The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at the University of British Columbia is pleased to announce that Barbara Cole has been appointed the Gallery’s Curator of Outdoor Art effective April 24, 2017. Cole will replace Keith Wallace, who has served in this position since 2015.

“We are so pleased to welcome Barbara to her new role at the Belkin,” said the Belkin’s Director Scott Watson. “Barbara’s expertise in curating, planning and realizing exceptional artworks in public spaces is unparalleled, especially in the context of public institutions such as hospitals and universities.”

Barbara Cole is the founder and principal of Cole Projects. She is an artist, curator, educator and curatorial consultant in public art. In recent years, she has specialized in developing frameworks to support changing programs of public art that require the cooperation of multiple partners. She is the founder and a producing member of Other Sights for Artists’ Projects, a non-profit society that collaborates and shares resources to present artworks that consider the aesthetic, economic and regulatory conditions of public places and public life. Cole has led workshops, lectured widely and published articles on the subject of art in public space. She taught at Emily Carr University from 1984 to 1999 and worked as a consultant to the City of Vancouver’s Public Art Program from 1999 to 2004. Throughout her career, she has been actively involved in the Vancouver art community, serving on gallery and art society boards and has participated as a jury member for numerous art initiatives. In 2011 Cole received the Mayor’s Award for her contributions to the advancement of public art in Vancouver and in 2013, was a curatorial resident at ZK/U Center for Art and Urbanistics in Berlin, Germany.

The Belkin Art Gallery also takes this opportunity to thank Keith Wallace for his extensive and remarkable service to the Gallery. Prior to his appointment as Curator of Outdoor Art in 2015, Wallace served as the Gallery’s Associate Director/Curator from 2012 to 2015 and prior to that from 2005 to 2007, during which time he served as Acting Director for one year. The Belkin has benefited greatly from Wallace’s strong, consistent curatorial direction and management of the Gallery’s collections, exhibitions and publications. Wallace’s exceptional contributions to the Belkin’s Outdoor Art Program reach from the earliest commissions of such artists as Edgar Heap of Birds and Jamelie Hassan. More recently, he oversaw the development and installation of the first projects to be funded by the University’s Outdoor Art Matching Fund Program: Classical Toy Boat by Glenn Lewis, installed in the pool on the north side of the University Centre (formerly the Faculty Club) and Reconciliation Pole by 7idansuu (Edenshaw), James Hart, located at the intersection of Main Mall and Thunderbird Boulevard. Wallace’s guidance and support have been critical to the development of upcoming projects by Esther Shalev-Gerz and Geoffrey Farmer.