Eva Respini and Sirish Rao Confirmed as Co-CEOs of Vancouver Art Gallery

The Vancouver Art Gallery Association Board of Trustees has announced the permanent appointment of Eva Respini and Sirish Rao as Co-CEOs, confirming a dual leadership model designed to advance the Gallery’s artistic ambition, operational resilience and global reach. The decision reflects the Board's confidence in Respini and Rao's leadership over the past year, during which they strengthened the Gallery's financial position, deepened its commitment to art, artists and community, and established a renewed vision for the institution's future. This announcement follows a rigorous evaluation process undertaken by the Governance and People Committee of the Board. In addition to assessing organizational performance, the Board sought extensive input from staff, donors, artists, community leaders and trusted advisors.

“Eva and Sirish have demonstrated exceptional leadership distinguished by shared purpose,” says Jon Stovell, Chair of the Board of Trustees. “They each bring different but deeply complementary perspectives to the Gallery, and together, they are expanding our sense of what the Vancouver Art Gallery can be and the role it can play in the twenty-first century.”

Moving forward, Respini will serve as Co-CEO & Chief Curator, leading the Gallery’s artistic vision, including exhibition strategy, collection development, curatorial partnerships and the new building project. Rao will serve as Co-CEO & Executive Director, leading operations, earned revenue and finance as well as community outreach, institutional partnerships and interdisciplinary programming, including the Gallery’s Art of Wellbeing Lab and the Centre for Global Asias. Both will bring their extensive experience and expertise to bear on the programmatic direction of the future Vancouver Art Gallery.

The two were named Interim Co-CEOs in March 2025. Since then, they have strengthened the Gallery’s leadership, audiences and civic role by:

• Reigniting audience momentum, with admissions and membership reaching their highest levels since before the pandemic.
• Reconstituting the executive leadership team to support institutional stability, accountability and long-term growth.
• Reimagining the curatorial program on the Gallery’s distinguished collection of over 13,000 artworks, including the opening of its first dedicated collection floor in more than two decades, Highlights from the Collection.
• Expanding the Gallery’s local community engagement and international reach through new partnerships, programs and public-facing initiatives.
• Charting a renewed vision for the new Vancouver Art Gallery, including leading the national architect selection process that commissioned Formline Architecture + Urbanism and KPMB Architects to design a sustainable new home grounded in the Gallery’s rich history.

Since joining the Gallery three years ago, Eva Respini has shaped a renewed artistic direction and energy for the institution, placing its distinguished permanent collection at the heart of the Gallery while expanding its international profile. She has strengthened the collection through major acquisitions and gifts, including works by Nan Goldin and Stephen Shore and 122 artworks from the Brigitte and Henning Freybe collection, the most significant donation of international contemporary art in the Gallery’s history. Respini has also created new opportunities to build the collection for the future, including leading significant co-acquisitions with institutions in Canada and the US, and establishing the Curator’s Council to support the acquisition of works by emerging and established women artists. Her exhibition program has brought major artistic voices to Vancouver and positioned the Gallery within urgent global conversations, including through Future Geographies: Art in the Century of Climate Change, which opened to international acclaim and served as a testing ground for how museums can work more sustainably.

“I am honoured to co-lead the Gallery with Eva at this pivotal moment,” says Rao. “She brings a truly thrilling international perspective that is shaped by her experience at some of the world’s leading museums, along with a global network of artists and curators that creates new possibilities for Vancouver. She has an incredible clarity of vision and ambition, brings a commitment to curatorial rigour and accessible storytelling through exhibitions, and a deep belief in the role artists and museums can play in helping us understand the world around us.”

Sirish Rao joined the Gallery in January 2023, and has strengthened the Gallery’s institutional capacity, audience engagement and civic impact, building new partnerships and expanding access to art across communities. Under his leadership, Rao has positioned the Gallery at the forefront of new thinking about the role cultural institutions can play in society, including through the award-winning Art of Wellbeing Lab and the launch of a globally unique partnership with the BC Parks Foundation’s PaRx prescription program, an initiative that enables healthcare professionals to prescribe free Gallery admission to their patients. He has advanced the Centre for Global Asias as a national platform for exhibitions, research and public programming, repositioning Vancouver and Canada's place within local and global conversations on art and ideas. His leadership has been recognized through his inclusion in Vancouver Magazine’s Power 50, receipt of the King Charles III Coronation Medal and recognition as a “Creative Force” by The Tyee.

“Sirish is an extraordinary partner, and I am delighted to continue our co-leadership,” says Respini. “He brings a deep commitment to community and an understanding of Vancouver’s unique place in the Pacific, building relationships across the Asia-Pacific that are opening new opportunities for the Gallery. Sirish is always asking: how do we bring people through our doors who might not otherwise come to an art museum? That question—how we make the Gallery more welcoming, relevant and connected to the communities we serve—is at the heart of so much of what we are building together.”

As the Co-CEOs take up their permanent roles, they are focused on developing dynamic new exhibitions and programmatic initiatives for local and international stages, cultivating support from Vancouver’s business and philanthropic communities, and realizing the new Vancouver Art Gallery.

Respini and Rao’s permanent appointment also marks an important next step in building the leadership team that will carry this vision forward. As part of this next chapter, longtime Gallery leaders Diana Freundl and Stephanie Rebick will join the Gallery’s executive leadership team. Diana oversees collections, research and public programming, while Stephanie leads exhibitions and publishing. They join Jasmine Bradley, who leads the Gallery’s communications, brand, government relations and audience engagement strategy; Jackie Graham, who leads philanthropy and fundraising; Grant Mosby, who oversees finance and operations; and Kulwinder Sall, who oversees people and organizational culture. Together, this expanded team brings expertise from across the institution to advance the Gallery’s artistic and public mission and build a strong foundation for its future.

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