The much-anticipated opening of Frank Gehry's $254 million expansion and renovation project at the Art Gallery of Ontario—under construction since 2005—is set for November 14, with three days of free admission for the public, officials announced yesterday. "When the AGO opens this fall, we will fulfill the promise of our transformation, signaling a remarkable new chapter in our 108-year history," AGO president Charles Baillie said in a statement. "Now that we've set the date, we're looking forward to welcoming the world to an extraordinary new home for extraordinary art. This will be their AGO."
The project is the first Canadian building for Gehry, a Toronto-born architect whose best-known works include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The new AGO will include 110 galleries and more than 4,000 works of art. Key elements of the building include a sculptural staircase emerging from Walker Court (the museum's historic centre), the Galleria Italia, which extends an entire city block along Dundas Street, and the new tower with views of Grange Park.
The project is the first Canadian building for Gehry, a Toronto-born architect whose best-known works include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The new AGO will include 110 galleries and more than 4,000 works of art. Key elements of the building include a sculptural staircase emerging from Walker Court (the museum's historic centre), the Galleria Italia, which extends an entire city block along Dundas Street, and the new tower with views of Grange Park.
