Recent focus group research is showing that Art Gallery of Ontario visitors and family envision a transformed Gallery that draws people in, engages them with strong content and is accessible to a diverse community. That's good news, because their ambitions are reflected in the AGO's strategic plan.

According to Rick Wolfe of PostStone Corporation, who conducted the research last summer with the AGO’s marketing department as part of our 2008 brand development, he’s never seen stakeholder expectations so closely aligned with an institution’s strategic plan. "The AGO you plan to create," he says, "is the AGO people across the community say they want."

"This alignment of the AGO Strategic Plan and what our stakeholders told us they wanted was terrific," said Arlene Madell, director of marketing and visitor services. "It validates not only that we are building a building that people want (both inside and out), it ties closely to our Mission, Vision, Core Values and Goals."

Thirteen focus groups of 10 to 12 people ranging in age from 18 to 60 were interviewed in the focus groups, including occasional visitors, members, artists, staff and volunteers and AGO neighbours. Among the questions discussed during each session: your most memorable art experience, where does art fit in your life, what is the purpose of a public art gallery, how does today’s AGO measure up, what is it that makes the AGO the AGO and what is the "ideal" AGO?

What did they have to say about the AGO of today? It was a mixed bag according to the research, including such characterizations as multifaceted, having a disproportionately white audience, very broad collection of art, blockbuster shows, excellent education programs, a bunker-like building but a good restaurant and retail shop, inaccessible and somewhat elitist.

As Madell told the audience at a staff and volunteer meeting last week, branding the AGO is critical to the transformation process because it helps define the unique qualities of the Gallery that visitors can expect when the transformation is complete. By definition, a brand is a distinctive identity that differentiates a relevant, enduring and credible promise of value associated with a product, service or organization and indicates the source of that promise. In short, a brand is "a promise to deliver on value," and staff and volunteers deliver on that promise. The graphic identity, or logo, helps represent the promise of value.

Next steps in the branding process are further refinement of our promise of value, development of the graphic identity, which is the current focus of Bruce Mau Design, and the subsequent rollout of the brand. "This process is a significant and important undertaking," comments Madell. "Refining our promise of value and delivering upon that promise will inform our planning process, and how we ensure that every staff and volunteer and our other internal stakeholders embrace and deliver on our promise when the new AGO opens."

Comments

"I think we’re too serious here. I’d like people saying: the AGO rocks. The world is changing and we have to change with it."
- An AGO Volunteer

"Great art is something that grabs you by the throat and pushes you against the wall."
- Anonymous

"I have a good job ... but the work is just crap. At the end of the day I say: isn't there more to life? The gallery represents something better. It’s better than anything you or I could do. It makes me feel human. I liken it to going to Mass. It takes you out of your everyday life. You need to eat, to drink. You need art in a different way. It gives a sense of the transcendent. It drives you out of yourself."
- Anonymous

"It should be diverse. - To be able to cater to many walks of life. Get the perspective of mankind. The evolution of man."
- Anonymous

"To inspire everyone here: think of the gallery as an exemplar of Canadian art abroad - a kind of jewel. Take those kinds of risks on younger artists."
- Anonymous

"What's needed? A little bit of balls. Risk taking. Contextualize with what is going on today."
- Anonymous

"I like shows with new ideas. When you get close up, it can dazzle you. New, different, cutting edge. Something that can make me come out and go to the gallery."
- Anonymous

"My burning wish is for the AGO to have free admission when the new building opens. In the UK, public museums and galleries have universal free admission. It's so wonderful. You can run into the Tate Modern whenever you feel like it and check out your favourite thing. You can arrange to meet a friend by the Egyptian mummies at the British Museum just because you can. Way more people go to the museums there, and people of all classes and backgrounds go. It is such a pain paying $20 or thereabouts. Lots of people can't pay it, or simply don't want to, including myself and I am an art enthusiast. You can't help feeling obliged to spend 3 hours in there and let's admit it, that can be a tedious excursion. I would be so proud of our city if we could do something that civilized and awesome. The UK found the money by exempting the museums from sales tax paid on aquisitions -- the rest comes from money generated by the lottery."
- Anonymous

"A visit to the AGO feels like a visit to family I don't know personally but feel connected to in the marrow of my bones. Shows like Luis Jacob's Habitat, Michael Awad's Present Tense and the Wallworks series, especially Denyse Thomasos' work make me feel like I've spent Christmas with my dream relatives - vital, thoughtful, innovative, funny... and part of my blood. And with the older works, the "Favourites" and the Lismer shows, the way they have been chosen and mounted also connects me with what is vital in people and lets me feel those deep ties. What sparks our imagination. How our creative fires have been stoked through Lismer's legacy of art education. It doesn't take a lot of context to illuminate art when the context is so well chosen. As with my favourite exhibit so far at the AGO - the Turner, Whistler, Monet show. Thanks AGO people. Happy holidays!"
- Nicky D

"I wish the new building was better looking, and had more unity in the design. The lobby design is also very uninspiring, with its low ceiling."
- Anonymous