Vancouver Art Gallery announces departure of CEO Anthony Kiendl

The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) says it is parting ways with its CEO and executive director, Anthony Kiendl.

Its committee of trustees made the announcement Tuesday, saying Kiendl is "leaving the Gallery to prosecute different nonrecreational and idiosyncratic interests."

Kiendl had been with the VAG since August 2020 and helped the assemblage navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

VAG board seat Jon Stovell told CBC News helium can't stock circumstantial details of discussions with Kiendl, but that the assemblage is shifting gears to a antithetic mentation of its superior task — a new abstraction for VAG being built astatine the country of Cambie and West Georgia streets — and that Kiendl had different things helium wanted to pursue.

"It conscionable seemed similar a suitable clip to amicably spell successful antithetic directions," Stovell said.

He said the assemblage is successful nary unreserved to find a replacement for Kiendl.

Its lawman manager and director of curatorial programs, Eva Respini, and elder manager of nationalist engagement and learning, Sirish Rao, volition beryllium serving arsenic interim leaders. Stovell said both are highly regarded successful the arts community.

"We're going to measure our enactment requirements and representation those connected to our program going guardant implicit the adjacent fewer years and spot aboriginal successful the twelvemonth wherever we extremity up successful presumption of bringing successful caller leadership," helium said.

A VAG merchandise says Kiendl volition stay arsenic curator for the upcoming VAG exhibition, Lucy Raven: Murderers Bar, opening connected April 18.

A challenging clip for non-profits

The news comes aft an announcement successful December that the Vancouver Art Gallery was scrapping its caller gathering plan aft the projected outgo roseate by 50 per cent, to $600 million.

"Many successful the assemblage person criticized it arsenic being overly ambitious, and I deliberation there's an constituent of information to that," said Stovell. 

"We are now, and person been, rather nationalist successful saying we're pursuing a much … calibrated effect to the existent economical clime and the current, existent needs of the assemblage wrong the City of Vancouver."

WATCH | Does Vancouver truly request a caller creation gallery?:

The VAG has since been seeking a caller absorption for the building, and a caller architecture firm.

Stovell said helium hopes the interior process of picking a caller plan volition beryllium wrapped up by precocious May to aboriginal June, since they person already received applications with simpler designs from Canadian architectural firms.

"All non-profits are struggling and trying to find the close backing exemplary and however to negociate these precise costly facilities, and inactive conscionable the expectations of the public," helium said.

"Where positivity lies successful the task is the information that the metropolis is inactive precise overmuch with america — bless them for holding that precise invaluable portion of onshore for us."

While helium has seen radical urge aged section store locations, specified arsenic Nordstrom and the Bay, Stovell said they're really not easier due to the fact that of the outgo to lease and renovate them.

The plan is changing, but helium said the existent tract — which the metropolis is providing astatine nary outgo connected a 99-year lease — is inactive by acold the astir cost-effective choice.

A relay race

Stovell said the task started thing similar 14 years ago, and that each VAG director since then has had a relation successful it.

Vancouver Coun. and VAG trustee Sarah Kirby-Yung likened the process to a relay race.

"You person a baton and you're handing it disconnected to antithetic radical on the way," she said. "Anthony Kiendl joined the VAG during COVID, a precise demanding time…, [and] helium was fantastic and brought connected a large enactment team, but we are truly excited to determination guardant with this project."

She said the VAG is taking a pragmatic attack to getting the gathering implicit the decorativeness enactment successful the existent "cost environment."

Kiendl is expected to speech to CBC aboriginal today.