Marc Mayer, former director of the National Gallery of Canada (photo courtesy National Gallery of Canada)
Marc Mayer, a former director of the National Gallery of Canada, has been appointed as a member of the Order of Canada, one of the country's highest honours. Also named as an officer of the order is longtime Edmonton artist and educator Walter Jule.
They were among 99 appointments to the Order of Canada announced Thursday by Governor General Mary Simon in Ottawa, who described recipients as "celebrated trailblazers in their respective fields."
Mayer was named for "contributions to fine art as an administrator and curator, both in Canada and worldwide."
Mayer, born in 1956 to a Franco-Ontarian family in Sudbury, Ont., served as director of the National Gallery from 2008 to 2019, filling two five-year terms, in which he established the Canadian Photography Institute and increased the presence of Indigenous art.
Previously, Mayer was director of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, director of The Power Plant in Toronto, deputy director of the Brooklyn Museum in New York City, and curator of Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, N.Y. Earlier in his career, he worked as head of visual arts at the Canadian Embassy in Paris.
Walter Jule
Walter Jule in the studio.
Jule, a professor emeritus at the University of Alberta, was cited for "contributions as an artist and educator in the field of printmaking, both in Canada and abroad."
Jule, born in Seattle in 1940, received a Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Art Award in 2019. An important printmaker, he developed Canada's first printmaking master's program at the University of Alberta. He has taught and lectured widely, including in Japan, Brazil and the United States. Jule has lived in Alberta since 1970.
He has participated in more than 300 solo and group shows and his work is found in 60 major public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the national galleries of Canada, New Zealand and India. He has also organized international conferences, curated major exhibitions and edited several books on printmaking.
Since its creation in 1967, the Order of Canada has honoured more than 7,600 people for their contributions to Canadian society. Appointments are made on the recommendation of an advisory council.
Appointees will receive their insignia at an investiture ceremony at Rideau Hall at a date yet to be announced.