The McMichael Board of Trustees Announces New Chair Andrew Pringle

August 11, 2020, KLEINBURG, ON – The McMichael Canadian Art Collection’s Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Pringle as Chair of the McMichael Board of Trustees. Mr. Pringle received his Order in Council from the Hon. Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, on July 14, 2020. Mr. Pringle succeeds Andrew W. Dunn who has served as Chair since 2016.

“Andrew Pringle is joining the McMichael at a pivotal moment in our history. The extraordinary breadth and depth of Andrew’s experience in many different spheres will be of inestimable benefit to the institution as we emerge from these unprecedented times for all museums,” says Executive Director Ian A.C. Dejardin. “The whole team at the McMichael is very excited at the prospect of working with him.”

Mr. Pringle joins the McMichael during a moment of excitement, challenge and transition as the gallery reopens after a four-month closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since reopening on July 30, visitors are again able to visit the Group of Seven centenary exhibition “A Like Vision”: The Group of Seven at 100, as well as solo exhibitions by artists John Hartman and Brenda Draney. In November, the gallery will open Early Days: Indigenous Art at the McMichael, a survey of Indigenous art from the permanent collection that will span eighteenth-century ceremonial regalia, to items made for trade with settlers, to works by the vanguard of artists coming of age in the ’60s, ‘70s and ‘80s.

“I’m delighted to be working with the outstanding leadership team at the McMichael, including Executive Director Ian Dejardin and Chief Curator Sarah Milroy, and to build on the successes of preceding Chair, Andrew Dunn. Despite the current challenges facing the museum sector, the McMichael has become a global leader in advancing Canadian art around the world, particularly in this Group of Seven centenary year, and I look forward to working alongside my fellow Trustees to further this mandate.”

Andrew Pringle worked in the investment business at RBC Capital Markets from 1972 to 2002, when he retired as Managing Director, Head of Global Fixed Income, and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He is currently the Chair of RPIA, an alternative asset manager focused on fixed income. Mr. Pringle is a board member of Fidelity Investments in Canada having served on that company’s Independent Review Committee from 2007 to 2014. He is Chair of the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR), and a director of The Shaw Foundation and the Atlantic Salmon Federation, as well as an advisor to the Evergreen Foundation for the Evergreen Brickworks project.

Mr. Pringle is a past Chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, The Board of Upper Canada College, The PC Ontario Fund, and The Shaw Festival. He has served on the board of The Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, The Walrus Foundation and is a former member of the Fundraising Advisory Committee for The 519 Community Centre. In June 2016, Mr. Pringle was awarded the Order of Canada.

Born and raised in Toronto, Mr. Pringle still lives in downtown Toronto. He and his wife, broadcaster Valerie Pringle, have three children.

The McMichael also gratefully acknowledges the leadership of outgoing Chair Mr. Dunn whose guidance and support has put the McMichael on firm financial and operational footing and whose passion for the art of Canada has done much to extend the McMichael’s reputation at home and abroad.

photograph of a man“Andrew Dunn has been an inspiring and dynamic Chair of the McMichael Board of Trustees. His enthusiasm for the place and for the art of Canada, coupled with a dauntless commitment to supporting both the institution and its staff, made him an exceptional Chair,” says Mr. Dejardin. “He has left his mark on the McMichael, to be sure. I will always be grateful to him for leading the effort to bring me to Canada, and he remains one of our strongest advocates. I am personally deeply grateful for all his wisdom and support, so generously given.”

“As a board, our primary role is to appoint an Executive Director and then to support that person to succeed. Ian Dejardin has been an outstanding choice, coming from Dulwich Picture Gallery in London and Sarah Milroy equally so, initially appointed as Chief Curator, but serving as Interim Executive Director during Ian’s serious illness, from which he has happily now recovered,” says Mr. Dunn. “Ian and Sarah have teamed up to create wave after wave of exhibitions by historical and contemporary artists from across the country, showcasing their best work, whether from the McMichael’s own collection or borrowed from a growing list of institutions and private collectors. These shows are always full of surprises and are designed to tour Canada and beyond, solidifying the McMichael as the home of the art of Canada. I am very pleased to pass the torch to the highly accomplished Andrew Pringle, who I know is enthusiastic to advance the McMichael’s evolution into a must-see destination for art lovers everywhere.”

Mr. Dunn joined the Board of Trustees in 2012 becoming Chair in 2016. An eminent investment advisor with extensive experience in business and community involvement, Mr. Dunn spent 27 years at Deloitte, leaving as Vice-Chair of the Canadian firm and is the Founder and Managing Partner of private equity investment firm Canadian Shield Capital. He has served on the boards of the Children’s Aid Foundation and the Upper Canada College Foundation, as well as numerous corporate boards, including Hatch, Canada’s largest private engineering firm.

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection’s Board of Trustees and the McMichael Canadian Art Foundation are both governed by members who bring a wide range of experience to the gallery. Mr. Dunn has been a member of the McMichael Board of Trustees since 2012 and will now sit on the McMichael Canadian Art Foundation.

About the McMichael Canadian Art Collection

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an agency of the Government of Ontario and acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, and the McMichael Canadian Art Foundation. It is the only major museum in the country devoted exclusively to Canadian art. In addition to touring exhibitions, the McMichael houses a permanent collection that consists of more than 6,500 works by historic and present-day Canadian artists, including Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, Indigenous artists and artists from the many diasporic communities. The Gallery is located on 100 acres of northern landscape and hiking trails at 10365 Islington Avenue, Kleinburg, north of Major Mackenzie Drive in the City of Vaughan. For more information, please visit mcmichael.com.

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Media Contacts

Sam Cheung
Media Relations and Communications Coordinator
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
905.893.1121 ext. 2210
scheung@mcmichael.com

Grace Johnstone
Director, Communications, Marketing & Sales

McMichael Canadian Art Collection
905.893.1121 ext. 2265
gjohnstone@mcmichael.com