Women Empowered
Director and Artistic Director Gaetane Verna – The Queen of the Art World
BY PAUL JUNOR
It is only fitting that the Power Plant honours Director and Artistic Director Gaetane Verna for her significant contributions and outstanding work in increasing the stature of this world-class public gallery. She has been at the helm since March 2012 and during this time she has done a lot to build the profile, brand, and image of this contemporary art gallery. As the first woman, Black and BIPOC leader of a contemporary art gallery, she will be remembered for her bold artistic vision by featuring creative and innovative artists from Canada and all over the world.
Prior to her appointment, she was the Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Musee d’art Joliette from 2006 – 2012 in Montreal, Quebec. In addition, she served as the Curator from 1999 to 2006 of the Foreman Art Gallery of Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Quebec. In addition, she has taught at the Department of Art History and the Universite de Quebec a Montreal.
Verna has served in several leadership capacities on different boards, such as: the Board of the Canada Council of the Arts, TV5 Quebec and the Toronto Arts Council’s Board of Directors, where she was the former President. In addition, she is one of the founders of the Black Curators Forum and serves on the Advisory Committee of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Art of Global Africa and on Diaspora, the Advisory Board of the Institute for the Study of Canadian Slavery at NASCAD University as well as the Advisory Committee of the Mosaic Institute. She was recognized in 2017 by the French government for her role in promoting the arts in France and around the world by being appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters).
In my interview with Gaetane on Thursday, September 1st, she shared many details about her time at the Power Plant. She told me that it has a budget of $4.8 million with a staff of about 45 people. She shared with me the unique partnership between the Harbourfront Centre and the Power Plant. She is proud that she has been able to develop a diverse leadership team as opposed to the homogeneous one at Harbourfront. She is excited by the increase in the number of sponsors that have been added to the Power Plant since her commencement. In addition, the Power Plant offers fellowships since 2013 and has seen five persons of diverse backgrounds pass through it within the last two years. These individuals Gaetane assured me have gone on to accomplish great things.
Gaetane recalls the many challenges and hurdles she faced due to racism and sexism, yet she overcame them. She told me that many saw the high turnover at the Power Plant as a reflection of her leadership, but she believes that the low salaries offered to these workers were a deterrent to keeping them. Many of them have gone on to work for art galleries all over the world and she still has relationships with them. The Power Plant served as a great incubator for their talents and they developed their leadership skills through the mentorship opportunities that it provided to them.
She believes that one of her strengths was getting to know the community. She told me, “We create our communities. This is done by getting to know the diverse, multi-faceted and cultural matrix of the richness of all communities.” In her quest to know the wealth of communities, and engage in communal self-creation she interacted with diverse stakeholders. She was a founder of the Black Curators Forum and one of her defining moments at the Power Plant was “Unfinished Conversations.” This has been very impactful.
Verna has been committed to ensuring that the Power Plant maintains a touring exhibition. This has resulted in greater exposure of exhibitions not just in Canada, but worldwide as well. Her artist-centered approach ensured that both Canadian and international artists were able to showcase major works of arts through its commissioning program.
Verna’s achievements were celebrated by the Power Plant early in 2022 and her last day will be September 16th. She was honoured for her transformational leadership that made the Power Plant an open and engaging space that generates conversations and addresses issues important to the community. She will be taking on her new role as the Executive Director of the Wexner Center for the Arts (The Wex) at Ohio University.
“It has been a privilege and honour to serve as the Director and Artistic Director of the Power Plant, a leading contemporary art gallery recognized for its ground-breaking exhibitions and programming for more than a decade. I would like to thank everyone who has made a contribution to the institution, from the artists, our supporters, and our donors, to our passionate Board of Directors and the talented team at the Power Plant who have made this important work possible.”
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