Marie Fraser
President
Great friend of the Foundation, Marie Fraser has been a member of the FGM’s Collections and Exhibitions Committee for more than 5 years. She is currently a professor at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in art history and museology and holder of the UQAM Research Chair in Curatorial Studies and Practices. Member of Figura and co-founder of the research and reflection group CIECO: Collection et impératif évènementiel / The Convulsive Collection, she is involved in several research projects subsidized by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (CRSH): “Archiving the present: imaginary of exhaustiveness in contemporary cultural productions” (2018-2022), “Investigative museology: rethinking the history of exhibitions through the trajectory of works of art” (2021-2026), as well as the Partnership “New uses of collections in art museums” (Université de Montréal, 2021-2028). She has recently published in the journals Culture & Musées, Intermédialités, Muséologies and Stedelijk Journals. She co-directed with Mélanie Boucher and Johanne Lamoureux the book “Reinventing the collection: art and the museum at the time of events”, published at the PUQ in September 2022. Marie Fraser has curated around thirty exhibitions in Canada and Europe and was chief curator at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (2010-2013), as well as curator of the Canada pavilion for the 56th Venice Biennale (2015).
François-Nicolas Fleury
Vice-president
Lawyer, born in Montreal in 1976. After studying law at University of Montreal (1998), he joined the firm Monette Barakett, where he is now a partner and responsible for recruitment.
As a litigator and bilingual negotiator specializing in labor law, he has large public and parapublic organizations (hospitals, school boards and others) as clients.
A renowned lecturer, he is also the author of several articles in labor law and has contributed actively to the reference book Les droits de la personne et le relations du travail published by Éditions Yvon Blais. He collects and is a great admirer of Molinari.
Mathieu Peters
Treasurer
Mathieu is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) with a business background and a degree from HEC Montréal. He worked for an international accounting firm for several years, assisting SMEs and NPOs, and now works as a professional inspector for the Ordre des CPA du Québec. Mathieu has also been lecturing to students at HEC Montréal and UQAM for several years. Sitting on the Foundation’s Board of Directors allows him to fulfill his passion for contemporary art and contribute to the organization’s growth.
Claude Benoît
Director
As a museologist and consultant in education, culture and organizational development, from 1983 to 1994 and from 2013 to 2021, at the helm of her company, Les Productions Métamorphoses, and as a contract worker, she carried out a number of museology and education projects. She has contributed to the growth and transformation of major cultural institutions such as the Biosphère – Musée de l’Environnement, the Cosmodôme, EXPOTEC, Pointe-à-Callière – Musée d’archéologie et d’histoire de Montréal, the Biodôme de Montréal, the Insectarium and the Montréal Botanical Garden.
From 2000 to 2013, she was President and CEO of the Old Port of Montréal Corporation, and Vice-President from 1997 to 2000, responsible for the development of the Montréal Science Centre. From 1994 to 1997, she was Executive Director of the McCord Museum of Canadian History in Montreal.
From 1975 to 1978, she taught at secondary school level, and from 1979 to 1983, she led various projects for the training, dissemination and promotion of scientific and technical culture in Quebec as part of the Conseil de développement du loisir scientifique team.
Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards for her commitment to the community. In 2004, she was named a Member of the Order of Canada and awarded the McNeil Medal by the Royal Society of Canada. In 2012, she received the Frederik J. Todd Award from the Association des architectes paysagistes du Québec and the Meritorious Service Award from the Canadian Museums Association. In 2018, she received the Prix Carrière from the Société des musées du Québec.
She holds an undergraduate degree in biology from Université de Montréal and professional certifications in secondary science education and professional writing.
Marie-Claude Collet
Director
Passionate about people and organizations, Marie-Claude graduated from UQAM in Communications (B.A.1990). A proponent of inclusive know-how and collective intelligence, she is a mobilizing and humane manager with a strategic mindset. Lover of the arts and culture, she is interested in the various forms of dialogue between people, the world around them and their relationship with artistic work.
Believing fundamentally in the creative force within each person, she co-founded Vitamin’Arts, offering in-company creativity workshops, and Studiolo, a space for creativity and outreach.
She directed SEVE – Savoir Être et Vivre Ensemble, founded by Frédéric Lenoir and recognized by Unesco, which offers training and workshops in philosophical dialogues, from 2020 to 2023. Committed to the democratization of knowledge and culture, she was Executive Director of the BAnQ Foundation (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec) from 2015 to 2019. An entrepreneur at heart, she has carried out various mandates for clients such as the Fondation Cité de la Santé, Le Devoir, the Festival de littérature jeunesse, STM, Hydro-Québec, TVA and Astral Media.
She is currently pursuing graduate studies in the Attentive Presence program at UQAM (2024). She is proud to contribute to the promotion of Guido Molinari’s fundamental work.
Gilles Daigneault
Director
Gilles Daigneault is known for his activities as an art critic over the past forty years or so. He has written notably for Vie des arts magazine, of which he was assistant managing editor during the Nineteen Eighties, for the Le Devoir newspaper from 1982 to 1987, and for the FM Network of Radio-Canada for some twenty years. He has also frequently acted as an independent guest curator at various museums, exhibition centres and galleries, in Quebec and overseas. In that capacity he has authored many exhibition catalogues. In 2004, he became the first director of the Guido Molinari Foundation.
Richard Gagnier
Director
Richard Gagnier has been Head of Conservation at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts since 2007, and will leave this position in the fall of 2024. Trained in chemistry and art history, he completed a master’s degree in restoration-conservation at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. He developed the specialty of contemporary art conservation at the National Gallery of Canada Laboratory (1984-2007). As a researcher, he participated in the activities of the DOCAM alliance research group (2005-2010), and was associated with a group led by Francine Couture (UQAM) concerned with the re-exhibition of contemporary art (2007-2013).
In parallel, he has acted as an independent curator, in particular with the Axe Néo7 center (Gatineau). In recent years, he has developed a collaborative project with Marie-Claude Bouthillier (2018), at the MacLau, as well as the presentation of Lisette Lemieux’s work in relation to that of Guido Molinari, at the Guido Molinari Foundation (2019). A member of the board of the Artexte documentation center for 9 years, he was its president for 4 years (2016-2019).
Jo-Ann Kane
Director
Jo-Ann Kane acts as a collections management consultant, providing art appraisal, management and acquisition services to corporate clients and private collectors. An art historian, Jo-Ann Kane holds a master’s degree in museology and a bachelor’s degree in art history from the Université du Québec à Montréal. Since 2016 she has been an accredited member of the International Society of Appraisers (ISA).
Curator of the National Bank Art Collection since 2002, she continues to work on a contractual basis. From 1997 to 2000, she was curator of Hydro-Québec’s art collection. In her role as advisor and guest curator, Jo-Ann Kane has carried out a number of major projects.
In 2010, she was named an ambassador for UQÀM’s Faculty of Arts, and in 2013, she sat on the Quebec government’s working group on cultural philanthropy. She is also a member of the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board, a member of the Board of Directors of the Fondation Molinari, and a member of the UQÀM Alumni Council.
Karen Tam
Director
Karen Tam is a Tiohtià:ke/Montréal-based artist and curator whose research focuses on the constructions and imaginations of cultures and communities through installations, sculptures, textile works, and drawings. Since 2000, she has exhibited her work and participated in residencies in North America, Europe, and China. Tam has received grants and fellowships from the Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts du Québec, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Tam was the winner of the 2021 Giverny Capital Prize, a finalist for the 2017 Louis-Comtois Prize, a finalist for the 2016 Prix en art actuel from the Musée national des beaux-arts de Québec, and long-listed for the 2010 and 2016 Sobey Art Awards.
Tam holds an MFA in Sculpture (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) and a PhD in Cultural Studies (Goldsmiths, University of London). She is the Adjunct Curator at Griffin Art Projects and is represented by Galerie Hugues Charbonneau.
Foundation’s consultative committees
Governance and Human Resources Committee
Claude Benoît (President), François-Nicolas Fleury, Jo-Ann Kane, Marie Fraser.
Audit and Finance Committee
Mathieu Peters (President), Marie-Claude Collet, Marie Fraser.
Collections and Programmation Committee
Marie Fraser (President), Marie-Josée Jean (external member), Laurier Lacroix (external member), Karen Tam, Gilles Daigneault, Jo-Ann Kane, Richard Gagnier.
Governors of the Foundation
The title of “Governor” is an honorary distinction awarded by the Foundation to a person recognized for his or her qualities and for significant services provided to the Foundation.
Laurier Lacroix, Secretary and Director (2013-2022)
Art historian, born 1947 in Sainte-Justine (Dorchester), Quebec. He obtained a doctorate from Université Laval (1998) for his research on the Desjardins painting collection. After teaching at Concordia University (1976 to 1986), he became a professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal from 1988 until his retirement in 2010. He has curated some twenty exhibitions, including those devoted to François Baillargé, Marc Garneau, Pierre Dorion, Guy Pellerin, Micheline Beauchemin, Robert Wolfe, Irene F. Whittome and the painters of Montée St-Michel. His research on the work of Ozias Leduc and Suzor-Coté is currently highly regarded. Recipient of the Prix Carrière from the Société des musées québécois (1997) and the Prix Gérard-Morisset (2008), he is a member of the Société des Dix and the Académie des lettres du Québec.
Guy Molinari, Director (2006-2019)
Born in Montreal in 1960. Guy Molinari, the son of artist Guido Molinari, obtained a bachelor’s degree in art history from Université de Montréal in 1982. He took courses in painting and sculpture, notably with sculptor Pierre Granche. After graduating, he decided to live in the country, at Lac Ouareau. A businessman, he ran a restaurant-bistro in St-Donat for 5 years. In 1991, in collaboration with his father and a St-Donat furniture dealer, he opened the Galerie Barbeau Molinari, where, for several years, young artists from Guido Molinari’s courses at Concordia University, as well as others whom Molinari considered promising, received their first exhibition.
Past directors
The Foundation would like to thank the members of the Board of Directors who have served since its inception:
Yvon Brind’Amour, director/president (2004-2022) – Danielle Sauvage, director (2016-2022) – Laurier Lacroix, secretary/director (2013-2022) – Margaret Sommerville, director/founder (2006-2016) – Michel Dallaire, vice-president/director (2006-2018) – Suzanne Bélanger, director (2016-2019) – Guy Molinari, director (2006-2019) – François Morelli, director (2017-2020) – Scott Rodie, treasurer/director (2016-2019) – Moridja Kitenge Banza, director (2021-2023) – Juliette Durand, treasurer/director (2021-2023) – Nicole Vallières, president/director (2018-2024).
In memoriam : Sam Abramovitch, president (2004-2010) – Tom Hopkins, president (2010-2011) – Roy Heenan, director (2006-2017) – Maurice Forget, director/president (2006-2016) – Fernande Saint-Martin, director/founder (2006-2016).
