Montréal, September 23, 2015 — “This past summer, we consolidated the curatorial team at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC) through an appointment and a new hire. Today I have the great pleasure of announcing the appointment of Lesley Johnstone to the position of Head of Exhibitions and Education. I am also very pleased to note the hiring of Julie Bélisle as Cultural Activities Co-ordinator.” That was how the Director of the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, John Zeppetelli, described the recent changes to the museum’s organizational structure that will help bolster the MAC’s program and upgrade its expertise in the realm of new technologies.

Lesley Johnstone is appointed Head of Exhibitions and Education

With this appointment, Lesley Johnstone will assume overall responsibility for temporary and travelling exhibitions, multimedia events, cultural activities, publications and education. A curator at the MAC since 2007, Lesley co-curated the Biennale de Montréal 2014: L’avenir (looking forward) and the Québec Triennial 2011. She has also curated solo exhibitions by such artists as Valérie Blass, Luanne Martineau, Lynne Marsh, Francine Savard, Eve Sussman and Tino Sehgal. She is currently organizing a show on Montréal artist Patrick Bernatchez, which will open on October 17. Before joining the MAC, she was Artistic Director of the International Garden Festival at the Jardins de Métis (2003 to 2007) and Head of Publications at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (1998 to 2003). Long associated with Artexte Information Centre, Lesley Johnstone has written many catalogue essays and has edited a number of anthologies, exhibition catalogues and monographs on contemporary Canadian art.

Julie Bélisle becomes Cultural Activities Co-ordinator

Newly named to the position of Cultural Activities Co-ordinator at the MAC, Julie Bélisle will be responsible for planning and producing lectures and symposiums at the museum; developing content for the different digital dissemination platforms; and carrying out projects for presenting the Musée Collection online. She will also take part in developing digital tools that will enhance the public’s connection with the artworks. This position comes under the museum’s Digital Cultural Plan. Before joining the MAC, Julie was involved in research and outreach activities at the Galerie de l’UQAM (2004 to 2015) and worked on various digital dissemination projects for the Virtual Museum of Canada and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, among others.


Acknowledgments

The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is a provincially owned corporation funded by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec. It receives additional funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts. The museum gratefully acknowledges their support and that of Collection Loto-Québec, its principal partner. The MAC also thanks its major partners, Ubisoft and Cogeco, as well as its media partner, La Presse.

Source and Information

Anne Dongois
T. 514 826-2050
[email protected]