Leadership

It goes without saying that 2020 was an exceptional and challenging year. We begin 2021 with continued challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, but recovery is on our horizon for the year. After reopening to the public in August, we saw a strong and encouraging return of visitors from our local communities, for which we are grateful. Your feedback about our new health and safety measures has also been very positive. The whole team at Remai Modern is buoyed by your passion for art and we are excited to share some dynamic new exhibitions with you this season.  

Earlier this year, we welcomed several new members to our leadership team, rounding out our staff and adding some critical expertise to the organization. In February, Michelle Jacques joined us as Head of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator. One week later, Tara Janzen took on the role of Director of Development. Several other new hires, including Tarah Hogue, the museum’s inaugural Curator (Indigenous Art) and Alvin Claypool, our Human Resources Business Partner, also join our existing team, putting Remai Modern in a strong position as we move through this challenging time and into our exciting future. 

We have kicked off the year with two exhibitions by visionary female artists who use photography and other media to challenge expectations around gender roles and representation. New York-based Canadian artist Sara Cwynar presents an immersive installation and film in an exhibition called Source. The work on view combines imagery from discarded photo albums, art history books, eBay and more with her own material. Using these disparate materials, she creates layered perspectives on how beauty, value and truth are constructed.  

Saskatoon photographer Thelma Pepper created intimate portraits of women, mostly of an older generation, in their own spaces. Her works also include views of prairie landscapes that add a deeper understanding of the portraits through their connection to the subjects. In a time when most of us cannot visit with our elders, this exhibition is a poignant reminder of their central role in our communities and the power of their perspectives. Thelma Pepper: Ordinary Women. A Retrospective also presents works of other women photographers that put Pepper’s career into broader context.  

In part a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and intersecting social and environmental challenges, the upcoming exhibition  An apology, a pill, a ritual, a resistance  brings together works that explore or enact methods of healing and the pain that often must be endured to get better. Artists in the exhibition give broad, new perspectives of healing, offer us cautionary tales from the past and introduce hopeful and generative directions for the future. Art shows us what we think we already know in new ways and plays an important role in shaping how we move forward. 

We are grateful for the support of our partners and donors, including the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation, and for your continued interest in what we do at the museum. Our committed staff continue to create new shows, offer art activities and meaningful ways for people of all ages to engage both online and at the museum. We look forward to continuing to heal and grow together through the power of art.  

 Aileen Burns & Johan Lundh
Co-Executive Director & CEOs​