Winnipeg's Stephen Borys to Receive Arts Leadership Award

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Dr. Stephen Borys (courtesy University of Winnipeg)

Stephen Borys, director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq, will receive an arts leadership award in recognition of his work overseeing the creation of the gallery's new Inuit art centre.

Business / Arts, a national charity that works to foster partnerships between businesses and the arts, cited Borys as "an exceptional leader who has made a significant contribution to the arts in Canada," the gallery said Wednesday.

He will receive the Peter Herrndorf Arts Leadership Award at an Oct. 16 ceremony at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

Borys said he is grateful for the opportunity to bring greater attention to the work of Inuit artists via the award.

"Throughout this building project, we've embraced a model of museum and public space that nurtures understanding and connection through art, guided by Indigenous artists, elders and Knowledge Keepers, one we hope continues to grow and influence the arts sector," he said. "And to be connected through this award with a visionary arts leader and advocate like Peter Herrndorf, someone I knew and admired greatly, is truly an honour."

Herrndorf, who died in February, had a varied career that included time as vice-president of CBC English services and CEO of TVOntario, as well as CEO of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Borys oversaw Qaumajuq, home of the world's largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art, from its inception to its opening in 2021.

Business / Arts was established in 1974 as the Council for Business and the Arts in Canada, when the late businessman Edmund C. Bovey, a former president of the Art Gallery of Ontario's board of trustees, gathered 100 CEOs from across Canada to champion business investment in the arts. 

Heather Igloliorte, an Inuk professor of circumpolar Indigenous arts at Concordia University in Montreal, commended Borys for establishing "a bold new direction."

"He maintains a respectful, ongoing dialogue with the Indigenous Advisory Circle and together, we are reimagining not only what the museum looks like, or how the collection is stored and displayed. We are also thinking through the governance of the institution itself: the mission, the hiring practices, the staffing, and how museum education can be improved for all audiences."

Source: Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq