AGO Board of Trustees Appoints Four New Trustees

TORONTO – The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that at today’s Annual General Meeting, Maxine Granovsky Gluskin, President of the AGO Board of Trustees, was appointed for another year’s term and four new Trustees were appointed to the Board, effective immediately.

The new Trustees are:

• David Binet, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Woodbridge Company Limited and Chair of the National Ballet of Canada;

• Dr. Kenneth Montague, Founder and Partner of Word of Mouth Dentistry, art collector and Founder and Director of Wedge Curatorial Projects;

• Gordon Nixon, Director of George Weston Limited and Bell Canada Enterprises, former Chief Executive Officer of RBC, and Chairman of MaRS and the Queen’s University Capital Campaign;

• Eleanor Shen, founding member of Partners in Art (PIA) and board member of Canadian Art Foundation and Soulpepper Theatre Company.

“The AGO is truly fortunate to welcome these individuals, who will bring diversity of thought, experience and reach to our Board of Trustees. They believe in the power of art to change lives and will help us extend our invitation to different communities in Toronto and internationally,” says Gluskin. “David, Kenneth, Gordon and Eleanor all possess tremendous knowledge, skill sets and expertise, which will further our goal of being one of the best Boards in Canada. I am confident they will help us achieve our ambitious strategic priorities, and I’m delighted to have them join us.”

About David Binet
David Binet is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Woodbridge Company Limited, the principal investment holding company for Canada’s Thomson family. Woodbridge’s largest asset is its 57 per cent stake in Thomson Reuters Corporation, listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges, and it has numerous other investments. David is Deputy Chairman of Thomson Reuters and also serves on the board of directors of Woodbridge, the Globe and Mail (Canada’s national newspaper) and a number of other companies in which Woodbridge has invested. David is Chairman of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a London-based charity dedicated to journalism training and promoting the rule of law. David is also Chairman of the Board of the National Ballet of Canada and on the board of directors of Canada’s National Ballet School. Before joining Woodbridge, David was a partner in the Canadian law firm Torys LLP, where his practice focused on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. Prior to that, he was a news reporter. David attended Queen’s University (BA Hons), McGill University (LLB) and Northwestern University (MSJ) and he has received certification from the Institute of Corporate Directors (Canada).

About Kenneth Montague
Kenneth Montague is a Toronto-based dentist, as well as an art collector and the founder and director of Wedge Curatorial Projects, a non-profit arts organization that helps promote African-Canadian artists. Since 1997 Montague has been exhibiting contemporary art that explores black identity and showcasing these works in his Wedge Collection. Montague has served on the Africa Acquisitions Committee at Tate Modern, London (2012–2015), as well as the Advisory Board of the Ryerson Image Centre (2011–2014) and the Photography Curatorial Committee of the Art Gallery of Ontario (2009–2012) and he has been invited to lecture on contemporary art at the Studio Museum in Harlem, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, among other institutions.

About Gordon Nixon
Gordon Nixon was chief executive officer of Royal Bank of Canada from 2001 to 2014. Mr. Nixon is a director of George Weston Limited and Bell Canada Enterprises. Mr. Nixon is chairman of MaRS and the Queen’s University Capital Campaign and has served many years as a director of a number of organizations in the arts, health care and education and has chaired numerous events and fundraising campaigns including the United Way of Greater Toronto. Throughout his career he has been recognized with many honours including twice being included on Barron’s list of the World’s Best CEOs and was on Bloomberg’s list of the World’s 50 Most Influential People. Mr. Nixon has been awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario and has Honorary Doctorates of Law from Queen's University and Dalhousie University.

About Eleanor Shen
Eleanor Shen has an MBA designation and has previously worked in the finance industry. Eleanor has been an avid arts supporter and currently serves on the board of Canadian Art Foundation and Soulpepper Theatre Company. She is a founding member of Partners in Art (PIA) and served as co-chair from 2008 to 2010. Eleanor was a board member at the Power Plant (2011–2015) and a member of the Modern and Contemporary Curatorial Committee at AGO (2010–2015). Outside the arts, Eleanor served as a board member at the Child Development Institute (2005–2009) and currently is a member of the Advisory Board.

ABOUT THE AGO BOARD OF TRUSTEES
The Art Gallery of Ontario is a corporation without share capital, governed by a Board of Trustees to which the Gallery is accountable. The AGO Board is comprised of a President, three Vice Presidents, Trustee Emeritus and 27 voting Trustees in total.

ABOUT THE AGO
With a collection of more than 90,000 works of art, the Art Gallery of Ontario is among the most distinguished art museums in North America. From the vast body of Group of Seven and signature Canadian works to the African art gallery, from the cutting-edge contemporary art to Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpiece The Massacre of The Innocents, the AGO offers an incredible art experience with each visit. In 2002 Ken Thomson’s generous gift of 2,000 remarkable works of Canadian and European art inspired Transformation AGO, an innovative architectural expansion by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry that in 2008 resulted in one of the most critically acclaimed architectural achievements in North America. Highlights include Galleria Italia, a gleaming showcase of wood and glass running the length of an entire city block, and the often-photographed spiral staircase, beckoning visitors to explore. The AGO has an active membership program offering great value, and the AGO’s Weston Family Learning Centre offers engaging art and creative programs for children, families, youth and adults. Visit ago.ca to find out more about upcoming special exhibitions, to learn about eating and shopping at the AGO, to register for programs and to buy tickets or memberships. The Art Gallery of Ontario is funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Additional operating support is received from the City of Toronto, the Canada Council for the Arts and generous contributions from AGO members, donors and private-sector partners.

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For high-res images and other press inquiries, please contact:

Caitlin Coull; Manager, AGO Communications
416-979-6660, ext. 364, [email protected]

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