News & Events

Alan Shepard, Provost and Vice President Academic, Ryerson University today announced that prominent cultural leader Doina Popescu has been named the inaugural Director of the Ryerson Photography Gallery and Research Centre effective October 27, 2008.

The new facility, which will house the world-renowned Black Star Historical Black & White Photography Collection, is currently under construction and scheduled to open in early 2011. It will become a national centre, and will place Ryerson amongst the top international centres, for the study, teaching, research and exhibit of photography and other media.

Popescu is Deputy Director of the Goethe-Institut Toronto, the highest position a Canadian can achieve within the international organization. For more than ten years she managed the Goethe-Institut Gallery and Kinowelt Hall, where she curated important exhibitions and installations involving renowned Canadian and international artists, architects and thinkers. 

During her 25-year tenure with the Goethe-Institut, Popescu expanded and developed collaborative arts programming between Germany and Canada in a wide variety of genres including visual arts, film, video, and new media. She developed inter- and multidisciplinary programming, symposia and festivals and expanded the scope and depth of the Goethe-Institut’s collaboration with Canadian and European artists, scholars and arts organizations, including partnerships with the Contact Festival of Photography, Luminato, Nuit Blanche, the Canadian Embassy in Berlin, and the European Union Film Festival.

“Following a vigorous international search, I am delighted to welcome Ms. Popescu to the Ryerson team,” said Shepard. “She is a dynamic leader whose tremendous experience and strong connections with the local, national and international cultural communities will ensure that the Ryerson Photography Gallery and Research Centre claims a prominent place amongst leading institutions of its kind in the world.”

Popescu will oversee the academic, administrative, exhibit and outreach functions for the new facility. She will also be a cultural ambassador for Ryerson University, responsible for creating an international profile for the Gallery and Research Centre, and assuming a visible and active role in the cultural life of Ryerson and the city. 

“It is a great honour and a thrill to be joining Ryerson's first-class team at a time when the University is in the midst of an exciting and visionary expansion,” said Popescu. “My aim is to help the new Ryerson Photography Gallery and Research Centre become a vibrant contributor to the rich cultural fabric of Toronto, as well as a sought-after partner for groundbreaking research, innovative exhibitions, and interdisciplinary collaborations within an ever more tightly-knit international community.”

Popescu was born in Montreal, studied in Europe and Canada and holds a B.A. and M.A. in German Language and Literature. She is actively involved in Canadian and international arts festivals, juries and selection committees. She co-founded and co-organized the Fourth International Experimental Film Congress 1989 and is currently a steering committee member of the Fifth International Experimental Film Congress, being held in Toronto in 2010.

The Ryerson Photography Gallery and Research Centre is part of an expansion and redesign of the School of Image Arts building at 122 Bond Street, in the heart of the Ryerson campus. The focal point of the renovated ground floor is the new public gallery, which will house and display the University’s world-renowned Black Star Historical Black & White Photography Collection, as well as the many collections in the School’s Mira Godard Study Centre. 

In addition to public galleries for exhibitions and programs, the facility will provide outstanding new study, teaching and academic space for students and faculty in both undergraduate and graduate programs, and will be a significant step forward in Ryerson’s growth as a centre for scholarship, graduate studies and research and creative activity.

 For more information on the Ryerson Photography Gallery and Research Centre go to www.ryerson.ca/about/provost/gallery.html

Ryerson University is Canada's leader in career-focused education, offering close to 90 PhD, master’s, and undergraduate programs in the Faculty of Arts; the Faculty of Communication & Design; the Faculty of Community Services; the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Science; and the Ted Rogers School of Management.  Ryerson University has graduate and undergraduate enrolment of 25,000 students. With more than 64,000 registrations annually, The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education is Canada's leading provider of university-based adult education.

-30-

MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Kearney
Public Affairs
Ryerson University
(416) 979-5000 x.4282
hkearney@ryerson.ca