Tania Willard Appointed Director-Curator of Belkin Gallery

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Tania Willard, 2025 (photo by Billie Jean Gabriel Photography)

ania Willard has been appointed as the new director-curator of the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at the University of British Columbia.

She will also be appointed as an associate professor in UBC’s Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory.

“A highly accomplished visual artist and curator, Tania is internationally recognized for her work and has made a remarkable impact as the inaugural director of the UBC Okanagan Art Gallery,” said Clare Haru Crowston, UBC Dean of Arts, in a news release.

“As the first Indigenous director of the Belkin Gallery, Tania’s appointment marks a significant milestone in advancing the Faculty of Arts’ and UBC’s commitment to Indigenous reconciliation and resurgence.”

Willard holds a master of fine arts degree from UBC Okanagan; her most recent role was the inaugural director of the UBC Okanagan Gallery, assistant professor in the UBC Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies and director of UBCO’s Indigenous Art Intensive. 

As a curator, her work includes co-curating Unceded Territories: Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun at the UBC Museum of Anthropology, and co-curating the touring exhibition, Beat Nation: Art Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture. She received the Award for Curatorial Excellence in Contemporary Art from the Hnatyshyn Foundation in 2016, as well as the 2020 Shadbolt Foundation VIVA Award. She was also named a 2022 Forge Project Fellow. 

Source: University of British Columbia

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