Ray Cronin (born 1964) is a Canadian artist, journalists and

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

curator and has been Director and CEO of the

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) is a public provincial art museum based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The art museum's primary building complex is located in downtown Halifax and takes up approximately of space. The museum complex compr ...

since June 2008. Prior to his appointment, Cronin was the

Art Gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

of Nova Scotia's Senior Curator and Curator of Contemporary Art. In addition to these duties, Cronin was curator of the first five Sobey Art Award exhibitions.

Early career

Cronin was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1964, and grew up in

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. He is a graduate of the

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

College of Art and Design (

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

) and the University of Windsor (

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

). He is the author of several catalogue essays, as well as numerous articles for Canadian and

American art Visual art of the United States or American art is visual art made in the United States or by U.S. artists. Before colonization there were many flourishing traditions of Native American art, and where the Spanish colonized Spanish Colonial arc ...

magazines. He was the Visual Arts Columnist for

the Daily Gleaner ''The Daily Gleaner'' is a morning daily newspaper serving the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and the upper Saint John River Valley. The paper is published Monday through Saturday and began operating in 1880. In April 2006, the paper switch ...

(Fredericton) and Here (Saint John). In 2000, he received the Christina Sabat Award for Critical Review in the Arts.

Curatorial work

In 2001, he assumed the position of Curator of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. He was the founding curator of the Sobey Art Award and served as chair of the Sobey jury until 2008. He currently serves on the Sobey Art Award Governance Committee. In 2006 he was appointed Senior Curator at AGNS, and in December 2007 he added the position of Acting Director and Chief Curator to his duties. He was named Director and CEO of AGNS in June 2008. His recent and upcoming curatorial projects include full-career retrospectives of the work of

Nancy Edell Nancy Edell (November 12, 1942 – June 9, 2005) was an American-born Canadian artist, best known for her rug hooking practice that pushed the boundaries between art and craft. Her practice included animated film, woodcut, monotypes and drawi ...

and David Askevold, as well as the nationally touring exhibitions Graeme Patterson: Woodrow and Arena: The Art of Hockey. Cronin inherited what he described as a “building falling down around our ears,” an aging complex which no longer has the space for the gallery collection and exhibits. He obtained funding to study a possible new facility in 2011."Arts Space Update", ''The Coast'', January 26, 2011

Publications

Cronin is the author of three online art books published by the

Art Canada Institute Art Canada Institute is a bilingual, non-profit research organization based out of Massey College, at the University of Toronto. Through a variety of programs, such as the Massey Art Lecture Series and the Canadian Online Art Book Project, the Ins ...

:
Alex Colville: Life & Work
' (2017);
Mary Pratt: Life & Work
' (2020); and
Maud Lewis: Life & Work
' (2021)''.'' His book
Halifax Art & Artists: An Illustrated History
' is forthcoming in September 2023.

References

External links

Appointment Announcement, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia newsletter May 26, 2008
* http://www.artgalleryofnovascotia.ca {{DEFAULTSORT:Cronin, Ray 1964 births Living people Canadian arts journalists Canadian art curators Journalists from New Brunswick Journalists from New York City People from Fredericton 21st-century Canadian journalists Date of birth missing (living people)