VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA.- At the March 26 Annual General Meeting of the Vancouver Art Gallery George Killy, Chair of the Board of Trustees, announced 2002 as a landmark year for attendance, admission revenues and store sales. 2002 was also a year in which the Gallery’s exhibitions garnered critical and popular acclaim both locally and internationally.
“The year 2002 was a year of records,” said Killy. “The Gallery experienced record-breaking attendance, record admission revenues, record store sales and an increase in membership subscriptions of 12 per cent.”
“Director Kathleen Bartels has done a remarkable job since joining the Gallery two-years ago, particularly in relation to art acquisition and improving the Gallery’s stature in the international art world,” he added. “This month marks the start of Kathleen Bartels’ third year as Director and she is forging ahead with a clear artistic vision.”
Bartels, in a detailed report to the members, said she was pleased to note that 2002 was the Gallery’s 17th consecutive year of deficit-free operation. “But in time 2002 will be remembered not for our financial success, acclaimed exhibitions or record breaking attendance. It will be remembered, I suspect, for the most important addition to the collection in over 50 years—our remarkable acquisition of a $3.5 million collection of photo-based art from Toronto collector Alan Schwartz.”
During 2002, the Vancouver Art Gallery presented nine new exhibitions and achieved record-breaking attendance for Carr, O’Keefe, Kahlo: Places of their Own in the summer and Tom Thomson in the fall. In an unprecedented event, opening hours were extended to accommodate visitors during the closing weeks of both exhibitions.
Embracing innovation, the Gallery held several groundbreaking contemporary exhibitions that garnered significant critical and popular acclaim including The Uncanny: Experiments in Cyborg Culture, Douglas Gordon, Gillian Wearing and Liz Magor. The Gallery also launched a new series called Next: Emerging Artists from the Pacific Rim that demonstrates an ongoing commitment to the arts on the eastern edge of the Pacific Rim.
The Gallery also staged the inaugural International Woman in the Arts Award honoring Her Excellency the Right Honorable Adrienne Clarkson; created a new visual identity; finalized the redesign of the Gallery website; and, held the first Teachers’ Training Institute. More than 20,000 children participated in the Gallery’s school and summer programs and 14,000 parents and children attended supersundays.
Kitty Heller, Secretary to the Board, announced that George Killy will continue as Chair and the following trustees were elected by acclamation for a two-year term (2003 to 2005): Chris Dikeakos, artist, curator, educator and restaurateur; Kitty Heller, lawyer with Owen Bird; Sam Ketcham, Director of Corporate Planning for West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd; Judy Kerr, collector of Canadian and contemporary art; Sherry Killam, artist and graduate of UBC and Emily Carr School of Art; Michael O’Brian, Director of Dynasty Motorcar Corporation; Grace Robin, past President of the Associates of the Vancouver Art Gallery and member of the Vancouver General Hospital Art Committee; and, Peter Wong, Vice President and investment advisor at Raymond James Ltd. Continuing their term until 2004 are: Rick Charles, investment advisor and Vice President at RBC Dominion Securities; Barbara Gillanders, Arts Umbrella board member; George Killy, Principal at Harley Street Holdings; Timothy Porteous, former President of Ontario College of Art and former Director of the Canada Council; Eric Savics, Stockbroker, Haywood Securities Inc; Audrey Sojonky, member of the Board of Director’s of the Vancouver Port Authority and former policy co-ordinator for the BC Regional Minister’s Office; and, Peter Speer, Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The board convened immediately after the Annual General Meeting and appointed the following for a one-year term to March 2004: Barbara Cole, artist, public art consultant and projects co-ordinator for the City of Vancouver Public Art Program; Michael Geller, architect, developer and President and CEO of Burnaby Mountain Community Corporation at Simon Fraser University; Kevin B Leslie, former President and CEO ImmGenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. board member of various biopharmaceutical companies and art collector; Donna Serviss, Manager of Community Investments at TELUS and Instructor of the BCIT Business and Marketing Program; and, Ron Yuen, architect with Davidson Yuen Simpson.
In addition, Gloria Smith, the President of the Associates of the Vancouver Art Gallery, will continue to sit on the Board as the Associates representative. The Chairs of the Board’s committees were elected as follows: George Killy, Board Chair; Merla Beckerman, Chair Governance/Nominations Committee; Kitty Heller, Secretary; Chris Dikeakos, Chair Acquisitions Committee; and, Peter Speer, Chair, Finance and Audit Committee.