Thank you Hano!

Below are some images and notes from this great tour. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this happen, and to all our HME members who attended!

• AGH sees 8000-9000 students/year, and has 600 events
  
  
• New program: “artful moments”; they are doing studies based on the program, in partnership with St Peter’s Hospital. The team had 2 published articles in the past iteration
• Tours 90% volunteer lead
  Docents don’t get a script, build tours themselves, curriculum based
  Focus on critical analysis process
  Pay artists to do studio programs
• Hano: docent giving our tour is a retired teacher
  Free friday tours, faculty event tours, started with little kids but now tours all ages
• Volunteers go through training program, interviewed
  Promoting shadowing, some volunteers are retiee teachers, others without education background
  Have a google doc, docents go in to and see what tours are coming up
• Children with special needs: docents do special training, particularly for the artful moments events, including with a speech pathologist
• First Friday free: didn’t used to have a volunteer for tours, now it does, Hano says it’s already doubled! These are 45-60 mins
• Studio space: Big windows! Bright, sinks, jealous! AGH has visits from Camp programs, Guides, scouts
  Painting uncorked
  
  
  
  images of the fantastic studio space for educational visits at the AGH!
  
  
  TOUR
• Have to find rooms for quiet space
• AGH is 104 years old, opened with William Blair Bruce donation
• All 29 of his works will hang on a wall in the central part of the gallery
• Didn’t have first paid employee until 1940s
• AGH has over 10,000 works of art in its collection
• On the first floor is usually a travelling exhibition

• Waterworks exhibition: Different media, borrowed work
• Edward Burtynsky exhibition:
  School groups sign up for 2 hours, switch between gallery and studio|
  Smaller gallery space set up to be a response from visitors
  All visitor work will be collected and archived, put in a book
• Tours are about more than just the art, different curriculum
• Speaking for Herself exhibition:
  12% of the work in the AGH collection made by women artists

...and don't forget about our delicious dinner following the AGH tour! We walked over to Bul & Gogi House and had time to talk about the tour, our work, and some ideas for future HME events!