Over the past few months we have shared the news that Canadian Art has been operating under a critical financial position as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and consequent drop in revenue. The result of our position was to postpone the summer issue, pause online publishing and layoff valued members of our team. These were some of the most difficult decisions we have ever made to preserve the future of Canadian Art.
Throughout the pause, we endeavoured to engage in a reimagining process to examine the future of online publishing, how Canadian Art can stay relevant and persuasive in a changing landscape and to assess new business models and organizational structures that would be both financially viable and reflective of our commitments to the principles of decolonization, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Canadian Art recognizes that in order for the charity to continue to fulfill its charitable purposes, it must directly confront, and effectively address, those principles.
We acknowledge the staff of Canadian Art, especially the Indigenous, Black, and POC staff, who have transformed the content and voice of Canadian Art. We also fully acknowledge that the charity has failed in its attempts to address these principles in a meaningful way in its operations.
As a result, it has been determined by the existing Board of Directors/Members of the charity, that the path forward that is in the best interests of Canadian Art is to allow space for a new Board of Directors to be appointed to lead the charity going forward, in a spirit of staff self-determination and sovereignty.
As such, all but three Board of Directors/Members have resigned in order to create the space for a new Board of Directors. We have proposed to the staff of Canadian Art that they provide these remaining Board of Directors/Members with a list of individuals who are eligible to be appointed to replace all of the former Directors.
The three remaining Directors/Members will then stay on for a transition period until the new Board of Directors has been appointed and the transition has been carried out in a manner that is transparent and consistent with the charity’s governing documents and requirements.
We do believe that this reflects the best way forward to preserve Canadian Art for future generations of artists, writers, curators and creative communities.
We thank the staff, readers, contributors, donors, sponsors and community for your continued support and patience as we navigate these unprecedented times.
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Dori Tunstall, Lee Matheson, and Gabe Gonda
Board of Directors
