FREDERICTON.- The Beaverbrook Art Gallery announced today that, following a national search, it has named John Leroux as its Manager of Collections and Exhibitions. Leroux will join the Gallery’s leadership team as it enters a new phase of engagement and exploration with a newly-expanded and re-imagined facility and with a new executive director at the helm.
In announcing this appointment, Director/CEO Thomas Smart said that, “John has an outstanding reputation as a passionate advocate for art and architecture. I am thrilled for the Beaverbrook, and for our many communities, that he is joining us in this crucial position. He will bring tremendous energy and experience to the Gallery as it grows and develops at this important time in its distinguished history.”
Leroux is an award-winning and highly experienced art and architectural historian, and architect. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from McGill University (Montreal), a Master of Arts degree in Art History from Concordia University (Montreal), and is completing his PhD in History at the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton). He has previously curated four exhibitions at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, including retrospectives of John Ward and of Bruno Bobak, and has been involved in a number of the Gallery’s construction and renovation projects, most recently assisting with the Gallery’s pavilion expansion and the installation of its renewed permanent collection exhibitions.
Deeply committed to the culture of New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada, among Leroux’s numerous art historical and curatorial projects is his documentation and interpretation of Fredericton’s Centennial Building murals, the stained glass of Fredericton, the architectural landmarks of New Brunswick, and the re-creation of Fred Ross’s monumental Fredericton High School war memorial mural at UNB’s Richard J. Currie Center, among others. A published author, artist, teacher, and a passionate advocate for the arts, Leroux has also been an active and devoted advocate for architectural conservancy in Atlantic Canada and across the country.
“One of my great privileges has been to work with the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in a number of capacities over the past 15 years,” asserts Leroux, “and I am tremendously honoured to be offered this position and responsibility. I have admired the range and depth of the Beaverbrook’s collections and its ambitious exhibition programs. I am very excited to help expand the Gallery’s reach and make it resonate even more to the people of New Brunswick, as well as the rest of the world.”
The new position of Manager of Collections and Exhibitions highlights the Beaverbrook Art Gallery’s emphasis on strengthening two key curatorial aspects of its mandate: managing and further enhancing the Gallery’s extensive and world-renowned collections holdings, and overseeing the production of the many exhibition projects it presents, both organized by the Gallery and toured by other institutions.
“As attitudes and views change so quickly in today’s visually rich environment,” Leroux says, “the arts can both ground us and inspire us. They can strengthen our identities and help us discover new voices – sometimes those who have been left out of the conversations. This is a unique opportunity to build upon the Beaverbrook’s stellar collection, to work with our diverse communities, and to help create a positive impact in New Brunswick and across Canada.”
