2015 Annual Report The Robert McLaughlin Gallery The Robert McLaughlin Gallery Contents President’s Report 4 CEO’s Report 6 Curator’s Report 8 Impact by the Numbers 9 Digital Engagement 10 Exhibitions 11 Publications 12 Acquisitions 13 Education 17 Art Reach 18 Gallery A and Art Lab 19 Events 21 RMG Fridays 22 Volunteer Program 23 Membership and Support 25 Financial Report 27 Staff and Board of Trustees 31 Front Cover: Sarindar Dhaliwal, the green fairy storybook (detail), 2009, bookwork. Collection of The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, purchased with the financial support of the Isabel McLaughlin Acquisition Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program, 2016. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid. Top Right: Guests at RMG Exposed 2015. Photo by Grant Cole. Middle Right: Kids enjoy an art activity in the studio. Bottom Right: At the opening of Noel Harding’s Reverb at the GM Centre. The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is generously assisted by the City of Oshawa, the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Department of Canadian Heritage, Museums Assistance Program. Additional support is provided by the Volunteers of the RMG, individual members and donors, local business and corporations. Scott Helman performs at RMG Fridays. Photo by Linda Ryde. 1 | RMG Annual Report 2015 RMG Annual Report 2015 | 2 The Robert McLaughlin Gallery The Robert McLaughlin Gallery President’s Report 2015 has been a year of change and challenge. We celebrated many milestones along the way as the RMG continues to flourish with an ever expanding group of loyal supporters. The role of the Board is to set the priorities and policies of the organization, approve the annual budget and monitor its implementation, and ensure that the gallery continues to serve the needs of the local community. An important part of this work was the search and appointment of our new CEO, Donna Raetsen-Kemp, in August 2015. Donna’s excellent leadership and people-first approach will lead the Gallery to new heights. In 2015-16, the priorities of the RMG as set out in the Strategic Plan were to stabilize, strengthen and align staffing and resources, and continue to build capacity within the organization in preparation for the next phase of transformation. Donna, together with her extremely talented and creative staff team and dedicated volunteers, have certainly made significant strides in that direction. In a short time, they have reignited how people have connected with the RMG through the: • Organization of RMG Fridays featuring a spectacular range of artistic expression leading up to the wildly successful fifth anniversary celebration in February 2016 • Presentation of several remarkable exhibitions of modern and contemporary Canadian art throughout the year • Engagement of accomplished artists, emerging artists, aspiring artists, story tellers, and art lovers at all levels in the RMG’s education and outreach programs • And finally, the provision of space in the beautifully renovated RMG for new collaborations, experiences, and reflection, through new open studios and residencies. In addition, several important works were added to our collection. We are grateful to the donors of these works as we continue to honour and protect the legacy of the Painters Eleven and works of abstraction through our Permanent Collection. Indeed, we owe a debt of gratitude to the RMG team for their exceptional devotion, resourcefulness and persistence throughout the fall when the HVAC system failed, taking all necessary measures to protect our national treasures until the mechanical issues were finally resolved. Installation of Moving Image: Selections from the Permanent Collection. Photo by Brilynn Ferguson. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Donna and her incredible team, the volunteers, and the RMG membership for their ongoing commitment and support for the RMG. I would also like to extend our appreciation to the City of Oshawa, the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts for their critical support of the RMG. And, personally, I would like to thank my fellow Trustees, whose depth of commitment and generous giving of their time and talent to the Board’s work have been invaluable. “ One of the most beautiful small galleries I have We can certainly look forward to exciting things to come. ever seen. Lovely architecture and great art.” - Deborah Olivia Petrie President, Board of Trustees 3 | RMG Annual Report 2015 RMG Annual Report 2015 | 4 The Robert McLaughlin Gallery The Robert McLaughlin Gallery CEO’s Report My first few months drove home the value of our Permanent Collection and the unique way our community relates to the RMG. Because of unexpected and unprecedented events, a lot of our time was consumed with protecting and preserving the collection. New to the RMG, it gave me the rare opportunity to see how much our board, staff, stakeholders, friends and our supporters value and love the gallery: • Our Curatorial team showed grit and determination, working tirelessly for months to protect the Permanent Collection as our Arthur Erickson designed building-within-a- building experienced persistent HVAC issues. • The Canadian Conservation Institute recognized the significance of our Collection and provided us with around-the-clock guidance from their Senior Conservation Scientist, stationed in Rome. Our national treasure received international attention. • The RMG education team dug deep, creating outstanding workshops, classes and community arts experiences that built momentum. • We nimbly replaced a much-anticipated touring exhibition with a stellar retrospective from our Permanent Collection. The cancellation resulted from HVAC issues and the associated costs had significant impact on our financial position. • City of Oshawa management worked with top-level engineers to find solutions to the complex issues that challenged operations and jeopardized our Collection. While navigating the turbulence, we stared unflinchingly at our processes and made improvements. Throughout it all, volunteers rallied, more people visited and RMG Fridays soared. While my own passion for the RMG brought me here, every hurdle and triumph we A family enjoys a studio activity at RMG Fridays. Photo by Lucy Villeneuve. experienced underscored the significance of our gallery and the Permanent Collection and all it stands for. I am excited about our future. Although there is much work to be done, opportunities abound thanks to the steps our Board and staff have taken. We are stronger as we move through 2016. “ This art gallery is an oasis of exquisite culture in the rough diamond that is Oshawa’s cultural scene. Not Onward and upward…together! only does it contain a stunning permanent collection, it regularly features traveling shows of world calibre artists and amazing contemporary displays. It should not be missed if you find yourself in Durham region.” Donna Raetsen-Kemp Chief Executive Office - Lionel 5 | RMG Annual Report 2015 RMG Annual Report 2015 | 6 The Robert McLaughlin Gallery The Robert McLaughlin Gallery Curator’s Report 2015 was a year of important accessions to the RMG’s permanent collection including twelve early photographs by Senior Canadian artist Robert Bourdeau, paintings by Abstract Expressionist icon Rita Letendre, and figurative painter Tony Scherman, as well as work by Oshawa-raised contemporary artists Clinton Griffin and Scott Griffin. The RMG’s Acquisition Committee made, as a priority, the purchase of work by culturally diverse artists and to that end acquired two works on paper by Pakistani- born Tazeen Qayyum and a sculpture by India-born artist Sarindar Dhaliwal. The collection travelled beyond Oshawa in various exhibitions throughout 2015. Emily Carr’s Wood Interior was included in From Forest to Sea: Emily Carr in British Columbia, while Mount Cheops from Rogers Pass by William Brymner was in Picturing the Americas which is travelling to Arizona and Brazil. Both exhibitions were organized and shown at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Torso and Plants by Pegi Nicol MacLeod was included in The Artist Herself, jointly organized by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre and the Art Gallery of Hamilton and shown in both Kingston and Hamilton, while the painting Sulpician Seminary by Sarah Robertson was part of the important travelling exhibition 1920 Modernism in Montreal: The Beaver Hall Group organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Art. The exhibition year began with Running on Empty, curated by Heather Nicol and included the work of seven contemporary artists who relate their work to car culture. The retrospective Jock Macdonald: Evolving Form was the other important winter offering that introduced new research about this important Canadian modernist and Painters Eleven member. Lora Moore-Kakaletris was the recipient of the Emerging Photography Award at the fall, 2014 RMG Exposed event and her solo exhibition of black and white photographs focused on what lies beneath water. Three spring/summer exhibitions, Puppet Act: Manipulating the Voice, Boxing: The Sweet Science and David Rokeby: Very Nervous System showcased the work of contemporary and historic Canadian artists through video, painting, installation, sculpture and photography. Visitors view a work by Ray Mead at RMG Fridays. Photo by Mat Calverley. With the assistance of an Ontario Arts Council Culturally Diverse Curatorial Project grant, the RMG engaged emerging curator Ambereen Siddiqui. The resulting exhibition, Beyond Measure: Domesticating Distance, a collaboration with SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre), examined the “voids and brims of living in a diaspora” in the work of five artists from South Asia. “ I love wandering in to see what’s new. Regional artists continue to play an important part in the RMG’s exhibition programming. Closeups: Margaret Rodgers looked, through mixed-media work, at the background characters in I come over at lunch time as often as photographs taken from the RMG’s Thomas Bouckley Collection of historic images. The Bouckley collection also brought historic images to focus in the era of digital photography with the I need to see everything.