Emily Carr University of Art + Design names Dr. Trish Kelly as president and vice-chancellor

Kelly will helm the school into its 100-year-anniversary celebrations in 2025

FOLLOWING A GLOBAL search process, Emily Carr University of Art + Design has announced Dr. Trish Kelly as the University’s 10th president nd vice-chancellor.

Kelly has served as interim president for the last 10 months, after Dr. Gillian Siddall stepped down at the end of May 2023 to assume the presidency at Ontario’s Lakehead University. Previously, Kelly had served as vice president academic and provost. She begins her term as ECU gets set to celebrate its centenary in 2025.

Originally from the U.S., Kelly holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, an MA from Tufts University, and a PhD in art history from UBC. Kelly’s published research involves a range of subjects including minimal art and abstraction, art and politics, alternative art networks, and time and duration in new media production. She is now working on a book called On-Site: Art, Politics, and Viewers (New York, circa 1970), touching on artist-run centres and alternative art networks of the early 1970s.

"Dr. Kelly brings a record of strong leadership, strategic vision, and experience from academic and art and design institutions across North America,” ECU board chair Don Avison said in the press announcement today. “She is a strong champion for Emily Carr University, and for education and research in the creative fields."

“I am deeply honoured to step into the role of president,” Kelly said in her statement. “As Canada's leading art and design institution, Emily Carr University's continued success requires us to be resilient, agile, and creative in the face of unprecedented economic, social, environmental, and technological changes. We are at an exciting and vital moment, and I relish the opportunity to be part of the institution's history as we build on shared accomplishments together.”

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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