FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE VANCOUVER ART GALLERY ANNOUNCES NEW MEMBERS OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES VANCOUVER, BC (November 20, 2019) – The Vancouver Art Gallery announced at its Annual General Meeting on November 13, 2019, the appointment of three new Trustees to its Board, Leah George-Wilson, Salia Joseph and Jessica Yan-Macintosh. “Each of the new Trustees bring inspiration, experience and diversity of thought to the Vancouver Art Gallery,” said Vancouver Art Gallery Board Secretary and Chair, Governance/Nominations, Hank Bull. “These individuals are community leaders committed to the growth of the arts in Vancouver and will play a vital role in the continuing evolution of the Vancouver Art Gallery, helping lead the organization forward.” At the Annual General Meeting, Board of Trustees, Chair, David Calabrigo welcomed the new Trustees, bringing the count of voting members to 20. A complete list of the Board of Trustees can be found on the Vancouver Art Gallery website at www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/leadership. “We are truly fortunate to welcome these stellar individuals to the organization. They join a group of committed and passionate Trustees whose breadth of knowledge will help the Gallery strategically,” shared Interim Vancouver Art Gallery Director, Daina Augaitis. “Combined with their unflagging belief in the work that the Gallery does, I am confident that they will help us achieve our goals.” ABOUT THE NEW TRUSTEES Leah George-Wilson is a Chief at Tsleil Waututh Nation and was the first woman to serve this position. She is also a lawyer practicing in the area of Indigenous law at Miller Titerle + Co. George-Wilson is also the elected co-chair of the First Nations Summit, a director on the Land Advisory Board and an appointed board member of the First Nations Health Council. In the past, she served as a board member of the Four Host Nations, Legal Services Society, Ecotrust Canada and Leadership Vancouver. She has a Joint Degree in Law from University of British Columbia and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from Simon Fraser University. Salia Joseph is the executive director of Kwi Awt Stelmexw which actively promotes programs and initiatives to strengthen Skwxwu7mesh artistic, cultural, language, and heritage practices. She is from the Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh and Snuneymuxw First Nations on her father’s side and is British and Jewish on her mother’s. Joseph sings in a band called An̓ usáyum̓ (Two Berries) as well as a traditional Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh dance/singing group called Ta Na Wa Káwstem. A graduate of University of British Columbia, she completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in First Nations and Indigenous Studies in 2016. Joseph also completed a year long, full time immersion Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh Sníchim language program at Simon Fraser University. Jessica Yan-Macintosh is a soprano from Mainland China. She was born in Changchun, China during the Cultural Revolution. She studied music at the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, and has also studied under Romanian soprano Ileana Cotrubas and Professor Marshall Williamson of the Juilliard School in New York. Currently, Macintosh serves on the board of Vancouver Recital Society. Until recently, she served on the board of directors of Vancouver Opera. -30- MEDIA CONTACT Larah Luna, Director of Marketing and Communications [email protected] ph: 604-662-4700 ext 2311 About the Vancouver Art Gallery (vanartgallery.bc.ca) Founded in 1931, the Vancouver Art Gallery is recognized as one of North America’s most respected and innovative visual arts institutions. The Gallery’s ground-breaking exhibitions, extensive public programs, and emphasis on advancing scholarship all focus on historical and contemporary art from British Columbia and around the world. Special attention is paid to the accomplishments of Indigenous artists, as well as to the arts of the Asia Pacific region—through the Institute of Asian Art that the Gallery founded in 2014. The Gallery’s programs also explore the impacts of images in the larger sphere of visual culture, design and architecture. The Vancouver Art Gallery is a not-for-profit organization supported by its members, individual donors, corporate funders, foundations, the City of Vancouver, the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts. The Vancouver Art Gallery is situated on traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-waututh) peoples, and is respectful of the Indigenous stewards of the land it occupies, whose rich cultures are fundamental to artistic life in Vancouver and to the work of the Gallery. Facebook: @VancouverArtGallery Twitter and Instagram: @VanArtGallery.