MacKenzie Art Gallery announces Anthony Kiendl as new CEO

The MacKenzie Art Gallery Board of Trustees announced the appointment of Anthony Kiendl as Chief Executive Officer. An award-winning curator, writer and educator, Kiendl has over 15 years of leadership experience in arts institutions and is respected for his expertise in creating strategic partnerships and leading transformational change.

Kiendl has been the Executive and Artistic Director at Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Winnipeg, Manitoba since 2006, where he designed and implemented a $4 million fundraising campaign for the gallery. He also led a multiphase organizational transformation of the Institute including the construction and move to a $15 million arts and education facility in downtown Winnipeg. Prior to Plug In ICA, he was the Director of Visual Arts, Walter Phillips Gallery and the Banff International Curatorial Institute at The Banff Centre in Alberta from 2002 until 2006.

Kiendl is familiar with Saskatchewan having worked in Saskatoon as well as Regina where he served as Curator of the Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina Public Library from 1997 to 2002. Most recently, Kiendl has been the Executive and Artistic Director at Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art in Winnipeg, Manitoba since 2006.

”I am thrilled to be returning to Saskatchewan, and particularly to join the MacKenzie Art Gallery, one of Canada’s most significant art institutions. We plan to continue the implementation of transformational change at the gallery, building upon the strong foundation established in recent years. We have unprecedented potential in this dynamic province to build our programs, collection and educational opportunities. We plan to re-articulate the role and value of art in everyday life, and in our communities, by building creative partnerships locally, nationally and internationally,” said Kiendl.

Kiendl has developed an international network in the arts, and was curator of Contour 2011: The 5th Biennale of the Moving Image in Mechelen, Belgium, and Leverhulme Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Arts, Middlesex University, London, UK (2006). He has lectured internationally and has co-organized panel presentations for Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Art Brussels, the Banff Centre, and Plug In ICA.

Kiendl has organized numerous exhibitions including: Komar and Melamid: Canada’s Most Wanted and Most Unwanted Paintings (with Bruce Grenville for Vancouver Art Gallery and Dunlop Art Gallery); Godzilla vs Skateboarders: Skateboarding as a Critique of Social Space (Dunlop Art Gallery and national tour); and My Winnipeg (la maison rouge, Paris, France, Plug In ICA and international tour); and has co-curated Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, Toronto (2010) and the Alberta Biennale of Contemporary Art (2005, with Catherine Crowston), among others. His publications include Obsession, Complusion, Collection: On Objects, Display Culture and Interpretation, Banff Centre (2004), Lida Abdul, Afghanistan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and The Banff Centre (2005), and Informal Architectures, Black Dog Publishing, London, Banff Centre and Plug In ICA (2008).

As an educator Kiendl has taught art and architecture at the University of Manitoba and University of Regina. He has led and participated in post-doctoral level research projects, received Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funding and participated on numerous peer assessment committees for SSHRC and various arts funding bodies.

In announcing the Board’s decision, Josh MacFadden, President of the MacKenzie’s Board of Trustees, indicated his delight at Kiendl’s hiring, “Anthony is a proven leader in so many aspects of the visual arts, and his presence at the MacKenzie will bring renewed excitement and innovation to the Gallery while helping strengthen current relationships and forging new connections in the community. He has an opportunity to further enhance his reputation as one of Canada’s most creative gallery directors, and we are confident he will make his mark with us”.

Having recently been awarded a departmental scholarship, Kiendl is undertaking his Master of Fine Arts Degree at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, in Art Criticism and Writing with program director David Levi-Strauss. Kiendl will officially begin as CEO of the MacKenzie Art Gallery in May 2014. For the next eight months Jeremy Morgan will continue as MacKenzie CEO, in close consultation with Kiendl as the MacKenzie continues to implement its new five-year strategic plan.

About the MacKenzie Art Gallery

The MacKenzie Art Gallery is Saskatchewan’s largest public art gallery spanning over 100,000 square feet of space on three levels including an exhibition floor with eight environmentally controlled galleries. The MacKenzie offers original exhibitions of contemporary and historical art from Saskatchewan, Canada and around the world. An interactive and creative space, the Gallery provides educational programs, unique community events and free public tours for people of all ages. The MacKenzie also has state-of-the-art professional facilities including an art conservation lab and vault, home to more than 4,500 works of art in the treasured Permanent Collection.