New Canada Council pilot project to offer an
Aboriginal curatorial residency at the National Gallery of Canada

For immediate release

Ottawa, April 19, 2007 – The Canada Council for the Arts has launched a pilot project that will provide a mid-career Aboriginal curator with a two-year residency at the National Gallery of Canada. The deadline for applications to this project is Monday, May 28, 2007.

This partnership initiative between the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Gallery will provide a two-year development opportunity for a mid-career Aboriginal curator to work at the Gallery. The residency will focus on the study and use of the Gallery’s collections under the supervision and with the help of its professional staff. In addition to research and assistance on the collections, the curatorial resident will prepare, over the course of the two-year residency period, an exhibition for the Gallery’s On Tour program. The residency will take place from September 2007 to September 2009.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for an Aboriginal curator to have a hands-on residency,” said François Lachapelle, head of the Canada Council Visual Arts section. “We are thrilled to collaborate with the National Gallery of Canada. The knowledge and expertise of the Gallery’s employees are invaluable to the visual arts milieu. The sharing of experiences will be most inspiring for the curatorial resident. We are convinced that he or she will greatly benefit from this two-year professional immersion at this prominent national institution.”

“This unique initiative from the Canada Council for the Arts is another example of how partnerships can strengthen the capacity of art institutions across Canada. We are engaged in making this residency a very positive one for both the mid-career curator joining our team and the communities across the country that will benefit from this program,” said David Franklin, Chief Curator at the National Gallery of Canada.

ELIGIBILITY

This pilot project is open to Canadian Aboriginal curators and art historians who have past experience and/or education that demonstrate their commitment to further the development in the curatorial profession within an art museum environment.
This program provides an honorarium of $42,000 per year to the curatorial resident. In addition, the resident is eligible for one annual return trip to his/her original home location, to a maximum of $3,000. The Gallery, with financial support from the Canada Council, will be responsible for all other expenses associated with the residency, including the costs of office set-up and supplies, exhibition research and presentation.

For more information about this program and to receive an application form contact Jim Logan, Visual Arts program officer at the Canada Council for the Arts, at 1-800-263-5588, ext. 5266, or at jim.logan@canadacouncil.ca.

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Media Contact: Public Affairs, Research and Communications
Carole Breton: 613-566-4414 or 1-800-263-5588, ext. 4523
E-mail: carole.breton@canadacouncil.ca
Donna Balkan: 613-566-4305 or 1-800-263-5588, ext. 4134
E-mail: donna.balkan@canadacouncil.ca