This Week at Agnes

Agnes celebrates 2024 accomplishments

2024 has been a huge year for Agnes. After months of organizing, packing, closing, opening, then closing again, we finally moved out of our old building to make way for Agnes Reimagined! As we say goodbye to 2024 and look towards 2025 – we want to celebrate the achievements and milestones for the year.

• We closed out our final suite of on-site exhibitions A Love Letter to Kingston, featuring local artists, Emebet Belete, Jay Bridges, Ann Clarke, Frank De Sa, Jill Glatt, Billie the Kid, Abby Nowakowski and Joan Scaglione.
• Our collections staff packed, organized, catalogued and moved our 17,000 piece collection to our offsite art storage space– a massive undertaking that that put their decades of combined experience to the test!
• By June, we’d successfully settled into our new temporary home on campus, the Rideau Building at 207 Stuart St – and embarked on even more activities as part of our nomadic off-site programming. Details below:
  • Seven additional exhibitions:  (Painted Presence, Landing, Flatbread Library, Echoes of Devotion, Tracing Kingston’s Solidarities, Talkin’ Back to Johnny Mac and Ukutula: Our Timeless Journeys
  • Over 100 events. Yes, you read that right. Since January, Agnes has held over 100 individual events on- and off-site in 2024. Here’s a breakdown:
  • Nine artist talks or lectures (Ann Clarke and more!)
  • 90 public programs including artmaking, professional development and tours (Think Creation Station, Open Secret, Making Art Work, Art Hive, Queering Collage)
  • 40 school programs
  • Five film screenings (A Fidai Film, This is not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection and more!)
  • Four all out parties (Eventually Everything Sounds Like Crying, Historical Costume Ball  Drag Show Fashion Pageant Spectacular, Demo-lution Party!, Queer Karaoke)
• Through a successful application to the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund at Canadian Heritage, we raised $2M to facilitate the fully accessible renovation of Etherington House.
• In late November, Agnes Reimagined was featured in the Globe & Mail – a glowing description by art journalist Tatum Dooley. Read the full article here.
• Agnes was nominated for 10 Galeries Ontario/Ontario Gallery Awards this year – and took home two awards, both associated with the publication, Drift: Art and Dark Matter:  Art Writing, Emelie Chhangur & Anne Riley“ A Conversation Around Dark Matter Ethics” and Other Publication Design Award, K. Verlag, Wolfgang Hückel, Katharina Tauer. See the full list of winners here.

Become an Agnes member

Agnes is only what her communities make her. Without the heartfelt and generous donations from donors and members, Agnes would not be able to run art education classes, commission and pay artists or develop innovative exhibitions and programs.

Consider becoming a member or donating (or both!) knowing that your contribution is helping to further art in our community, just as Agnes Etherington originally intended when she bequeathed her home to Queen’s University.

As an Agnes member, you gain access to:

• discounts on fee-based courses, programs and ticketed events.
• discounts on publication purchases.
• invitations to special members’ events with visiting artists, curators and scholars.
• Curator’s Circle and Director’s Circle Members enjoy additional behind-the-scenes access and annual recognition events. Agnes members can also participate in reciprocal benefits and admissions offered through Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries.

Become a member or donate to Agnes today! 

Happy Holidays from AGNES

Agnes staff will be out of office from 23 December to 2 January 2025. We hope you have a restful winter break.