Vancouver Art Gallery Establishes New Curatorial Position

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Gordon Smith (photo by Richard Lam/PNG)

The Vancouver Art Gallery has established a new curatorial position in Canadian art with the help of two $1-million gifts.

The donations are from the estate of Vancouver artist Gordon Smith, and Stephen and Gail Jarislowsky and the Jarislowsky Foundation. 

The Smith Jarislowsky curator of Canadian art will foster the research, presentation and collection of Canadian art and promote the work of historical and contemporary Canadian artists.

Gallery director Anthony Kiendl said  "the funds will not only help our amazing team at the gallery carry out the important work of providing enriching art experiences, but they will also serve as an inspiration for others."

The gallery said the position would be posted immediately.

The Jarislowsky Foundation was founded in Montreal by Stephen Jarislowsky, who built the investment firm Jarislowsky Fraser, recently purchased by Scotiabank. Jarislowsky was a friend of Smith, who he called "a truly wonderful man."

Smith, who died last year at 100, had two major retrospectives at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and has work in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He taught at UBC for more than two decades, and with his wife, founded the Gordon and Marion Smith Foundation for Young Artists, which supports art education in Vancouver.

Source: Vancouver Art Gallery