News & Events

The Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre, an international centre of excellence for the study, teaching, research and public exhibition of photography, new media and film will have its grand public opening in September 2012. 

Under the leadership of Director Doina Popescu, the Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre will combine public exhibition of innovative work by professional Canadian and international artists, with inspiring academic research and educational opportunities. The Research Centre will be a professional facility, housing the renowned Black Star Collection at Ryerson University and other collections in a museum-quality, climate-controlled environment.

"The Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre will become a must-see destination in the heart of the city," said Sheldon Levy, president, Ryerson University. "We are excited about the contribution that the new centre will make not only to the university, but to the city, the country and the international arts and academic communities."

Popescu is "honoured and extremely pleased" that nine distinguished leaders from the business and arts communities have agreed to serve on the Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre Advisory Board, including Chair Howard A. Tanenbaum. (For a full list of advisory board members, see below).

Information about Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre exhibitions and activities prior to the grand opening will be released over the coming year.

The Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre has also become co-publisher of the prestigious journal, Etudes Photographiques, out of Paris, France together with Ryerson University's School of Image Arts and the graduate program in Photo Preservation and Collections Management.

"Graduate and undergraduate students, faculty and researchers will enjoy outstanding educational and research opportunities at the Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre," said Alan Shepard, provost and vice president academic. "It will place the university amongst the top international centres for photography and related disciplines, and attract visiting scholars from around the world."
 
Added Popescu: "The Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre will build bridges into the world, and encourage interdisciplinary dialogue and exchange between academic and artistic communities, as well as the general public. It will be an exciting complement to the other first class cultural institutions in the city."

The Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre is part of the School of Image Arts building in the midst of the Ryerson campus in downtown Toronto. The building is currently undergoing a major renovation and transformation designed by internationally-acclaimed, Toronto-based Diamond + Schmitt Architects. In addition to the Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre the building will house the School of Image Arts' much-sought-after undergraduate and graduate programs. Plans are for School of Image Arts students, faculty and staff to move back into the building for the 2011-12 academic year. More information about the School of Image Arts building is available at: www.ryerson.ca/news/news/General_Public/20101129_image.html.

The public can subscribe to Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre news and updates at www.ryerson.ca/gallery.

The Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre Advisory Board includes:

* Chair:
Howard A. Tanenbaum, lawyer, financier, real estate developer, art collector, and with his wife, Carole, founders of The Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Family Charitable Foundation;

* Stephen Bulger, representative for numerous Canadian and international photographers through the Stephen Bulger Gallery, founding manager of the Ryerson Gallery (now called I.M.A. Gallery), co-founder of CONTACT photography festival, and president of the board for the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), in Washington D.C.;

* Edward Burtynsky, Ryerson University alumnus and one of Canada's most respected photographers, whose photographic depictions of global industrial landscapes are in the collections of more than 50 major museums around the world;

* David Crombie, politician, teacher, past mayor of Toronto, former MP, former chancellor of Ryerson University, and president, David Crombie & Associates;

* Atom Egoyan, one of the most celebrated contemporary filmmakers on the international scene, winner of the Grand Prix and International Critics Awards from the Cannes Film Festival and recipient of two Academy Award® nominations;

* John Honderich, member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario, former publisher of the Toronto Star and chair of Torstar's board of directors;

* Florence Minz, chair of the board of trustees of the Canadian Museum of Nature; chair of the Royal Conservatory, 2004-2009; former chair, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care and Voices for Children; member of governing council, University of Toronto; former director, St. Michael's Hospital and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra; trained as an economist and has had a career as a management consultant;

* Shabin Mohamed, chartered accountant, trustee of the board of the Art Gallery of Ontario and board member of the Institute of Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum;

* Kenneth Montague, art collector, curator, founder of Wedge Curatorial Projects, member of the Photography Curatorial Committee of the Art Gallery of Ontario, frequent lecturer and panelist at international art symposiums, and full-time dentist.