Melanie O’Brian is Associate Director/Curator at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (as well as Acting Director 2022-25). As a curator of contemporary art, she has an abiding interest in artist-led initiatives, experimental forms, the intersection between visual art and writing, and the history of institutions. She has organized over 75 institutional and independent projects, collaborated widely with other curators and institutions, edited numerous publications and written for catalogues and magazines. O’Brian was Director/Curator at Simon Fraser University Art Galleries, Curator/Head of Programs at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto, Director/Curator at Artspeak in Vancouver and Assistant Curator at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and has taught at the University of British Columbia, Emily Carr University and Simon Fraser University. She received her MA in Art History from the University of Chicago.