AGO rolls out the Royce for the Cadillac of art exhibitions

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PEDAL TO THE METAL FOR MEDIA PRE-PREVIEW OF:
Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts

Launching an Art exhibition is like posting a new website. If you don't get an audience in the first week or two, in all likelihood you are doomed to the curse of low numbers. If you hate to see a website die, you will absolutely loathe to see an art show tank at the box office. No attendance. No revenue. And,in these days of tight government money, no revenue means public rebuke, a tsunami of second guessing and staff lay-offs.
Long before the public knows about an upcoming blockbuster, we publicists are hard at work trying to make sure that never happens. That means getting the media up-to-speed about what is coming down the road. There are two goals for the early pumping of sunshine. We want to get advanced publicity so that our audience is already marking our show in their Blackberries, and secondly, we want to make sure that our media launch will be well attended.


PR is free ... sort of. An art gallery has to pay someone like me. The coffee and doughnuts don't come cheap (kidding), the press kits have to be produced and the curators have to take a break long enough to speak intelligently at the preview media launch.
It is almost always worth the effort. Common wisdom holds that a consumer is 4 times more likely to believe and be motivated by an article in print than if he or she saw an ad for the same event. People are even more motivated when they see moving images on television compared to 20-second paid spot.
A full page advertisement in a Toronto daily can cost $30,000. A well attended media preview can result in the equivalent of 20 full page advertisements! Not bad for a plate of stale doughnuts.
In pre-recession days, when the media was flush and the Internet was a bit player on the arts scene, a well attended media preview was a sure bet. Not anymore. Papers don't have space, television doesn't have spare cameras, and when was the last time a radio station (aside from the CBC) sent a real reporter to an art preview?
The Art Gallery of Ontario is ready to launch a MAJOR exhibition this month. Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts, is a British created traveling exhibition that will appeal not only to the art world, but, Ontario's growing Indo-Canadian community. This is the first exhibition to comprehensively explore the opulent world of the maharajas and their unique culture of artistic patronage.
The AGO PR department is organizing a full scale mediapreview for early next week, but, in an effort to make sure that the media understands the "Bigness" of this exhibition, held a Media pre-preview today. This is something usually not done in Toronto, just because it is hard enough to get the media out once for a full scale press conference, let alone twice to a not-so-complete exhibition hall.
Although the galleries are still being prepared, the media was allowed in this morning to see THE major piece of the exhibition being installed. It was a tease - it put the media on notice that bigger and better things will be unveiled next week.
Gallery installers put down their tools long enough for the media, myself included, to take pictures and video of “ The Star of India”, an antique Rolls Royce Phantom II. This legendary 1934 Rolls Royce Phantom II (pictured above) was custom-built for His Highness Thakore Sahib Dharmendrasinhji Lakhajiraj of Rajkot. The car is named after the famous 563 carat star sapphire “Star of India”.
According to Haema Sivanessan,AGO Special Project Assistant"the Star of India is almost the most famous Rolls Royce on the earth, second only to the original Rolls Royce Silver Ghost".
The bonnet and wings shown in the photo above, are made of polished aluminum and the rest of the body is of a saffron ochre finish, a tinge which is a symbol of purity in India. Visible on all doors and side windows is Rajkot’s state crest with an inscription meaning “an impartial ruler of men of all faiths.”
The car is on loan from an auction house and last I heard is up for sale for $13 million. I believe it is still roadworthy but because of its value is not driven
I am the mirror opposite of a car buff. I see the automobile as a tool, not a work of art. No matter, even I was impressed by the stately look of the Star of India. It is a statement of pure form and superior craftmanship. It was worth the trip to Dundas Street to attend a pre-preview!
How did the other media feel? Just about same as me. The pre-preview attracted a couple of TV crews and a gaggle of photographers and reporters, all who seemed genuinely impressed by the AGO's rolling stock.
The exhibition (sponsored in part by Scotiabank) opens to the public on November 20, 2010 and runs to April 3, 2011. Assuming that the pre-preview has done its job then you alreadly know that, don't you?
CUTLINES
Top: The Star of India - Blackberry photo of the 1934 Rolls Royce
Middle: Haema Sivanessan,AGO Special Project Assistant, is interviewed by the CBC beside the Star of India.
Bottom: The Patiala Necklace. Exhibit within the upcoming Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts

20th Annual Volunteer Autumn Art Sale at the McMichael

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PRESS RELEASE
18 October 2010
For immediate release

20th Annual Volunteer Autumn Art Sale at the McMichael

KLEINBURG, October 18, 2010. – With the help of 50 well-known Canadian artists and the volunteers at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, October is artistically going out in a blaze of fun and colour. The McMichael Autumn Art Sale takes place October 22nd – 24th and is expected to attract thousands of art patrons to Kleinburg and the public gallery.
Presented by the McMichael Volunteer Committee, this sale is a major fundraiser for the gallery. For three days over 200 pieces of art and sculptures – all for sale – will fill the gallery’s spacious Grand Hall. Oil paintings. Fused Glass. Works on paper. Stone carvings. All of the works are one-of-a-kind, and all have been created by well known artists including: Cindy Praakel, Kenneth Kirsh, Florence Chik-Lau and Lynda Cunningham.
The McMichael Autumn Art Sale begins with the popular Opening Night Gala (6pm to 10pm) on Friday, October 22nd. The evening features complimentary Hors d’Oeuves, free admission, and free parking. The Autumn Art Sale continues on through Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The warm summer weather has delayed the arrival of the fall colour foliage. Organizers of Art Sale are predicting a spectacular burst of colour along Major Mackenzie Drive just in time for the Volunteer Art Show and Sale.
The McMichael Volunteer Committee is a dedicated team of McMichael members, from all walks of life, who share a passion for the arts and are committed to volunteerism. The group organizes events and raise funds, both to enhance the visitor experience and to support children’s education at the McMichael. To date the Committee has contributed over $250,000 to the gallery.

About the gallery

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an agency of the Government of Ontario and acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. The McMichael is the only public gallery that collects and exhibits exclusively Canadian art. The permanent collection holds over 6,000 works including pieces by Inuit, First Nations and Group of Seven artists.
Friday night’s gala opening features free parking and admission to the gallery. For the rest of the weekend admission is as follows: Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and students, and $30 for families. There is a $5 fee for parking. The gallery is located on Islington Avenue, north of Major Mackenzie Drive in Kleinburg and is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information about the gallery visit www.mcmichael.com.

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Media contact:

Stephen Weir, Publicist
(905) 893-1121 ext. 2528 Gallery
(416) 489-5868 Home Office
(416) 801-3101 Cell
sweir5492@rogers.com

Mayoralty Candidate’s Diversity Debate

Mayoralty Candidate’s Diversity Debate
When: Saturday September 11, 2010 from 6:00 Pm to 8:00 PM
Where: The Ted Rogers School of Management @ Ryerson University
Location: 575 Bay St. (entrance at 55 Dundas St. W)
The Diversity Business Network in cooperation with Ryerson University’s Diversity Institute presents Toronto’s first Mayoral debate focusing on the candidates’ policies and plans for leveraging the diversity of Toronto for economic and social development. The focus of the debate is to explore how each candidates’ plans to build on current policies and to create new policies to promote an inclusive, thriving, global city.
In the past, Toronto City Council has adopted a series of resolutions and initiatives aimed at promoting diversity and eliminating discrimination. Considerable progress has been made but more remains to be done.

For more info Contact: Courtney Betty: 416-968-1181
www.enablediversity.com
and
www.ryerson.ca/diversity
Cutline: George Smitherman and journalist Ned Blair

AGO Opening: Perfection is the Enemy of Done

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MEDIA PREVIEW DURING HANGING - A POX ON SLICK (AND IT WORKED!)

ROUGH NOTES (Of Course) FOR AN UNFINISHED BLOG:

Thursday morning launch for Julian Schnabel: Art and Film. It all started in typical AGO fashion. The curator, David Moo and the artist take turns at the podium in front of a conference room filled with journalists, videographers, art insiders, bloggers and me. Coffee service at the side. Pastries aligned on glass trays oh-so-perfectly.
58-year old Julian Schnabel is an American artist and filmmaker. In the 1980s Schnabel received international media attention for his "plate paintings"—large-scale paintings set on broken ceramic plates ( on display at the AGO). Now he is best known for his movies - he directed Before Night Falls, which according to Wikipedia became Javier Bardem's breakthrough Academy Award nominated role and the four-time Academy Award nominated The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. He has won a Golden Globe, as well as BAFTA, a César Award, a Golden Palm, two nominations for the Golden Lion and an Academy Award nomination.
His show, which opens at the AGO this week, reintroduces his art to the public.
The man himself was at the media preview. Funny! Schnabel all rumpled and dishevelled actually made Toronto journalists look well dressed!
Quotable quote: "“I like this town you have here,” he said. “It’s like Houston was years ago. (Canada is like) a computer chip run a muck!" Realizing that the audience might have interpreted what he said as an insult he explained: "50 years ago before the US went to shit!'
Big thing missing? No AGO CEO Matthew Teitelbaum(holiday) or retiring chief curator Dennis Reid (apparently no longer in the building).
After the 45-minute long official opening we all climbed into a bank of elevators and headed to the exhibition space. What a difference a floor makes. Formal morphed into Controlled Madness. Show not completely hung. Fork lift trucks -- Beep Beep as they back up (real turn off for TV crews!) -- move sculptures around the room. Installation experts were on ladders painting and hanging. Text panels were taped to walls.
The artist revelled in the chaos. He roared around the large space with a large media cloud in tow. " I won't take any questions until you have looked at my show for at least 15-minutes" he warned us. No time to ask questions, artist talked non-stop for the first half hour of the tour!!!
Perfection is the enemy of done - having a media preview in the raw state really worked, especially in context with an artist who specializes in producing work that doesn't look quite complete. You get a sense you are really seeing something before the rest of the world does.
Only draw back not everything up yet ... "One of my paintings was used in Ghost Writer". A film by Roman Polanski - "Problems with insurance, getting it off set and getting it here" people will see that in a week or two.
Of course this media preview during the hanging is something that I do at the McMichael all the time. Out of necessity. For all the coverage the gallery gets, Kleinburg openings are hard sell for journalists covering the art beat. Too far to travel. Group of Seven off their radar. In some cases journalists don't consider the McMichael part of their "beat" (still can't get a reply from Globe and Mail critic R Vaughan, doesn't respond to gallery emails or phone calls).
During the McMichael hangings the curator and/or artist can stay busy while we await visitors ( who don't always come).
Why was AGO so busy? No sure. Schnabel's connection with films and the Film Festival fast approaching? Or is it just that this is the first major "art" happening in the city since the G20 afflicted ROM Terracotta Warrior failed media launch earlier this summer?
Hard to say. But, AGO broke its own mold for this Media Preview. Judging by the positive articles in print and on the TV, it worked. Big Time.

CUTLINE: AGO technician prepares a wall for hanging. Right: Julian Schnabel in the middle of a scrum. Below. A plate. A plant. A blur. Artist's signature piece.