Vancouver Art Gallery board appoints Eva Respini and Sirish Rao as permanent co-chief executives

The Story

The board of trustees of the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) announced Monday, September 28, that it has appointed Eva Respini and Sirish Rao as the institution’s permanent co-chief executives, continuing the dual leadership structure that had been in place as a temporary measure since March 2025.

The appointments follow a leadership change triggered by the departure of Anthony Kiendl, who stepped down as chief executive after a five-year term. Kiendl later took on a new role as chief executive at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.

The board said the current co-chief executive model was implemented temporarily in March 2025, when it followed the end of Kiendl’s tenure as chief executive. The gallery’s board framed the latest decision as a confirmation of the leadership approach rather than a new departure.

The announcement also comes against a period of major financial strain connected to a building project. The gallery had previously abandoned an ambitious, costly new building initiative that had been initiated by former chief executive Kathleen Bartels, after the gallery had already spent C$60 million on the project.

After the building plan was scrapped, the VAG faced a large deficit that resulted in layoffs of around 30 employees, according to the board’s account of the timeline that preceded the current dual leadership arrangement.

In Monday’s announcement, the board described Respini and Rao as leaders who have stabilized the gallery’s finances, strengthened ties with artists and the wider community, and helped shape a longer-term vision for the VAG.

Jon Stovell, chair of the gallery’s board of trustees, said in a statement that “Eva and Sirish have demonstrated exceptional leadership distinguished by shared purpose,” adding that the two leaders bring “different but deeply complementary perspectives” to the gallery.

Under the new arrangement, Respini will continue to serve in her role as chief curator in addition to her co-chief executive duties, while Rao will take on the role of executive director as part of the co-leadership structure.

Respini joined the VAG in August 2023. Prior to that, she was deputy director and chief curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, where she curated an exhibition by Firelei Baez that came to the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2024.

Before moving to the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, Respini worked at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, serving as a curator in the photography department for more than a decade.

The board said Respini’s first three years at the VAG have included major collection strengthening through acquisitions and gifts. Those include works by Nan Goldin and Stephen Shore, along with a donation of 122 works from the Brigitte and Henning Freybe collection described by the board as the most significant donation of international contemporary art in the gallery’s history.

Rao arrived at the VAG in January 2023. His background includes experience as director of Tara Books, a publishing house based in Chennai, India, as well as work as an author and public intellectual.

The board also highlighted Rao’s role in co-founding the Indian Summer Festival in Vancouver. It further noted that he holds a certificate as a Himalayan mountain guide.

The gallery said Rao introduced the BC Parks Foundation’s PaRx prescription programme after joining the VAG. The initiative enables healthcare professionals to prescribe free gallery admission to their patients.

In addition to PaRx, the board credited Rao with advancing the gallery’s Centre for Global Asias, describing it as a national platform for exhibitions, research and public programming.

For visitors and patrons, the board’s decision signals continuity in governance and ongoing programming priorities—particularly those focused on access initiatives such as PaRx and on the gallery’s broader programming through its Centre for Global Asias.

For artists and partners, the board said the leadership team has deepened connections with artists and the wider community, positioning the permanent appointment as a step toward executing a long-term vision following the disruptions linked to the abandoned building project and ensuing deficit.

The board’s Monday announcement ends the temporary co-leadership arrangement and confirms Respini and Rao as the gallery’s enduring chief executives, while retaining a dual structure that divides executive responsibilities between chief executive leadership, chief curatorial oversight and executive direction.