Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries

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Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries (GOG) will be hosting three professional development workshops in the coming new year. Each workshop builds on the next, giving a comprehensive understanding of what it means to care for collections in 2026 and beyond. Register and fully equip your institution for the future.

Professional Development Workshop: Collections Care In The Digital Age

Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries, Online
Register here

Ready to future-proof your institution? Join GOG online over Zoom for the workshop, Collection Care in the Digital Age, taking place on January 28, 2026 from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

Featuring an engaging lineup of speakers, including Gabriel Bevilacqua (Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University), Luisa Ji (UKAI Projects), Emelie Chhangur (Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University), Danuta Sierhuis (Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University), and Peter Pavement (Surface Impression), this workshop will provide institutions the strategies, methods, and opportunities for participants to thrive in the digital era while enhancing their collections, exhibitions and programming. The workshop will offer practical methods for digitizing their collections. There will be opportunities for institutions to learn opportunities for enhancing their exhibitions with the use of digital tools and other technologies.

Session #1 – Digitizing Collections

Speaker: Gabriel Bevilacqua

A grounded, strategic introduction to digitization planning, focusing on two critical streams:

• Museum records and archival files
• Object and collection photography

This session will cover:

• Resource and capacity planning
• Storage solutions and long-term sustainability
• Digital security and risk management
• Copyright, licensing, and rights considerations for collection imaging
• Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of how to scope and phase digitization projects responsibly.

Session #2 – Audience Engagement in the Digital Age

Speaker: Luisa Ji, Studio Director, UKAI Projects

This session explores alternative models for engaging audiences with digital technologies through art—outside of extractive or corporate platforms. Drawing on artist-led practices, Luisa will:

• Share approaches that foster agency, curiosity, and embodied interaction
• Reflect on how artists are experimenting with digital environments
• Invite discussion on gaps between institutional digital initiatives and artistic innovation
• An opportunity for galleries to rethink how digital engagement can be imaginative, critical, and values-driven.

Session #3 – Planning for the Long Term: Building Digital Infrastructure

Speaker: Emelie Chhangur, Director and Curator, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University
Speaker: Danuta Sierhui, Digital Development Coordinator, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University

This session reframes digital transformation as an institutional practice—one that is deeply human and relational. Key themes include:

• Understanding institutions as interconnected systems
• Recognizing staff as central agents of digital change
• Embracing a multi-pronged approach to care (there is no single model)
• Embedding digital responsibility into everyday institutional practice
• A candid look at how internal culture, roles, and values shape digital outcomes.

Speaker: Peter Pavement, CEO, Surface Impression
Drawing on experience working with institutions of all sizes and capacities, this session will:

• Demonstrate that meaningful digital progress is always possible
• Share adaptable strategies across different stages of digital maturity
• Reinforce that transformation is iterative, not all-or-nothing

Registration

• Non-Member/General, $300.00
• GOG Member, $200.00
• Artists/Independent Art worker, $55.00
• Student with valid student ID, $45.00
• Indigenous artists and independent Indigenous art workers (pre-registration required), free

Registration includes full-day attendance, and a comprehensive workshop program for each participant to take away with them.

Overall these workshops will have participants:

• Understand the benefits of how digitization is beneficial through all facets of their organization including collections, exhibitions, and programming;
• Gain knowledge on the different types of exhibition enhancing technologies and how it impacts their audience engagement;
• Learn how to plan for long term digital projects and build their digital infrastructure.

Upcoming Workshops

Don’t miss out on GOG’s other two professional development workshops! Register today and secure your spot.

Professional Development Workshop: Collections Stewardship In Art Galleries And Museums
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries, Online
Register here

Want to strengthen your stewardship practices and protect the artworks that shape our cultural landscape? Join GOG online on February 25, 2026 from 10:00am to 3:00pm for the workshop, Collections Stewardship in Art Galleries and Museums. Take your collections care skills to the next level.

Learn the essentials of art and museum collections care. This workshop covers the physical and intellectual management needed to properly preserve artwork, from art handling techniques and storage best practices to maintaining accurate records. Discover how good collections stewardship benefits every part of your gallery or museum.

Professional Development Workshop: Collections And Accessibility
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Art Gallery of Hamilton
Register here

Interested in making your institution truly welcoming to all? Join GOG at the Art Gallery of Hamilton on March 10, 2026 from 10:00am to 4:00pm, for the final workshop of the year, Collections and Accessibility. Be part of the movement toward more inclusive cultural spaces.

This workshop tackles physical, intellectual, and cultural barriers that can hinder engagement with your collections, exhibitions, and programs. Learn how to move beyond “one-time” fixes and embed accessibility into the core of your operations, creating a welcoming space for everyone.

Register today for the workshops and lead meaningful change.

Acknowledgments

GOG gratefully acknowledges the funding contribution from the Museums Assistance Program, the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries has over a 50-year history as an arts service organization (ASO) and represents over 270 members—public art galleries, museums, artist-run-centres, and arts organizations. GOG is the voice of visual arts, speaking to all levels of government on advocacy issues, policy, and legislation. Additionally, we continually strive to deliver innovative and cutting-edge professional development and network-building opportunities that advance, empower, and strengthen the visual arts sector in Canada.

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Contact Information:
Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries
E: communications@galeries-ontario-galleries.ca
T: (416) 598-0714