TORONTO.- Today the Art Gallery of Ontario celebrates the renewal of its Signature Partnership agreement with RBC. A national leader in arts and culture philanthropy, RBC’s renewed, three-year commitment will further the AGO’s mission of presenting important art, as well as facilitating learning and engaging audiences through various programs, including select exhibitions, Free Wednesday Nights, and the AGO X RBC Emerging Artist Program.

“RBC has a proud history as a sponsor of the AGO for more than 50 years,” says Mary DePaoli, Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer, RBC. “We are excited to continue to work with art museums like the AGO, who play such an important role in ensuring creativity continues to thrive in our communities.”

RBC’s commitment to supporting the AGO finds expression in the following public facing programs and initiatives:

In 2021, RBC helped the AGO present the incredible exhibitions Andy Warhol and Picasso: Painting the Blue Period, attracting nearly 250,000 visitors. In 2022, that tradition of excellence continues with RBC’s support of Faith and Fortune: Art Across the Global Spanish Empire, opening June 8 and Leonard Cohen: Everybody Knows, opening in December, only at the AGO. Exhibition-related support will continue into 2023 and 2024.

Designed to remove financial barriers to access, Free Wednesday Nights is a longstanding AGO tradition, which prior to the pandemic, attracted more than 130,000 visitors per year. Thanks to RBC’s support, that tradition continues, with free timed-entry tickets being released each Monday for the following Wednesday. Free Wednesday Nights represents a 2.5-million-dollar yearly investment by RBC in cultural access.

Since 2013, RBC Emerging Artists has been supporting the AGO’s dynamic Artist-in-Residence program, the first of its kind at a major Canadian art institution. That program, thanks to RBC’s continued support, has continued to grow, evolving in 2021 to become the AGO X RBC Emerging Artists Program. Designed to support and engage early career artists nationally, in 2022 the program will present three paid artist residencies, a series of free professional development workshops featuring speakers from across the art and culture community, and a paid mentorship program connecting artists with curators and creators across the AGO.

“To make great art accessible to as many people as possible, we need strong supporters,” says Stephan Jost, Michael and Sonja Koerner Director, and CEO of the Art Gallery of Ontario. “As the AGO’s Signature Partner since 2017, RBC has helped us achieve some of our most ambitious exhibition, programming and access initiatives. Thanks to their ongoing, multi-year support, we can continue to drive our mission forward and help the AGO and the cultural sector flourish in Canada.”

These initiatives at the AGO represent only a fraction of RBC’s annual ongoing commitment to supporting the arts and emerging artists in Canada