Windsor's art gallery is changing its focus, and its name – Windsor Star

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The Art Gallery of Windsor — at least that was its name until Thursday night — is colouring outside the lines.

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The organization is reinventing itself; pledging to be more than just a place where art is hung on a wall, and changing the name it has carried more than five decades. It is now called Art Windsor Essex (AWE).

The plan is to expand the boundaries of what a gallery is — taking art to the streets, online and putting it in people’s hands. The organization’s new tagline is “Change Happens Here.”

“AWE isn’t just going to be our name,” said executive director Jennifer Matotek. “It’s going to be our promise to audiences, to inspire, to provoke, surprise, make people think, laugh, and ultimately transform and change.”

The changes emerged from a strategic planning process that started in 2020, and included consultation with more than 200 community members.

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The institution, then called Willistead Gallery, opened in 1943 at Willistead Manor. It became the Art Gallery of Windsor (AGW) in 1969. The AGW has had several homes since then, but the name always stuck.

That changed Thursday night with an announcement at the organization’s annual general meeting.

But Matotek said they’re not just switching out a sign on the building. While the focus on Indigenous, contemporary and historical Canadian art will remain, the methods for executing that mandate are evolving.

She said AWE will soon launch a project in the county, but the details are still under wraps.

“We’re going out into Essex, as our name implies,” Matotek said ahead of the annual meeting. “But also during COVID, we had our doors closed for so long, we’ve had to come up with really creative ways to get art out into the community. So we’ve really been doing that, meeting people where they are. That even means digitally.”

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Working with a consultant and government funding, AWE will expand digital strategies over the next few years. Those strategies are not yet all set in stone, but Matotek said they could include a digital media studio, or immersive and digital exhibitions.

“We’re going to be embarking on a new digital strategy soon that’s really embracing the idea of what it means to be an art gallery for the 21st Century,” she said. “We’re hearing and doing and understanding that it’s more than just being a building with exhibition spaces.”

Inside the actual building, there will be a bigger focus on more hands-on and educational programs. The education studio, previously off limits except for events such as school tours, will be open to the general public.

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“We really want people to think about history, culture and society, and how art connects with all of those things,” said Matotek. “We want to make sure that everybody who comes into the building has an opportunity to come into our studio and engage in something that’s hands-on creativity.”

The gallery also received funding from the Community Foundation for an emerging artists in residence program.

“Often, when you come into the gallery there will be an artist actually working in the gallery that you’ll be able to interact with,” said Matotek.

Other plans include transforming the gallery into a “creative hub” that attracts other kinds of “creators” in addition to visual artists.

“If anything with COVID, we learned that our mission is more than being a building that shows art with a collection in it,” said Matotek. “We learned the power of art and creativity to change people in positive ways, to help their mental health and help them grow as people.”

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