Art Gallery of Ontario / Musée des beaux-arts de l’Ontario

AGO Adopts New Citizens Through Art

Date Posted: June, 21, 2007

The Art Gallery of Ontario is inviting new citizens to learn about Canada through art. The AGO is embracing these newcomers with a pilot project called “Citizen AGO,” the first of its kind in the country. As part of the first phase of the program, an AGO representative is attending select citizenship ceremonies from now through September. At these ceremonies, the representative will present new Canadians with a complimentary one-year family membership to the Gallery, which will offer them the chance to explore Canada through its rich artistic heritage.

“No matter what language the AGO visitor speaks, the visual arts can communicate to everyone,” says Matthew Teitelbaum, the AGO’s Michael and Sonja Koerner Director, and CEO. “We are so pleased to welcome new Canadians to the AGO where they can experience great works of art.”

About 160,000 citizens are sworn in annually across the province, and this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Canadian Citizenship Act, which granted official citizenship to Canadian residents for the first time. Through the “Citizen AGO” program, the Gallery aims to cultivate relationships with the newest members of Ontario’s diverse cultural community.

“We have had a very positive reaction to the program by new citizens,” says Beverley Carret, the AGO’s manager of government and community relations. “There’s a real eagerness among them to learn more about their adopted country through its art.”

Matthew Teitelbaum will be attending a ceremony to greet new citizens and present them with AGO memberships at 9 am on Monday, June 25 in the citizenship ceremony room at 55 St. Clair Avenue East.

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The Art Gallery of Ontario is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Culture. Additional operating support is received from the Volunteers of the AGO, the City of Toronto,the Department of Canadian Heritage and The Canada Council for the Arts.