Owen Sound Committee - Tom Thomson Art Gallery Advisory Meeting Transcript — May 7, 2025

00:00:47 Speaker 01: Okay, welcome everyone.

00:00:48 Speaker 01: It's two o'clock, May seventh.

00:00:51 Speaker 02: This is the meeting of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery Advisory Committee, and we have Councillor Koepke, Member Starr, Member Tubble, Member Tuvo, Member McCarroll, and Member Montgomery in the chambers,

00:01:02 Speaker 02: and Member Hopkins joining us online.

00:01:05 Speaker 02: Member Colch is not in the meeting today at this time.

00:01:10 Speaker 02: First item before us is additional business.

00:01:13 Speaker 02: Are there any items of additional business?

00:01:18 Speaker 02: Not seeing any.

00:01:20 Speaker 02: And next item is declarations of interest.

00:01:23 Speaker 02: Anyone have any declarations to declare at this time?

00:01:27 Speaker 02: Not seeing confirmation of minutes.

00:01:30 Speaker 02: These minutes were approved by council without any comment or concerns expressed.

00:01:36 Speaker 02: So I'm just looking for a mover for receipt of those minutes.

00:01:40 Speaker 02: Were there any questions on the minutes from committee?

00:01:44 Speaker 02: None.

00:01:44 Speaker 02: Okay, Member Tubble has so moved.

00:01:47 Speaker 02: All those in favour of receipt, and that's carried unanimously.

00:01:52 Speaker 02: And we are at item 5A, which is a presentation.

00:01:53 Speaker 02: Item five A, which is a presentation from the Director and Chief Curator regarding spring highlights.

00:01:59 Speaker 02: So, welcome to the meeting at this time, Aidan.

00:02:04 Speaker 03: Thank you, and through the chair to the committee and all those watching.

00:02:08 Speaker 03: I'm pleased to present a little presentation of the things that we've been up to since reopening, following a double HVAC—that's heat, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning unit—replacement at the Tom,

00:02:21 Speaker 03: which had us closed for a few months from January through to our reopening on April the fifth, I think.

00:02:28 Speaker 03: Kim is just uploading our PowerPoint presentation right here.

00:02:30 Speaker 03: We're ready to roll, so I'm just going to dig into the slides here.

00:02:33 Speaker 03: If it will change for me, maybe this needs to be turned on.

00:02:38 Speaker 03: It is on.

00:02:41 Speaker 03: Whoops!

00:02:41 Speaker 03: Did I?

00:02:42 Speaker 03: That's okay.

00:02:49 Speaker 03: Minor technical difficulties for those watching.

00:02:51 Speaker 03: Just give us a second, please.

00:03:08 Speaker 03: We are back in business, everyone.

00:03:09 Speaker 03: Thanks for that fix, Operations Coordinator Kim.

00:03:13 Speaker 03: So, I'm just going to walk you through some of the things that we've been doing.

00:03:16 Speaker 03: Some of the nice pictures from the activities that we've had going on at the Tom.

00:03:21 Speaker 03: March Break Art Camp was a huge success for us.

00:03:24 Speaker 03: We had lots of campers aged eight to twelve, and we did all kinds of outdoor exploration at Harrison Park.

00:03:31 Speaker 03: It was a really creative setting.

00:03:33 Speaker 03: Many people know that Tom Thomson himself actually produced art in Harrison Park.

00:03:37 Speaker 03: It was one of his more favourite places to go in Owen Sound.

00:03:41 Speaker 03: And in fact, last year we received a donation of a painting by Tom Thomson of Harrison Park.

00:03:46 Speaker 03: So it was a great inspiration to see these kids taking on nature and exploring art throughout the week, and here you see our Curator of Public Projects and Education, Heather McLeese,

00:04:00 Speaker 03: with the kids she led the camp.

00:04:02 Speaker 03: Lots of outdoor activity time.

00:04:04 Speaker 03: There was painting, pine cones, relief sketching, pinch pot making, t-shirt making.

00:04:10 Speaker 03: The kids just had a fantastic time.

00:04:13 Speaker 03: Other things that we've been up to: we launched, relaunched, I should say, Upcycling Tom in two thousand and twenty-five in partnership with the Owen Sound Waste Watchers and East Ridge Community School.

00:04:26 Speaker 03: And here you see some of the amazing reproductions of Tom Thomson's Sunset Sky, all made with repurposed, recycled materials.

00:04:34 Speaker 03: So you can't see it too well there, but there were plastic bottle caps, clothing, all kinds of discarded materials that were repurposed into these recreations, and they turned out so vibrant.

00:04:46 Speaker 03: They were located in our lobby up until just this week, actually, and they were a great highlight during Earth Day.

00:04:55 Speaker 03: Now my clicker has stopped working again, Kim, so I'm just going to see if you could flip for me.

00:04:59 Speaker 03: Thank you.

00:05:03 Speaker 03: And so here you see a little bit more of these pieces.

00:05:06 Speaker 03: The East Ridge Community School showcased over 19 classes' upcycled interpretations of Sunset Sky.

00:05:15 Speaker 03: Click through, and this we had a family night.

00:05:21 Speaker 03: Now these are actually pictures because we had to produce the presentation a little before it goes to the committee.

00:05:27 Speaker 03: These were images from last year's piece, which featured Tom Thomson's Northern Lights through Kepl Sarawak School.

00:05:36 Speaker 03: But our family night occurred on April the twenty-ninth for East Ridge, and it was really, really well attended again this year.

00:05:42 Speaker 03: Over two hundred and forty in attendance that night, with families and kids, and everyone had a wonderful time.

00:05:48 Speaker 03: Enjoyed some charcuterie from the Milkmaid and celebrated their creations at the Tom.

00:05:54 Speaker 03: So it was just a wonderful event.

00:05:56 Speaker 03: Again, so here's a nice quote: "This project is a visual catalyst for both celebrating Canadian landscape artist Tom Thomson and connecting with students through an exploration of the single-use plastics problem."

00:06:09 Speaker 03: We were proud to present the student art exhibition, which inspires people to think differently and shows that small changes can have a big impact.

00:06:18 Speaker 03: And we celebrated our reopening with a really incredible panel discussion by three artists whose work is currently on display: Ashley Beardat, Winnie Trong, and Rehab Essa.

00:06:31 Speaker 03: Really led us through an amazing discussion of their exhibition.

00:06:35 Speaker 03: And the exhibition is so much about this idea of creating a safe and happy space for us in a time where there's a lot of complexity and challenges, and technology, and things are so fraught.

00:06:48 Speaker 03: It's an exhibition that's really intended to give us a moment of reflection, contemplation, and escape from that kind of chaos of the world.

00:06:57 Speaker 03: The reopening reception was really well attended.

00:07:00 Speaker 03: We had a fantastic turnout for that.

00:07:02 Speaker 03: We had wonderful remarks by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, as well as myself, and many members of the community came to celebrate with us.

00:07:11 Speaker 03: Here are some images from the opening, and we've also been busy with tours at the Tom.

00:07:24 Speaker 03: Here you see the Midland Probus group tour.

00:07:27 Speaker 03: We had a guided tour for thirty-three Probus group members with the Tom's Curator of Public Projects and Education in early April.

00:07:37 Speaker 03: There they are outside the Tom.

00:07:38 Speaker 03: We always like to get a nice group shot outside the Tom because it's such a great spot for it.

00:07:44 Speaker 03: And a few of our upcoming group tours that are booked, and we have lots more coming in.

00:07:49 Speaker 03: This tends to be a very busy season for us as we head into May and June when the schools are wrapping up.

00:07:55 Speaker 03: So we anticipate getting even more than this very shortly.

00:07:59 Speaker 03: Earth Day was another great success for us.

00:08:01 Speaker 03: It was a very rainy and cold day out on First Ave West, but lots of people came in to the Tom.

00:08:04 Speaker 03: But lots of people came into the Tom, probably seeking shelter, but also to see the wonderful Upcycling Tom creation, to look at our Safekeeping exhibition as well,

00:08:13 Speaker 03: which focuses on a real environmental lens where youth are reflecting on the works that are in our collection,

00:08:19 Speaker 03: and I'll share some of those insights that they have contributed to the exhibition in just a moment here.

00:08:26 Speaker 03: Some more images of Soft Futures.

00:08:29 Speaker 03: The tent is very popular with the kids.

00:08:32 Speaker 03: They love to sit on the cushions.

00:08:33 Speaker 03: The questions.

00:08:42 Speaker 03: Another exhibition that we have on view right now is Nicholas Hornianski and Everyday Utility, and his work is really interesting because for a time period he was very well known.

00:08:51 Speaker 03: He was a professor at OCAD, and many people you know knew about what he was doing in his practice,

00:08:58 Speaker 03: and so it's a real honour for us to bring these works out of our collection and to draw attention back onto him.

00:09:05 Speaker 03: He was an immigrant to Canada, but he really came to embrace the Canadian landscape and to want to showcase it through his art.

00:09:13 Speaker 03: And so, there's sort of a nationalistic edge to his work as well, which feels very timely to us.

00:09:19 Speaker 03: Some more images of his work installed at the Tom and Safekeeping exhibition I just spoke about.

00:09:30 Speaker 03: We'll just continue through, clicking here, Kim.

00:09:37 Speaker 03: Those right there are the three Tom Thompsons that we received as a recent bequest to the gallery, and we're currently seeking donations for their conservation and reframing.

00:09:48 Speaker 03: And I'm really pleased to report that at this time we have a pledge of five thousand towards this project, a donation of one thousand, and a further donation of five hundred dollars.

00:09:57 Speaker 03: So we're doing very well towards our goal of having these conserved and reframed.

00:10:03 Speaker 03: Now, I just wanted to share a few of these slides because they are so resonant, and it really shows the impact that art can have on young perspectives.

00:10:12 Speaker 03: We've had youth; we've provided them with the opportunity to engage with the collection directly around works that are environmental.

00:10:21 Speaker 03: And so, you see here in the bottom left-hand corner, Sarah Anglucchi's piece, Arboretum, and Cole, age six, has responded to that by saying, "Fresh air and tree lovers, this makes me feel happy."

00:10:37 Speaker 03: John Abrams' Red Landscape Wheel Forest Fire from two thousand two, and Callie, age eight, responded,

00:10:45 Speaker 03: "Forest fires make me feel worried because they can hurt people," and they include their own sketch along with in response to the work in the collection.

00:10:54 Speaker 03: This one is self-portrait with animals from Theo, age six, responding to Kenoshaq Ashivak, and Lyndon, age twelve,

00:11:02 Speaker 03: wrote the Northern Lights painting reminds me of how important our skies are and how much we need to protect them.

00:11:08 Speaker 03: If we don't do something soon, then we may never see the sky again.

00:11:11 Speaker 03: My favourite part is how he's mastered the shading on the water.

00:11:15 Speaker 03: This painting is a call to action, which makes me sad that we even have to have something like that to remind us that we need to act.

00:11:24 Speaker 03: That's responding to Tom Thomson's Northern Lights, and finally, I just end off on a slide.

00:11:31 Speaker 03: This is for our summer art camps, and I will give you more of an update on how many spots we have left in my regular update report.

00:11:38 Speaker 03: But I can say that it's going very well, and our camps are really a couple of them are sold out.

00:11:45 Speaker 03: Some of them are nearing full, so we're really pleased and we're excited to have people come to the Tom for the summer.

00:11:50 Speaker 03: With that, concludes my presentation.

00:11:54 Speaker 03: Thank you very much, Aidan.

00:11:55 Speaker 02: And just before we go to Councillor Koepke, hopefully the questions will focus on the summer camps because I'm not ready to look at those slides of the winter March break camps again, showing the snow.

00:12:06 Speaker 02: Over to you, Councillor Koepke.

00:12:09 Speaker 04: Thank you so much, and thanks for your presentation.

00:12:12 Speaker 04: Just a curiosity I have, and I do see what some of the young people have written as compared to some of the artwork, but when you have a tour of primary grades,

00:12:25 Speaker 04: what do you focus on for that tour, particularly?

00:12:31 Speaker 04: That's a great question.

00:12:32 Speaker 04: I think you know well.

00:12:34 Speaker 03: It depends on the exhibitions, of course, but we always go through the themes of all of our exhibitions, and so we sometimes, depending on what they're studying in school,

00:12:42 Speaker 03: we can cater it more towards the curriculum.

00:12:44 Speaker 03: So if there's like colour or light theory things that they're studying, then we can focus in on those aspects within the tour, but in general,

00:12:53 Speaker 03: we're trying to distill the concepts and the exhibitions for the children, and to get them to engage with the works directly by asking them questions.

00:13:01 Speaker 03: So we really try and make the tours interactive, and to work with the teachers beforehand so that we know that we're meeting the needs of the school programmememe.

00:13:12 Speaker 03: Thank you.

00:13:12 Speaker 03: Good question.

00:13:14 Speaker 03: Any further questions, Member Tavalet?

00:13:21 Speaker 03: That's right.

00:13:22 Speaker 03: Okay.

00:13:23 Speaker 03: You had a photograph of the Probus group.

00:13:26 Speaker 03: Which group is that?

00:13:26 Speaker 03: Because there are quite a few of them around.

00:13:28 Speaker 03: I know.

00:13:29 Speaker 03: Midland.

00:13:31 Speaker 03: Okay.

00:13:31 Speaker 03: Sorry, just confirming that that was the Midland Probus group.

00:13:42 Speaker 03: And I can't see you on the screen right now.

00:13:44 Speaker 02: But if I could just pass it to you, Member Hopkins, if you had any questions or comments at this time.

00:13:57 Speaker 02: Ah, sorry, no, I'm good.

00:14:00 Speaker 02: I'm struggling here with my screens, but no, I'm okay.

00:14:03 Speaker 02: Thank you.

00:14:05 Speaker 02: Okay, thanks, Tyler.

00:14:07 Speaker 02: Yeah, no, that's positive, and I'll go back to Peter.

00:14:12 Speaker 02: Um, and sorry, in terms of the restoration project, how much are you?

00:14:16 Speaker 02: What was the total cost that is projected, and where are you now in terms of donations?

00:14:23 Speaker 03: So, as I mentioned, a pledge of five thousand, a donation of one thousand for six thousand, and then another donation of five hundred.

00:14:29 Speaker 03: So, sixty-five hundred, and we anticipate it's approximately eight to nine thousand dollars for the restoration and framing project.

00:14:40 Speaker 03: Okay.

00:14:41 Speaker 03: Thank you for that overview this morning.

00:14:43 Speaker 02: Great to see so much activity going on during a period where you were shut down and impacted so much with the HVAC renovations.

00:14:51 Speaker 02: So great to see us slipping right into the spring season now with a lot to look forward to in 2025.

00:15:01 Speaker 02: So we are at item six, which is a public forum, and there is no one gathered here to ask a question this afternoon.

00:15:09 Speaker 02: We've got no correspondence received for which direction is required.

00:15:12 Speaker 02: So we have two reports of city staff.

00:15:14 Speaker 02: The first of which is a May update, and this time I'll go back to Eden to provide that overview.

00:15:23 Speaker 02: Great, thank you so much.

00:15:24 Speaker 03: And you've seen lots of the activities through that presentation of what we've been up to, but I'll just take a little walk through my report.

00:15:31 Speaker 03: And if anyone has questions at the end, you can certainly ask me.

00:15:35 Speaker 03: As I previously reported, we reopened on April 5 with those three new exhibitions, which you've seen: Safekeeping, Nicholas Hornyanski, and Soft Futures,

00:15:47 Speaker 03: and there's lots more information in my report about the exhibitions themselves and the artists and the kinds of caliber that we've attracted to the Tom.

00:15:56 Speaker 03: And it's just so great to see artists like Ashley Beardat, Rehab, and Winnie at the Tom because they're young and they're so engaged with contemporary issues and what's going on.

00:16:05 Speaker 03: And their exhibition has just brought a whole other level of interaction.

00:16:09 Speaker 03: It's so great to see people going into the Tom and being able to like interact with the art and respond to it.

00:16:15 Speaker 03: So many positive comments coming back from visitors at this time.

00:16:20 Speaker 03: And I also included in my report the upcoming exhibitions that we have that will be opening on June 28.

00:16:26 Speaker 03: We have Ellie McKay, Only Human.

00:16:29 Speaker 03: It's a solo exhibition of new work.

00:16:31 Speaker 03: She's an Owen Sound artist, and the exhibition grapples with mounting ethical questions surrounding the rise of artificial intelligence and the complications of preserving artistic autonomy in a digital age.

00:16:44 Speaker 03: So visitors for this exhibition will be asked to lock their cell phones away before engaging with the exhibition,

00:16:51 Speaker 03: and it's really a protective and perhaps a future tactic to really push back against technologies and that sort of invasive gaze that they represent.

00:17:01 Speaker 03: All the Calamity is for us; I think, a landmark exhibition at the Tom.

00:17:07 Speaker 03: You know, War and Peace—they're diametrically opposed, but they exist simultaneously, and it's something we don't think about.

00:17:14 Speaker 03: But while Tom Thomson was painting these majestic, beautiful, inspiring landscapes of Canada, of Algonquin Park, we don't think about—you know—the time period in which he was painting so often.

00:17:26 Speaker 03: But we have to be reminded that you know, between 1914 and 1917, there was collective anxiety—a world war.

00:17:35 Speaker 03: Anxiety, a world war taking place, and so we wanted to bring this exhibition forward as a way to think about that context in which he was making this art.

00:17:46 Speaker 03: And so we've also borrowed works from the Canadian War Museum and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection to further explore this kind of context in which he was working.

00:17:56 Speaker 03: In a third exhibition, Sue Renard, it's really a counterpoint to All the Calamity.

00:18:03 Speaker 03: It's a two-channel video installation, and it's really a haunting and disquieting story of Vernon Rowley, the artist's uncle, who participated in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.

00:18:15 Speaker 03: And so, the video footage combines verbal and written exchanges with family archives, historical footage,

00:18:21 Speaker 03: evoking that nuclear warfare and the landscapes of the Utah Airfield and bombing range where Rowley trained for the atomic mission by the U.S. government.

00:18:30 Speaker 03: So, some really powerful exhibition.

00:18:32 Speaker 03: Powerful exhibitions that look at you know conflict, whether that's in with technology and AI or whether that's in terms of like politics and land.

00:18:43 Speaker 03: And moving forward, looking at our education and engagement highlights, we mentioned we talked about the March Break art camps that were such a success.

00:18:53 Speaker 03: They were inspired by the legacy of Tom Thomson.

00:18:55 Speaker 03: How awesome to be able to be in Harrison Park where he painted, and for the kids to draw inspiration from that.

00:19:00 Speaker 03: We're excited to bring those camps back to the Tom this summer, and to have them be able to access the art directly, go up and see Tom Thomson's work, and be inspired.

00:19:10 Speaker 03: Go down to the studio and create their own work, and still go outside and take in the nature.

00:19:15 Speaker 03: I just wanted to provide you with an update about our art camps.

00:19:19 Speaker 03: They're doing so well.

00:19:20 Speaker 03: Our first weekend in July, from July 7 to 11, is sold out.

00:19:24 Speaker 03: July 14 to 18 has 10 out of 15 spots filled.

00:19:29 Speaker 03: July 25 to July 31 is sold out.

00:19:34 Speaker 03: July 28 to August 1, eight of fifteen spots are filled, and August 11 to 15, six of fifteen spots are filled, and August 18 to 22, thirteen of the fifteen spots are filled.

00:19:46 Speaker 03: So there are just a couple of weeks really with remaining available significant space in them.

00:19:51 Speaker 03: So we're really excited for this.

00:19:53 Speaker 03: We're so grateful to the Qantas Club of Owen Sound for sponsoring our art camps this year,

00:20:00 Speaker 03: and we will be offering space free of charge to children who are identified as in need of attending these.

00:20:11 Speaker 03: And so we'll be working with, I think it's Grey Bruce Family and Child Services to identify those that would qualify for coming to the town.

00:20:22 Speaker 03: So we're very excited for that.

00:20:24 Speaker 03: Other things that we have going on: the gallery movies update that Kim has actually provided to me.

00:20:32 Speaker 03: Gallery Night at the Movies has had its final presentation April 28.

00:20:37 Speaker 03: This past season consisted of nine film presentations and over 26 screenings from September to April, with 2,209 patrons attending. 227 patrons purchased season passes.

00:20:50 Speaker 03: Forty-five percent of those were Gallery Supporter Circle members, and the season is facilitated each and every screening by a dedicated group of eleven film programmememe volunteers,

00:21:02 Speaker 03: several of whom have been with the programmememe for all of its 27 seasons.

00:21:07 Speaker 03: Gallery Night at the Movies receives over five thousand dollars in sponsorship support from sponsors including Scott Coker and Ryan Hood TD Wealth, Doug Cameron's Owen Sound Subaru, Well Hand Health Foods Store,

00:21:19 Speaker 03: and Shannon Decker's ReMax Grey Bruce Realty.

00:21:22 Speaker 03: So in just a few short weeks, planning begins for the 28th season of Gallery Night at the Movies, with passes going on sale in August.

00:21:32 Speaker 03: So we're really looking forward to that.

00:21:34 Speaker 03: It's hard to believe that it's almost been three decades of movies at the Tom.

00:21:38 Speaker 03: So that's pretty fantastic.

00:21:41 Speaker 03: Looking ahead, the gallery will be participating in Art Walk again this year on June 21 from 10 to 3.

00:21:47 Speaker 03: And this event attracts a lot of visitors to the city.

00:21:51 Speaker 03: They enjoy arts, culture, shopping, restaurants, and in addition to that, we'll also be participating this year as a site in Doors Open, which is that same day as well.

00:22:00 Speaker 03: So it's going to be a very busy day at the Tom.

00:22:03 Speaker 03: Other things, looking at the collection, we're still relocating the works that were moved temporarily to temporary storage back into the vault again,

00:22:13 Speaker 03: and I just have to say I'm so proud of the team led by our curator of exhibitions and collections, Shannon Bingham, and she's done an exceptional job of planning this move,

00:22:24 Speaker 03: both into the temporary storage and then back to the vault.

00:22:28 Speaker 03: And in fact, repurposing some of the storage units, we had those temporary units back into the vault and replacing old ones that were, you know, not suitable and creating more space.

00:22:39 Speaker 03: We're actually able to take a good look at, you know, the configurations that we have now and, to some degree, be much more careful.

00:22:48 Speaker 03: But we're putting things and being tactical so that we can be more efficient in terms of the space use in the vault.

00:22:56 Speaker 03: On April 15, five Tom Thomson paintings from the gallery's collection, which had been on tour as part of Tom Thomson North Star, they were returned.

00:23:05 Speaker 03: The exhibition was developed by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, launched in 2023.

00:23:11 Speaker 03: They toured to the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Odin Art Museum in Whistler, B.C., and they finished at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, just this year in 2025.

00:23:22 Speaker 03: So for the exhibition, Tom Thomson's Snow and Earth was reframed by the McMichael to provide better stability to the piece, and the Tom will keep the work in the new frame at no cost.

00:23:31 Speaker 03: So that's always a great added benefit to having these works go on tour.

00:23:35 Speaker 03: Sometimes they do work to them, and they can come back, and we benefit by that.

00:23:40 Speaker 03: In addition to this, true view non-reflective glazing was added to Wildflowers and Algonquin Park.

00:23:46 Speaker 03: This provides a level of additional protection to those works.

00:23:49 Speaker 03: So again, another added benefit to having these works on tour.

00:23:53 Speaker 03: But they have been out for two years.

00:23:54 Speaker 03: We're so thrilled to have them back at the Tom, and they'll be available for people to come to Owen Sound and see once again.

00:24:04 Speaker 03: In terms of our operations, I'll just touch on tourism at the Tom.

00:24:08 Speaker 03: All staff are supporting the continued provision of services to the public art to the public at the front desk, and new hours will be in effect from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday.

00:24:21 Speaker 03: The gallery and tourism hours will extend to seven days per week, starting the May long weekend.

00:24:28 Speaker 03: Staff are also still busy in terms of that reorganisation under the atrium.

00:24:33 Speaker 03: So this is not directly related to the collection, but it's where we have additional storage underneath the gallery.

00:24:40 Speaker 03: So we're also undertaking a comprehensive review of how we're storing stuff, where we're storing stuff, and we have a section for tourism, a section for installation, a section for cleaning.

00:24:49 Speaker 03: So we're just trying to make sure that things are as effective as possible in terms of that storage area.

00:24:56 Speaker 03: Fundraising 2025: A report from the chair, actually, the chair of the fundraising team is attached to the agenda for this meeting.

00:25:03 Speaker 03: But I understand that it will be presented by Peter at this meeting, who is also a member of the fundraising team.

00:25:10 Speaker 03: The gallery posted a part-time fundraising coordinator position, and an offer was accepted.

00:25:17 Speaker 03: This position has now onboarded and started with us.

00:25:20 Speaker 03: I'm really excited to say her first shift was last weekend, and we are off to the races.

00:25:26 Speaker 03: It's just so positive for us, and I think having a dedicated person to fundraising is really going to help the Tom move forward.

00:25:35 Speaker 03: We are working with the fundraising team on a fundraising plan for 2025, which seeks to meet those revenue targets for the gallery; it includes a strong focus on sponsorship, advanced event planning,

00:25:47 Speaker 03: and testing some new concepts.

00:25:48 Speaker 03: And I'm really quite excited to see what Emily Coleman, our new fundraising coordinator, will bring to the table.

00:25:55 Speaker 03: In my initial meetings with her, she had many creative ideas and ways of elevating events we're doing already,

00:26:01 Speaker 03: and some ideas about events that we may yet try in the future that are manageable and which have lots of potential to engage the community.

00:26:11 Speaker 03: In alignment with the fundraising plans, staff are in the design stage of the 2026 fundraising calendar.

00:26:17 Speaker 03: It features works from the collection on the theme of horizons.

00:26:20 Speaker 03: There'll probably be a bit more about that in that fundraising update report.

00:26:24 Speaker 03: In terms of grants, the gallery submitted the 2025 annual update report to the Canada Council for the Arts and has received our payment of $70,000 for this year.

00:26:33 Speaker 03: We've also submitted a multi-year operating grant.

00:26:36 Speaker 03: It's a four-year grant; this year that runs from 2026 to '29 to the Federal Council for the Arts, and we're in our final year of that current multi-year operating grant,

00:26:47 Speaker 03: which is why we had to apply for the next four years.

00:26:50 Speaker 03: And that's a major undertaking.

00:26:51 Speaker 03: There's a lot of information that we have to provide to them.

00:26:54 Speaker 03: So kudos to my team for their efforts in getting that done amidst moving the collection, amidst expanding the hours, and amidst getting three exhibitions up.

00:27:03 Speaker 03: So it's been a busy time.

00:27:07 Speaker 03: We have received our year two of the Ontario Arts Council operating grant for 2025.

00:27:13 Speaker 03: We'll be providing our year three annual update for the deadline on June 4th.

00:27:18 Speaker 03: And I've just noted the amount of that grant is $51,106, and is on target.

00:27:23 Speaker 03: The gallery received funding from Young Canada Works this year for two summer student positions that will support the development and delivery of our summer art camps,

00:27:32 Speaker 03: and the amount of that grant was just over $12,000.

00:27:36 Speaker 03: The Open Team was successful in securing $15,000 from Bruce Power to support the implementation of pollinator gardens at the library and gallery in 2025.

00:27:46 Speaker 03: And so we're currently in the planning and design phase for that.

00:27:51 Speaker 03: We've been meeting as a team to go over how we implement pollinator plants around the gallery and library, and we will be starting with some of those large pots that you see out front.

00:28:02 Speaker 03: So, doing a simple thing for the spring, and then having a more comprehensive plan for planting in the fall.

00:28:11 Speaker 03: So, overall, even though you know we had our closure of our exhibition spaces, that will definitely have some kind of impact on our door donations.

00:28:19 Speaker 03: It did take place during our off-season, and typically spring to fall is the busiest time for the gallery, with so many tourists and visitors coming to see the exhibitions.

00:28:28 Speaker 03: Staff successfully undertook the major project to relocate the collection for the HVAC replacements, and used that as a chance to create efficiencies for us.

00:28:38 Speaker 03: The relaunch of Art Camp programmememing is reconnecting kids and parents with the gallery.

00:28:42 Speaker 03: As our projects such as Safekeeping and Upcycling, Tom, we're back to our regular opening hours, and they'll be extended in May to seven days a week.

00:28:52 Speaker 03: Overall, operating grants have been successfully received, as well as for two summer student positions.

00:28:58 Speaker 03: The gallery is working with the fundraising team on our plan and the calendar, focusing on those sponsorships.

00:29:04 Speaker 03: And although fundraising, we acknowledge, remains a challenge in the current economic climate,

00:29:09 Speaker 03: we're optimistic that our new fundraising coordinator position will provide key support in growing that portfolio and establishing a solid infrastructure for our fundraising in the future.

00:29:18 Speaker 03: And with that, that essentially concludes my report.

00:29:22 Speaker 03: It is provided for information purposes, and if you have any questions, I would be happy to take them.

00:29:31 Speaker 03: Okay, thanks, Aidan.

00:29:32 Speaker 03: And are there any questions?

00:29:33 Speaker 03: Member Starr, go ahead.

00:29:37 Speaker 05: Yeah, I was just curious if you could speak a little bit more about what the Tom's involvement in the Art Walk looks like, or what that role is.

00:29:50 Speaker 05: Thanks for that question.

00:29:51 Speaker 05: That's really great.

00:29:51 Speaker 03: So we are typically a site, and so we'll be part of the map, and people will come to the Tom to...

00:29:56 Speaker 03: We'll be promoting our exhibitions, so people can come there.

00:30:00 Speaker 03: We'll have the tourism students on site as well to provide additional information in case we have visitors from out of the region and they want to visit other, you know,

00:30:08 Speaker 03: go on walks or visit the falls, that kind of thing.

00:30:11 Speaker 03: So it really is being a part of the overall site visiting for the art walk, so people can come and see our exhibitions.

00:30:21 Speaker 03: Okay, thank you.

00:30:23 Speaker 03: Not seeing any further questions.

00:30:25 Speaker 03: Oh, oh, go back to Kelsey.

00:30:26 Speaker 03: Follow up.

00:30:29 Speaker 05: Now, we've spoken a bit about the temperature in terms of fundraising right now.

00:30:38 Speaker 05: What is the temperature looking in terms of like operational?

00:30:43 Speaker 05: Some of these like large scale operational grants.

00:30:46 Speaker 05: Is it sort of like is the projection that we're assuming that we will get the funding we're requesting?

00:30:54 Speaker 05: Is it become more competitive?

00:30:56 Speaker 05: I'm just curious about that.

00:30:59 Speaker 05: Thank you.

00:31:00 Speaker 03: That is a great question, Member Starr, and through you, Chair, to answer that.

00:31:04 Speaker 03: We did have a meeting.

00:31:06 Speaker 03: It was a kind of an online session with the Canada Council for the Arts, and they talked about this climate that we're in as well.

00:31:14 Speaker 03: But they did indicate that their priorities were still those that were receiving core grants, and they suggested that while you know, we may not wish to ask for any more than we're receiving now,

00:31:26 Speaker 03: that their hope was that they could provide stability across the sector.

00:31:30 Speaker 03: So I take that as a positive sign at this time that they're willing and aiming to keep these core institutions stabilized as we move forward.

00:31:41 Speaker 03: Because I think they also recognize the tremendous pressure that arts organisations are under across Canada.

00:31:49 Speaker 03: So, yeah, it was definitely an acknowledged challenging time from them.

00:31:56 Speaker 03: The Ontario Arts Council hasn't really provided an update, so I couldn't really speak to that at this time.

00:32:04 Speaker 03: Thanks, Kelsey.

00:32:05 Speaker 03: Councillor Capu, next.

00:32:07 Speaker 04: And just in line with that question, what is the amount that the city's budget is for the art gallery?

00:32:20 Speaker 04: I'll give you time to check that, and if you can just answer later, that'd be great.

00:32:24 Speaker 02: While you're looking for that, Aidan, just a small follow-up to Kelsey's question: When the arts councils speak about stable funding, do they include like annual inflationary increases or slight index amounts year to year,

00:32:43 Speaker 02: or do they just look at flatline?

00:32:45 Speaker 02: In which case, it's not quite stable.

00:32:48 Speaker 02: It'd be great to know that they consider indexing it every year, just even for inflationary increases.

00:32:57 Speaker 03: Thank you, and to the chair, that is a wonderful question.

00:33:00 Speaker 03: They didn't speak to indexing or inflationary costs in that meeting.

00:33:05 Speaker 03: It's certainly a challenge that we're facing.

00:33:08 Speaker 03: So you're right.

00:33:09 Speaker 03: I mean, keeping the amounts that we're receiving the same is even more challenging for us because everything is going up.

00:33:18 Speaker 03: So, yeah, it's discussion that I'm hoping will be taken up through the Canadian Art Museum Directors Organisation at the annual meeting this year,

00:33:28 Speaker 03: because I know everybody is facing the same difficulties in terms of you know our funding structures.

00:33:36 Speaker 06: Yeah, hopefully they would be receptive to that because it's polite discussion just to ask for annual increases that are you know in parallel with inflation and still proportionate with your organisational costs.

00:33:49 Speaker 06: I think Pam's got maybe a response there for Council Koepke.

00:33:54 Speaker 07: Just looking at our online financial information, so the budget total is four hundred and thirty-one thousand, and now that is three hundred and fifty-two thousand, really for operational things,

00:34:05 Speaker 07: and then seventy-nine thousand related to building costs.

00:34:12 Speaker 07: Seventy-nine thousand for building costs, three hundred and fifty-two thousand for operating costs, so a total of four hundred and thirty-one thousand.

00:34:25 Speaker 07: Follow up, Councillor Capu.

00:34:27 Speaker 07: Thank you.

00:34:27 Speaker 04: If I could just respond to that, I just want to highlight that that is a very low budget for running a facility such as the art gallery,

00:34:38 Speaker 04: and I just want to congratulate you on the other efforts that you make towards granting.

00:34:47 Speaker 04: Yes, Member Montgomery, go ahead.

00:34:52 Speaker 04: Thank you very much.

00:34:53 Speaker 08: So, just to take that to the next step, so we see that four hundred and thirty-one thousand is the contribution or whatever from the city.

00:35:02 Speaker 08: What is our total budget?

00:35:03 Speaker 08: I should maybe know that, but I didn't see it.

00:35:12 Speaker 09: I wonder if we could work with the director of corporate services and maybe send a little summary out for the new committee.

00:35:21 Speaker 09: That would just let you know, sort of, here's the budget, here's how much is being raised in sponsorship, donations, grants, and kind of give you a bit of a breakdown.

00:35:31 Speaker 09: If that would be helpful.

00:35:34 Speaker 08: Yes, that would be really helpful, especially for new members.

00:35:36 Speaker 08: Thank you.

00:35:39 Speaker 04: Councillor Koepke, I wonder if rather than just sending it out, could we maybe just have it on the next agenda, and then everybody's in tune at the same time.

00:35:51 Speaker 04: Thank you.

00:35:53 Speaker 04: Yeah, we'll make sure the information is available, Cami.

00:35:57 Speaker 02: One follow-up or last question for you: There's some really generous grants that you've just reported upon from the community and organisations.

00:36:06 Speaker 02: What type of communication back do we do?

00:36:12 Speaker 02: I mean, that fifteen thousand dollars is wonderful from Bruce Power to support the pollinator gardens.

00:36:18 Speaker 02: Do we take the lead on that, or do we leave that to the library to respond?

00:36:23 Speaker 02: And what does response look like to donors?

00:36:27 Speaker 02: Whether it's five hundred dollars or a thousand or fifteen thousand, they're all very important donations.

00:36:34 Speaker 02: So I just wonder how we respond to that generosity.

00:36:38 Speaker 03: Thank you, and to the chair, that's a great question as well.

00:36:42 Speaker 03: So, in the case of the fifteen thousand dollars from Bruce Power, the library does take the lead on that.

00:36:46 Speaker 03: They were the lead applicant for that project.

00:36:49 Speaker 03: However, they tend to have like criteria for how they wanted their logo to be attached to the project, and we promote them through our newsletters and in association with that project wherever it might exist,

00:37:01 Speaker 03: whether it's on the social media or etc. In other cases, like the Ontario Arts Council has very specific things, like they want you acknowledged at every opening publicly.

00:37:10 Speaker 03: They want you acknowledged on the wall.

00:37:12 Speaker 03: They want you to have their logo a certain size on your communications.

00:37:17 Speaker 03: So we follow those protocols very closely.

00:37:20 Speaker 03: And I think one of the great opportunities that we have, though, is when we have corporate sponsors for things like events, like our Deadly Pairing event,

00:37:28 Speaker 03: that we'll develop a more standardized way of acknowledging and providing a benefits package to these sponsors to entice them to join us, and then entice them to rejoin us the next year.

00:37:41 Speaker 03: So I think that's going to be an incredibly important part of the work that our fundraising coordinator does over the next period of months.

00:37:50 Speaker 03: Thanks for that.

00:37:51 Speaker 03: Not seeing any other questions at this time.

00:37:54 Speaker 03: I'm looking for mover of the report for receipt.

00:37:59 Speaker 03: Member Starr has so moved.

00:38:01 Speaker 03: Any other further questions?

00:38:03 Speaker 03: None seen.

00:38:04 Speaker 03: All those in favour, receive.

00:38:06 Speaker 03: And that is carried.

00:38:07 Speaker 03: Thank you.

00:38:08 Speaker 02: Item eight B is a report on the standard operating procedure for attendance tracking.

00:38:13 Speaker 02: So back to Aidan.

00:38:16 Speaker 02: Thank you very much.

00:38:17 Speaker 03: And I won't go through the standard operating procedure for attendance tracking itself in great detail because it's included in the package.

00:38:27 Speaker 03: But I'll just touch on the report.

00:38:29 Speaker 03: So we've developed this procedure in order to create consistent methods of tracking, recording, and reporting attendance data for in-person visits to the gallery, as well as off-site exhibitions, art installations, programmememing, and events.

00:38:42 Speaker 03: We've been tracking data for more than twenty-five years.

00:38:45 Speaker 03: I mean that's just as far back as we could go and to find records of that.

00:38:48 Speaker 03: I'm sure it was even prior to that.

00:38:51 Speaker 03: I'm sure that we've been tracking attendance for a long time.

00:38:54 Speaker 03: But that is, we know that for more than twenty-five years, we're required to submit attendance data to the Canadian Arts Database (CADAC) as part of provincial and federal operating grant cycles,

00:39:05 Speaker 03: and these funding bodies use that data to gauge trends and to measure the health of the sector.

00:39:11 Speaker 03: A key focus for us has been front desk staff training to ensure consistent use of the forms that we have and accurate recording of data.

00:39:21 Speaker 03: So we have updated our forms and done training with all of the staff that are at the front, broadly, you know,

00:39:30 Speaker 03: we look at attendance data because it helps us to understand the areas where our organisation is growing and also areas where it might be experiencing less growth or declining engagement,

00:39:43 Speaker 03: and that helps us to plan the types of activities that we're delivering in terms of our exhibitions and programmememing.

00:39:50 Speaker 03: In the past, gallery attendance has been tracked using different methodologies, and that's resulted in inconsistencies in reporting total attendance, such as the inclusion of offsite project attendance estimates.

00:40:02 Speaker 03: And to address this, we've drafted the standard operating procedure for the collection methodology and reporting of attendance data.

00:40:09 Speaker 03: The SOP relies on a series of forms for collecting the data.

00:40:14 Speaker 03: We were going to include them for feedback here, however, they were removed.

00:40:20 Speaker 03: But if anyone would like to see those, we're happy to share them as well.

00:40:25 Speaker 03: This will help to ensure that tracking is standardized, consistent, and prevents human error.

00:40:31 Speaker 03: In May 2024, a new bidirectional automatic people counter; several of them were installed at the front entrance and also at the upper level exhibition doors, eliminating that need for staff to manually divide the counter.

00:40:45 Speaker 03: These counters at the upper level exhibition space allow tracking of visitors that are specific only to the exhibitions, and so those numbers would be separate from those just entering the facility.

00:40:56 Speaker 03: Those that might be going into tourism or going in to use the washrooms.

00:41:01 Speaker 03: These only count the people that are going up into the exhibition space.

00:41:05 Speaker 03: We've identified ways to better collect attendance data in person through our updated data collection sheets.

00:41:12 Speaker 03: That they include a daily visitor tracking form, off-site programmememe event attendance form, and a programmememe event attendance form.

00:41:20 Speaker 03: The monthly attendance tracking form has been streamlined to make it clear for staff use.

00:41:26 Speaker 03: So, along with the updated forms, is the procedure that will establish the consistent methods of tracking, recording, and reporting of the data for in-person visits to the gallery and for those off-site exhibitions and programmememes.

00:41:41 Speaker 03: And the benefits, really, to us are having this standardized methodology.

00:41:45 Speaker 03: It allows us to have effective allocation of staff and resources based on peak visiting times, quantitative data to identify trends, popular exhibitions, and visitor demographics, which aid in strategic planning and exhibition development.

00:42:00 Speaker 03: It also supports partnerships by allowing partners to see the benefits of the gallery, helping staff to monitor visitor numbers for capacity management to ensure safety protocols are met and for emergency preparedness.

00:42:13 Speaker 03: And finally, it also assists in tailoring marketing efforts by understanding visitor patterns and preferences.

00:42:18 Speaker 03: A key focus will be this front desk staff training to ensure the consistent use of these forms and the accurate collecting and recording of data.

00:42:28 Speaker 03: If you have any questions with regard to the standard operating procedure for attendance, I'd be happy to try and answer those.

00:42:36 Speaker 03: Okay.

00:42:37 Speaker 03: And Member Tavel, first question, go ahead.

00:42:41 Speaker 03: Thank you, Aidan.

00:42:42 Speaker 03: Is there any method of tracking online visits?

00:42:46 Speaker 03: People come online to the gallery's website.

00:42:51 Speaker 03: Yes, there is methodology for tracking online engagement, and we are treating that separate to attendance.

00:42:57 Speaker 03: We're treating it as engagement, and so that will be included in a yearly report back to this committee.

00:43:07 Speaker 03: And anything further?

00:43:09 Speaker 03: Not seeing any members.

00:43:10 Speaker 03: Star, go ahead.

00:43:12 Speaker 03: Not a question, just a comment.

00:43:13 Speaker 03: I think this is fantastic.

00:43:16 Speaker 03: It's really good.

00:43:16 Speaker 05: It's really clear, and I'm hoping that it also feels supportive to staff members in having such clear direction.

00:43:24 Speaker 05: And as somebody who is a keeper of data in my work life, I really, really understand the importance of this.

00:43:33 Speaker 05: So thank you very much.

00:43:34 Speaker 05: It's great.

00:43:37 Speaker 05: Okay.

00:43:37 Speaker 05: Thank you very much.

00:43:39 Speaker 05: Not seeing any further questions regarding the report, so I thank you, Spalding.

00:43:41 Speaker 02: Report so I think he spelled out everything really well for committee there.

00:43:45 Speaker 02: I don't see a hand raised virtually from Tyler, so we do have a recommendation just to receive this report for information purposes, and Linda has so moved.

00:43:57 Speaker 02: Any further questions?

00:43:58 Speaker 02: All those in favour of receipt, and that is carried unanimously.

00:44:02 Speaker 02: Thank you.

00:44:05 Speaker 02: So we are down to item nine, which is reports of working groups, and the first one is item nine A, which is report from the fundraising team, and I believe Peter is providing that.

00:44:15 Speaker 02: So to you, Peter.

00:44:17 Speaker 02: Great.

00:44:17 Speaker 02: Thank you, Chair.

00:44:18 Speaker 02: As we've talked about before, the sixth edition of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery annual fundraising calendars currently in design phase, and be printed this month, May.

00:44:30 Speaker 10: This allows the summer retail location to get the calendars in June, and the gallery to capture additional sales with summer visitors on site.

00:44:38 Speaker 10: The calendar artwork adopters are about.

00:44:39 Speaker 10: Artwork adopters of about one hundred thousand dollars in artwork have been secured, and forty plus retailers across Grey, Bruce, and Simcoe will host the two thousand and twenty-six calendar.

00:44:51 Speaker 10: Horizons is a theme, as Zayden mentioned before, for the two thousand and twenty-six edition, showcasing thirteen pieces from the gallery's permanent collection.

00:44:58 Speaker 10: The calendar, two thousand and twenty-five calendar edition, wrapped up with a net revenue of twenty-four thousand two hundred and ten dollars, bringing the five-year total to over one hundred and twenty.

00:45:08 Speaker 10: To over one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, funds raised to support the gallery.

00:45:11 Speaker 10: This is an important fundraising thing that we do, and it's been very successful.

00:45:16 Speaker 10: And we hope to keep on going.

00:45:17 Speaker 10: In terms of sponsorships, the gallery has received a two-thousand-dollar sponsorship from the Koanas Club of Owen Sound to support the summer arts camp for children.

00:45:27 Speaker 10: This contribution will enable identified disadvantaged children to attend at no cost.

00:45:33 Speaker 10: The gallery is working on a proposal for an art studio sponsor, which will support studio education.

00:45:36 Speaker 10: Which will support studio educational programmememes throughout the year.

00:45:40 Speaker 10: The Gallery's National Canadian Film Day programmememe received a total of eight hundred dollars in sponsorship from Scott Kocher and Ryan Hood, TD Wealth, Will and Hand, Health Food Store, Doug Cameron Subaru,

00:45:52 Speaker 10: and Shannon Decker's Remax, Great Bruce Realty.

00:45:55 Speaker 10: The Ontario Teachers' Federation supported the Safekeeping exhibition through a contribution of five hundred dollars.

00:46:00 Speaker 10: That's a very interesting kind of exhibition to go and see, and I just actually did it before I came here, so I think.

00:46:04 Speaker 10: Came here, so I can identify.

00:46:06 Speaker 10: Say that for sure.

00:46:08 Speaker 10: Georgia Bay Art Conservation has contributed one thousand dollars in kind towards the Tom Thomson Restoration and Framing Project.

00:46:16 Speaker 10: This is the question I asked before in terms of where are we with that fundraising.

00:46:19 Speaker 10: The gallery has received donations of one thousand, five thousand, and five hundred from private donors towards this project as incoming pledges.

00:46:26 Speaker 10: We need to raise approximately eight thousand dollars.

00:46:28 Speaker 10: You think you said eight or eight to nine nine thousand dollars to complete the work.

00:46:31 Speaker 10: The gallery made a.

00:46:33 Speaker 10: They got made a proposal to Heffel Fine Art, which is an auction house, the largest one in Canada, who supported us last year in the Tom Thomson Homecoming exhibition very successfully,

00:46:44 Speaker 10: and we've asked them to we asked them to sponsor the All Calm and Calamity for fifteen thousand dollars.

00:46:49 Speaker 10: But we were unsuccessful this year, quite honestly, because we were a bit.

00:46:53 Speaker 10: They had already committed their fundraising amounts to other other groups.

00:46:57 Speaker 10: They're a very interesting group.

00:46:58 Speaker 10: They are very interested, of course, in Canadian art and been very supportive.

00:47:01 Speaker 10: They were last year and asked to help us, and it said to us anytime we need to help to come to them.

00:47:05 Speaker 10: So we did this time.

00:47:08 Speaker 10: So what we're doing subsequently, though, is we're approaching Cowley Abbott, who is another fine art auction house, who's for another for like ten thousand dollars, and they again are still haven't come,

00:47:19 Speaker 10: but they're in the process of considering the request.

00:47:20 Speaker 10: So we'll see without how that goes, but we will be pursuing that for sure to find follow up and see what they're doing.

00:47:26 Speaker 10: The gallery is partnering with the Algonquin Outfitters again this year to participate in the paddle art contest.

00:47:31 Speaker 10: That's a really kind of fun contest.

00:47:33 Speaker 10: I must say that really is.

00:47:34 Speaker 10: They have agreed to provide six thousand dollars to the gallery in support of Convergence, the popular juried art exhibition, which will take place this fall and which typically attracts a lot of regional talent.

00:47:46 Speaker 10: Deadly pairing.

00:47:48 Speaker 10: This is along with with Coffin Ridge.

00:47:50 Speaker 10: The art gallery is partnering with Coffin Ridge Winery for another remarkable evening of wine, food, and live music on Friday, September the fifth.

00:47:56 Speaker 10: The event will include ten tasting stations from five p.m.

00:48:00 Speaker 10: to eight thirty p.m.

00:48:01 Speaker 10: That will feature wine, cider, beer, paired with chef and sommelier curated food, followed by dancing and music with Grey Road.

00:48:08 Speaker 10: One more details to come soon.

00:48:11 Speaker 10: This has been a second second largest successful event that we the fundraising committee has actually held, and from the last two years of having success, we're doing it again too.

00:48:21 Speaker 10: And the response has been really phenomenal.

00:48:23 Speaker 10: So and it it goes.

00:48:25 Speaker 10: It's interesting because when my first I was at the first one.

00:48:26 Speaker 10: I first I was at the first one, and I remember sitting beside a couple who were there from North Bay, and I was like, "But how did you come to Owen Sound?"

00:48:35 Speaker 10: And then they said, "Well, we we'd heard about it.

00:48:37 Speaker 10: We wanted to so the idea, but advertising is really important these kind of events.

00:48:40 Speaker 10: But this wide-reaching thing, combination of the food, wine, and the whole evening was something which really very successful.

00:48:46 Speaker 10: Okay, the fundraising, and we're also very excited to start working with a newly hired part-time fundraising coordinator, as as aides point out, to explore opportunities to expand the gallery's fundraising portfolio and portfolios,

00:48:58 Speaker 10: it's well timed to get some in the board now to help us with this because right now as we've been a volunteer group, we have obviously some limited resources and expertise.

00:49:06 Speaker 10: We need to have additional forces, which would be great to have too,

00:49:10 Speaker 10: and find ways to strengthen revenues because the revenues that the fundraising committee goes to a great deal towards the actual overall operating costs for the for the gallery.

00:49:19 Speaker 10: We raise quite a lot.

00:49:20 Speaker 10: I can't remember the exact percentage, and you mentioned that once how much we actually raise that goes towards our budget.

00:49:26 Speaker 10: But it's quite substantial.

00:49:28 Speaker 10: Thank you.

00:49:30 Speaker 10: Thank you very much for the report, Peter.

00:49:32 Speaker 10: Councillor Kepu, go ahead.

00:49:35 Speaker 10: Just excuse me.

00:49:37 Speaker 04: Just a question for those of us who may not know: Can you expand on the Algonquin Outfitters and the paddle art contest?

00:49:45 Speaker 04: Like, what happens to the paddles?

00:49:47 Speaker 04: Who paints them?

00:49:48 Speaker 04: All that stuff.

00:49:52 Speaker 04: Thank you.

00:49:52 Speaker 04: Great question.

00:49:53 Speaker 04: And through the chair.

00:49:54 Speaker 03: The paddle art contest basically Algonquin Outfitters provides us with blank paddles that people can carve or paint on or whatever they can sort of creatively think up, and then we collect them,

00:50:09 Speaker 03: and then I believe they're auctioned off, so they raise money, and then they're able to distribute that money to different organisations, and we are one of their select organisations this year,

00:50:19 Speaker 03: and so we're really thrilled to be able to get that six thousand dollars from them, but it's such a great community engagement project,

00:50:25 Speaker 03: and we've also been talking to them about doing something very special in 2027 around Tom Thomson.

00:50:34 Speaker 03: It's a big anniversary year for Tom Thomson because if you think he was born in 1887, so it'll mark 150 years since he was born, and he died in 1917, so it'll be... or sorry,

00:50:49 Speaker 03: who was?

00:50:50 Speaker 03: Or sorry, he was born in one thousand, eight hundred and seventy-seven.

00:50:52 Speaker 03: I got that wrong, and he died in one thousand, nine hundred and seventeen.

00:50:56 Speaker 03: So it'll be one hundred and ten years since he died.

00:50:59 Speaker 03: So one hundred and fifty years since he was born.

00:51:01 Speaker 03: One hundred and ten years since he died.

00:51:03 Speaker 03: So we want to do something really special around that.

00:51:06 Speaker 03: And so we were talking to them, and they have a store up now by Canoe Lake,

00:51:10 Speaker 03: and so we've been thinking about what opportunities we might have for you know very special event to commemorate that milestone.

00:51:17 Speaker 03: So they're a great partner.

00:51:19 Speaker 03: There's the paddle art contest, but then I'm hopeful that we're going to build this partnership into something more.

00:51:28 Speaker 02: Okay, I should—I don't see a virtual hand up, so I don't.

00:51:33 Speaker 02: I presume there's no questions from yourself, Tyler.

00:51:36 Speaker 02: I just want to check in, though.

00:51:39 Speaker 02: Okay, all right.

00:51:40 Speaker 02: Thank you very much for that.

00:51:42 Speaker 02: A lot of good news still in that report.

00:51:44 Speaker 02: Thank you very much, Peter, and particularly exciting to see you're always.

00:51:45 Speaker 02: Really exciting to see you're already that far ahead in the 2026 calendar preparation.

00:51:52 Speaker 02: It's been such a great success for several years now.

00:51:56 Speaker 02: Did you have a question, Councillor Koepke?

00:52:00 Speaker 04: No, I just wondered if we needed to move receipt of that report.

00:52:03 Speaker 11: I will, and I would welcome that motion.

00:52:05 Speaker 11: So that's made, and yes, it's—it's been a great event to put in your calendars already, September 5th.

00:52:16 Speaker 11: After years of coming to COVID, it's nice to have a gala event where people get to dress up and feel good about themselves too.

00:52:22 Speaker 11: So that's also been a great success, and it's going to be warmer this year.

00:52:29 Speaker 11: So no further questions.

00:52:32 Speaker 11: Congratulate!

00:52:32 Speaker 11: Keep up the great work, fundraising committee, and all those in favour of that report for receipt.

00:52:40 Speaker 11: That is carried unanimously.

00:52:42 Speaker 11: Thank you very much.

00:52:45 Speaker 11: We have no update at this time from the art collection team, nor do we have an update at this time from the expansion planning team.

00:52:53 Speaker 11: So we are to item ten.

00:52:55 Speaker 11: We've got no matters postponed.

00:52:57 Speaker 11: There are no matters for which notice was previously given, and no correspondence provided for information under twelve.

00:53:04 Speaker 11: We had no additional business.

00:53:07 Speaker 11: Are there any notices of motion?

00:53:10 Speaker 11: None, and two.

00:53:12 Speaker 11: At two fifty-two, we are adjourned.

00:53:15 Speaker 11: Thank you very much, everyone, for your time today.

00:53:18 Speaker 11: Thank you.