Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
11 April 2023 Vol 8 No 7 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2023
Portia Priegert
From the Editor
It seems scarcely a week goes by now without another news story about the National Gallery of Canada.
Last week saw two developments – the Ottawa gallery held its annual public meeting and the Globe and Mail shed light on the use of outside consultants as the gallery seeks to become more inclusive.
The Globe’s story, based on documents obtained by Ken Rubin, an Ottawa access-to-information researcher, looks at the gallery’s use of two consulting firms – one in Vancouver focused on diversity and inclusion, and another in California that helps with “change management.” Both were hired in 2020, after Sasha Suda became the gallery’s director.
“Management viewed this as an overdue step toward restoring the gallery’s relevance and correcting its blinkered past,” says the article by Shannon Proudfoot, which includes a link to all the documents. “Current and former staff members and donors have criticized the project as well-intentioned but poorly executed, and they have said it left the institution in disarray.”
Among the revelations in the documents are ballooning consultancy fees and the gallery’s use of sole-source contracts rather than competitive bidding.
Meanwhile, at the gallery’s annual public meeting, interim director Angela Cassie pointed to growth in the gallery’s first-time visitors in 2022, and said the gallery is on track to acquire 642 works this year. But the meeting also saw pointed questions from former senior curators Charles Hill and Diana Nemiroff, who have previously raised concerns about the loss of institutional expertise amid dramatic turnover and ongoing vacancies in the curatorial ranks.
A week prior, Galleries West broke its own news story, Paul Gessell’s revelation that a leading dealer of historical Indigenous art is threatening to cancel his multi-million-dollar bequest to the gallery.
And, this week, the Ottawa Citizen has reported that staffing at the gallery is down to 273 people, from 312 in 2019. Among 19 operational vacancies are the team lead for collections and loans, the library’s senior manager, the exhibition manager and several other significant positions. It’s unclear how many positions are vacant on the curatorial team, where 20 people, including five within the new Indigenous ways and decolonization department, now work.
Turning now to this issue of Galleries West, check out our articles on two Manitoba exhibitions with different takes on diversity: Michèle Pearson Clarke’s Quantum Choir, and The Performance of Shadows, a group show that includes work by Betye Saar, Tim Whiten and Erika DeFreitas.
Other stories in this issue look at Gloria Mok and Joseph Kyle, a group show, Memories of the Sun, with Anne Brochu Lambert and Sylvia Matas, and an engaging new book by Anne Newlands about an important modernist tapestry artist, Mariette Rousseau-Vermette.
Looking ahead, watch for articles about Damian Moppett, Alanis Obomsawin and Norman Takeuchi.
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Alison Gillmor, Lindsay Inglis, Agnieszka Matejko, John Thomson
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Alberta Media Fund, the Government of Canada Periodical Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
