Ann Webb. Photo: Marlo Szellos
The Royal Ontario Museum announced today the appointment of Ann Webb as the managing director of ROM Contemporary Culture.
Webb was formerly executive director of the Canadian Art Foundation, publisher of Canadian Art. From 1995 to 2013, she created or coordinated various events and programs for the foundation. In 1996, she organized the first Canadian Art Gallery Hop, and in 2004 she founded the Reel Artists Film Festival, North America’s only film fest devoted to documentaries about visual art and artists.
ROM Contemporary Culture is one of eight “centres of discovery” of the Royal Ontario Museum, which is celebrating its centenary this year. Previously known for some two decades as the Institute for Contemporary Culture, the centre was most recently led by Francisco Alvarez, who departed in October 2012 and is now a partner in an independent art consultancy.
In the interim between Alvarez’s departure and Webb’s arrival, the centre was led by ROM VP communication Kelvin Browne, who was named executive director and CEO of the Gardiner Museum in August, and Britt Welter-Nolan (now managing director of art at the Gladstone Hotel).
ROM Contemporary Culture’s current exhibition is “Carbon 14: Climate is Culture,” while its next show, held in conjunction with the Contact Photography Festival, focuses on the work of Toronto media artist Michael Awad.
In a release, Janet Carding, director and CEO of the ROM, said that Webb’s first priority will be to develop programming to enhance the ROM’s centennial year.
