Jean-François Belisle Named New Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada

The National Gallery of Canada has announced Jean-François Belisle as its next director and CEO.

Belisle will succeed interim director and CEO Angela Cassie, who has served since June 2022, and his five-year term will start on July 17.

“I believe that art can change society, and look forward to collaborating with the Gallery’s staff, as well as artists from across the country, to ensure our institution continues to be a fantastic force for good,” Belisle stated in a press release, emphasizing collaborative national projects, and working on increasing the presence of Canadian artists on the international art scene. “I also intend to engage with donors; and undertake consultations with the Gallery’s partners and other important stakeholders, including various national arts institutions and associations.”

Belisle is currently the executive director and chief curator of the Musée d’art de Joliette (MAJ), a regional art institution located about 30 miles northeast of Montreal in the suburb of Joliette. Prior to the MAJ, Belisle was the co-founder and executive director of the private contemporary art foundation Arsenal, and the executive director of Association des galeries d’art contemporain (AGAC), a nonprofit organization for commercial Canadian art galleries.

Gallery Board of Trustee chair Françoise Lyon called Belisle a “proven leader with an ability to advance the National Gallery of Canada’s five-year roadmap, Transform Together“. The museum’s strategic plan was released in May 2021, under previous director and chief executive officer Sasha Suda.

According to the press release from the NGC, Belisle “held various positions in museums, art publications, international NGOs, auction houses, galleries and universities in eight countries” and “organized over a hundred highly acclaimed art exhibitions and projects in Canada, the USA, Europe and China.” His bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art history are from Concordia University in Montreal.

The announcement comes after a tumultuous period at the NGC. Last July, Suda left the role of director and CEO to become the director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in September. Six months later, the NGC announced the ouster of four senior staff, including chief curator Kitty Scott and Indigenous curator Greg A. Hill, shocking the country’s art community. Scott notably acquired one of Louise Bourgeois’s iconic spider sculptures, Maman, which sits at the entrance of the museum, and Hill worked at the NGC for 22 years. In January, a report found the NGC’s interim chief operating officer and human resources director was being paid annual fees of up to $306,150, a third more than its next chief executive and director. The museum also suffered a ransomware attack earlier this year.