The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto has appointed Nicholas R. Bell as its new director and CEO, effective July 6. Bell, who currently leads the Glenbow museum in Calgary, succeeds Josh Basseches following a decade-long tenure. During his time at Glenbow, Bell was noted for securing a $250 million capital campaign and implementing a landmark free-admission policy, the first of its kind for a major Canadian museum.
Virginia Aldoff-Pinay, a Cree Kokum from the Foothills School Division, has opened the Sunrise Moon Art Gallery in High River, Alberta. The gallery features Indigenous art, artifacts, and educational displays representing the Blackfoot Confederation, Métis, and Inuit cultures, along with a tea room and library. Aldoff-Pinay, who comes from a family of artists, named the gallery after a morning prayer when she saw both the sunrise and moon. The business is managed by her grandson Ethan Carpenter, and the sign was made by her daughter Vanessa.
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) has appointed Nicholas R. Bell as its next director and chief executive, effective July 6. Bell, a Vancouver native, succeeds Joshua Basseches, who led the Toronto institution for a decade. Bell joins the ROM from the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, where he was recognized for overseeing a major $200 million renovation and implementing a free admission policy.
Matthew Hills, executive director of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, gave local media a tour of the partially-completed facility on the city's north-side waterfront, confirming the opening has been delayed from 2025 to 2027. Inflation, supply-chain issues, and trade wars have driven the project cost to $74.7 million, with a $22.6 million funding shortfall. City council recently released $5 million to prevent a construction shutdown, and Hills said a phased opening in 2026 is under consideration. Current funding includes $37 million from the federal Canada Cultural Spaces Fund, $5.7 million from Ontario, $5.2 million from the city, and $4.9 million in private donations.