Michelle Jacques (born 1965) is a Canadian curator and educator known for her expertise in combining historical and contemporary art, and for her championship of regional artists. Originally from Ontario, born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

to parents of Caribbean origin, who immigrated to Canada in the 1960s, she is now based in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

Education

Jacques studied at Queen's University in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...

, where she obtained a B.A. in art history and psychology, and at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, where she earned her M.A.

Career

Jacques worked at the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Bev ...

for a number of years, holding positions including Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Acting Curator of Canadian Art. She was the Director of Programming at the Centre for Art Tapes in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

from 2002 to 2004. In 2012, she was named as the Chief Curator of the

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) is an art museum located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Situated in Rockland, Victoria, the museum occupies a building complex; made up of the Spencer Mansion, and the Exhibition Galleries. The ...

(AGGV). Jacques was named Head of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator at

Remai Modern Remai Modern is a public art museum in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The art museum is situated along the west bank of the South Saskatchewan River, at the River Landing development in Saskatoon's Central Business District. The museum's build ...

in Saskatoon in 2020. At the AGGV, she curated exhibitions of the work of contemporary artists including Carol Sawyer, Rodney Sayers and Emily Luce, Gwen MacGregor, and Hiraki Sawa, among others; and co-curated retrospective exhibitions of the work of the Canadian artists

Anna Banana Anna Banana (born February 24, 1940 as Anne Lee Long in Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian artist known for her performance art, writing, and work as a small press publisher. She has been described as an "entrepreneur and critic", and p ...

and

Jock Macdonald James Williamson Galloway Macdonald (31 May 1897 – 3 December 1960), commonly known in his professional life as Jock Macdonald, was a member of Painters Eleven (Painters 11, or P11), whose goal was to promote abstract art in Canada. Macd ...

. In the 2019 exhibition ''Unformable Things'', she examined the work of

Emily Carr Emily Carr (or M. Emily Carr as she sometimes signed her work) (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist and writer who was inspired by the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the painters in Canada to ado ...

alongside her Canadian contemporaries. Jacques has taught writing and curatorial topics at institutions including

NSCAD University NSCAD University, also known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design or NSCAD, is a public art university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university is a co-educational institution that offers bachelor's and master's degrees. The univ ...

, the

University of Toronto Mississauga The University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), also known as U of T Mississauga, is one of the three campuses that make up the tri-campus system of the University of Toronto. Located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, the campus opened in 1967 as Eri ...

, and

OCAD University Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within d ...

. She has also served on the board of numerous visual art organizations including

Vtape Vtape is a Canadian artist-run centre located in Toronto, Ontario. It is Canada's largest distributor of video art, and the world's largest distributor of Indigenous and First People's film and video. The organization is run as a not for profit a ...

, the

Feminist Art Gallery Feminist Art Gallery (or FAG) is an art gallery and collective based in Toronto, Ontario, described as a “geographical footprint” co-founded by artists Allyson Mitchell and Deirdre Logue in 2010. History Allyson Mitchell and Deirdre Logue fo ...

and

Mercer Union Mercer Union is a Canadian artist-run centre in Toronto, Ontario, established in 1979 to exhibit contemporary art. History Mercer Union was founded in 1979 by artists Michael Balfe, Peter Blendell, Ric Evans, Peter Hill, Jamie Lyons, David MacW ...

. In 2019, she was appointed as the inaugural vice-president, inclusion and outreach, of the

Association of Art Museum Curators The Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) was founded in New York in 2001 to support the role of curators in shaping the mission of art museums in North America. History The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts was founded in 179 ...

, a New York-based group that supports and promotes curatorial work around the world. In 2021, she was one of the participants in

John Greyson John Greyson (born March 13, 1960) is a Canadian director, writer, video artist, producer, and political activist, whose work frequently deals with queer characters and themes. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge in ...

's experimental short documentary film ''

International Dawn Chorus Day The dawn chorus occurs when birds sing at the start of a new day. In temperate countries this is most noticeable in spring when the birds are either defending a breeding territory, trying to attract a mate or calling in the flock. In a given loc ...

''.

Critical and curatorial writing

As an extension of her curatorial practice, Jacques has authored and co-authored numerous exhibition catalogues. She has also published essays, reviews, and interviews in magazines. This includes serving as a board member, writer, and a contributing editor at Fuse Magazine; and submissions to Chatelaine,

Canadian Art Canadian art refers to the visual (including painting, photography, and printmaking) as well as plastic arts (such as sculpture) originating from the geographical area of contemporary Canada. Art in Canada is marked by thousands of years of hab ...

, and Public Journal, among others. A selection of Jacques' publications include: *
Gathie Falk: Life & Work
' (Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2022), * ''Howie Tsui: retainers of anarchy'' (Vancouver, BC: Vancouver Art Gallery, 2017), , co-edited by Jacques, Diana Freundl, and Michelle S. Gewurtz ** Catalogue of a travelling exhibition held at the

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Franc ...

, the

Ottawa Art Gallery The Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) is a municipal gallery in Ottawa, Ontario that opened in 1988 at Arts Court. The gallery has a permanent collection of over one thousand works, houses the City of Ottawa-owned Firestone Collection of Canadian Art, and ...

, and the

. * ''In another place, and here'' (Victoria, BC: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 2015), - co-authored with Toby Lawrence and Gabrielle Moser * ''Carole Sabiston: everything below all of the above'' (Victoria, BC: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 2014), , co-authored with Patricia E. Bovey * ''Jock Macdonald: evolving form'' (London, UK: Black Dog Publishing, 2014), , co-authored with Linda Jansma and

Ian M. Thom Ian M. Thom (born 1952) is a Canadian curator, author, and art historian, well known for his exhibitions and major catalogues and books on Canadian Art and international art. In his 30-year duration (broken twice by appointments elsewhere) at the ...

* ''Introducing Suzy Lake'' (London, UK: Black Dog Publishing, 2014), , with contributions from Georgiana Uhlyarik, Jacques, and others ** This publication comprehensively addresses Suzy Lake's artistic production in performance, photography and video from the late 1960s on. ** In 2015 it received an art publication award from Galeries Ontario Galleries. * ''Laurel Woodcock'' (Waterloo, ON: University of Waterloo Art Gallery, 2012), , co-authored with

Dave Dyment Dave Dyment is a Canadian artist and curator currently practising in Sackville, New Brunswick. Dyment was the 2008 artist-in-residence at the Glenfiddich distillery in Dufftown, Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, ...

and others ** This exhibition brought together the work of eight artists: Nadia Huggins, O'Neil Lawrence, Mike Andrew McLean,

Meryl McMaster Meryl McMaster (born 1988, Ottawa, OntarioJasmine Inglis, Acquisition Proposal for Meryl McMaster's ''Edge of a Moment'', accession #48508, Curatorial File, National Gallery of Canada.) is a Canadian and Plains Cree photographer whose best-known ...

, Troy Moth, Dawit Petros,

Krista Belle Stewart Krista Belle Stewart is a First Nations visual artist from Canada. Stewart works in a variety of formats, using archival materials, photographs, and collage. Early life Stewart is from the Upper Nicola Band in the British Columbia interior regio ...

, and Li Xinmo, to explore relationships between geography, politics, identity-and photography. * ''Shary Boyle: flesh and blood'' (Montréal: Galerie de l'UQAM, 2010), - co-authored with Louise Déry and others ** A bilingual publication highlighting the drawing, painting, sculpture, audio-visual performance and installations of Toronto-based artist Shary Boyle, which explores explore various human psychological and emotional states through a fictional fantasy world. This travelling exhibition was held at the

, in Toronto, Ontario; Galerie de l'UQAM, in Montreal Quebec; and the

Contemporary Art Gallery A contemporary art gallery is normally a commercial art gallery operated by an art dealer which specializes in displaying for sale contemporary art, usually new works of art by living artists. This approach has been called the "Castelli Method" ...

, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Juried art competitions

Jacques has sat as a juror on numerous art competitions. Recent examples include: * The

Scotiabank Photography Award The Scotiabank Photography Award is a annual Canadian photography award. Two runners-up each receive . In addition to the cash prize, the prize consists of a solo-exhibition of their work and the publication of a book about the work. It is intende ...

, 2021 * The Salt Spring National Art Prize, 2021 * The Hnatyshyn Foundation Awards for Canadian Visual Artists and Curators, 2019 * Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators, 2019 * AIMIA , AGO Photography Prize, 2011

Awards

* 2022 The Hnatyshyn Foundation Awards for Canadian Visual Artists and Curators

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacques, Michelle 1965 births Canadian art curators Living people Canadian women curators People from Toronto Queen's University at Kingston alumni York University alumni Academic staff of the University of Toronto Academic staff of NSCAD University Academic staff of OCAD University Canadian art educators Canadian women educators