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Director/Chief Curator Announced for The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery Division

The Rooms Corporation has appointed a new Director/Chief Curator of the Provincial Art Gallery. Vicky Chainey Gagnon will assume the position at The Rooms on July 1 of this year.

“The Rooms is embarking on its 10th year of operation, and we are tremendously proud of our accomplishments to date," said Dean Brinton, CEO, The Rooms Corporation. "Ms. Chainey Gagnon’s appointment signals an evolution in the art gallery division, moving towards a truly interdisciplinary approach to engage the public in dynamic new ways.”

Ms. Chainey Gagnon holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Studies and Art History from Concordia University and a Masters of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from York University. Recently, she completed doctoral course work at Concordia University’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture on the subject of civically engaged museology, exploring innovative educational and contemporary art practice. Ms. Chainey Gagnon is currently on sabbatical from the Foreman Art Gallery of Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec, to curate the Manif d’art 7 - the Quebec City Biennial in May 2014.

“I look forward to joining the excellent staff of The Rooms and to work with CEO Dean Brinton,” said Ms. Chainey Gagnon. “I also look forward to expanding the art gallery’s reputation for presenting bold new voices and supporting artistic innovation through rigorous exhibition practices.”

Ms. Chainey Gagnon’s biography can be found in the backgrounder below.

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Media contact:
Deanne Fisher
Executive Director, Marketing and Development
The Rooms Corporation
709-757-8070, 709-631-0835
deannefisher@therooms.ca    

BACKGROUNDER
Biography

Vicky Chainey Gagnon was awarded the Prix Relève by the Societé des musées Québecois in recognition of her contribution to the field of museology. During her doctoral research, she received several grants including the Fonds québécois de la recherche en société et culture and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She is currently curating the Manif d’art 7 -- the Quebec City Biennial, an extensive project that will present the work of 35 Canadian and international artists across museums, artist-run-centers and public spaces. The theme of this year’s biennale is Resistance: And Then, We Built New Forms.

During her tenure at the Foreman Art Gallery, she curated exhibitions by emerging and established artists including: Time Inside the Image I-III; Above and Below (Adam David Brown, Martha Fleming/Lyne Lapointe, Inger Lise Hansen, Véronique La Perrière M., Penelope Stewart, Irene F. Whittome); Christina Battle: Filing Memory; Charles Stankievech: Over the Rainbow, Under the Radar; Value (Cooke-Sasseville, Antoni Muntadas, Red Channels, Anton Vidokle & Julieta Aranda, WochenKlausur); The Indivisible (Matilda Aslizadeh, Pascal Grandmaison, Krisjanis Kaktins-Gorsline, Soft Turns, Tanya St-Pierre); and Myriam Yates.

2014 02 07             11:00 a.m.