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The AGO’s Extension Services department was a successor to the Art Institute of Ontario, which operated from 1952-1968 and was run by a consortium of galleries in Ontario to exchange exhibitions, lectures, and other services. In 1968 Extension Services took over these operations as a department of the AGO with a mandate to circulate art exhibitions, workshops, lectures, films, and media throughout the province of Ontario. This scope reflected a broader role for the Gallery, which had changed its name in 1966 from the Art Gallery of Toronto to the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Extension Services curated an original exhibition programme that travelled throughout Ontario and also circulated exhibitions from the AGO’s main curatorial department. The scope of Extension Services programs was broader than the AGO’s main curatorial department, and included contemporary Canadian artists; non-Western art; and media, art, textiles, design, and ceramics.

Extension Services’ Contact exhibition series was intended for smaller centres with varying environmental and security conditions, and ran from 1978-1999.

Extension Services also operated the Artists with their Work program, which offered a rotating roster of Canadian artists from around the province who could be booked for exhibitions and workshops at local centres including art galleries, artist centres, colleges and universities, and public libraries.

Extension Services has been part of multiple departments and programs at the AGO. From 1968-1976, Extension Services was part of the “Extension and Education” department. From 1981-1992 it was a department within the Curatorial Branch. From 1992-1995 Extension operated as becomes a department within the newly formed Education, Outreach and Public Programming Division. In 1995, Extension services was disbanded and Education, Outreach, and Public Programming became part of the Curatorial Division. Remaining Extension staff continued to report to the Curatorial division until 1999 when all Extension programs concluded.

Heads of Extension Services:
1963-1967: Nancy E. Robertson, Curator of Extension and Education Department.
1967-1976: William C. Forsey, Curator of Extension and Education Department. In 1968 his title was changed to Director of the Education and Extension Department.
1976-1979: Nancy Hushion, Head of Extension Services.
1980 – 1981: Penny-Lynn Grosman, Head of Extension Services
1982-1995: Glenda Milrod, Head of Extension Services.

https://galeries-ontario-galleries.ca/resources/archive/

A formal Design Unit was first established at the Gallery in 1974. Prior to this, design projects that provided visual identity for the Gallery and promoted exhibitions and events were completed without the assistance of a formal department, often with assistance from external contracts. The Design Unit was established shortly after Scott Thornley joined the institution as Head Designer, and was at first separate to the Publications Department that was established in 1972. In 1981, however, these two departments were amalgamated as Publications & Design, a division of the Public Affairs branch. This department was responsible for all print and graphic material produced by the Gallery, including catalogues, posters, brochures, postcards, banners, and signage.

The department went through a series of name changes in the 1980s, becoming “Promotion” in 1983, “Graphic Design & Production” in 1986, and “Publication & Design” in 1989. The heads of the department between 1981 and 1990 included Denise Bukowski, Normand Terry, and Alan Terakawa. The Publications and Design department became a part of the Exhibitions division in the early 1990s, where it remained until the early 2010s.

During this period (1990-2010), there were a number of additional Designer roles established in different divisions, separate to the Publications and Design department. This included a Designer in the Marketing division.

In approximately 2011, the Publications and Design departments separated, with Publishing and becoming a part of the Curatorial division after briefly being moved to the Digital division. As of 2024, the Design Studio is a part of the Brand and Business division and Publishing remains within Curatorial.

In 1926 the Art Gallery of Toronto approved the purchase of a collection of art-related lantern slides by the Education Committee, which were made available for loan in 1929 to support arts education. Known then as the Slide Library, the collection fell under the supervision of Arthur Lismer as part of the operations of the Education Committee. The collection continued to grow in the 1930s with subsequent donations and acquisitions of glass slides and was frequently accessed by schools, clubs, societies, and public libraries.

In the 1950s the Gallery began collecting 35mm slides to add to the Slide Library’s collection, and the original glass lantern slides were withdrawn from circulation in 1965. Over the years, the Gallery continued to add other audiovisual formats and materials to the collection as they became available, including 16mm film, media kits, video tapes, and discs, some of which were produced by the Gallery to complement Extension Services programmes.

In 1966, the Education & Extension department combined responsibility for the Slide Library with another function of the department, touring and lecturing, overseen by Eva Novlan. The following year Maia-Mari Sutnik was appointed the first Audio-Visual (AV) Librarian of the Gallery, and in 1968 the name of the collection was changed from Slide Library to Audio-Visual Library, which better reflected the multiple formats housed within the collection. In the late 1960s, the number of slides sent out on loan had to be limited due to high demand and to account for the cost of providing the circulation service. Recognizing the need for this service expressed by the growing demand, the Gallery received a grant from the Canada Council to support the production of slides. Susan Arthur succeeded Maia Sutnik as AV Librarian in 1973, and Catherine Jonasson (nee Goldsmith) and Margaret Brennan were heads of the Audiovisual-Centre from 1977 to 1987 and 1989-1990, respectively.

The name of the AV Library was changed again in 1977 to the Edward P. Taylor Audio-Visual Centre, a change that accompanied the Centre’s relocation into the newly constructed Canadian Wing after completion of the Stage II expansion project.

The AV Centre played an important role in educational film programming at the Gallery, providing a source for films that were circulated for Extension Services Film Programmes. Responsibility for programming relating to non-education films was transferred to the newly established Film and Video Programs department in 1988, but the AV Centre continued to support educational programming though series such as the noon-hour film series in the 1990s, with films drawn from the Centre’s collection of films and tapes on art and artists.
In the early 1990s the AV Centre remained a widely used resource by historians, teachers, students, artists and members of the public across Ontario and Canada, with the slide collection numbering over 145,000, in addition to its holdings of videos and media kits. The Slide Catalogue was available for consultation online in the 1990s, and a project to incorporate digital images in the online catalogue was in the early planning stages in the mid-1990s. However, this was soon curtailed and later canceled due to funding cutbacks.

In 1995 the Audio-Visual Center was permanently closed, and the contents of the slide collection were largely deaccessioned, except for a small selection of 35mm and glass lantern slides. The Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives maintains the remainder of the collection as part of the AGO Archives.

Exhibition organised and circulated by the Art Institute of Ontario 1949-64. See AIO Annual Meeting: Feb. 15, 1960; Apr. 20, 1961; May 10, 1962; June 13, 1963; May 21, 1964; October 29, 1964.

Originator: Art Gallery of Windsor.