The board fired Ms. Bondil July 13, saying the working environment at the museum had become dysfunctional and Ms. Bondil had refused to co-operate with the appointment of a new deputy to help fix the problems. Follow Chris Hannay and Kate Taylor on Twitter, I'm a print subscriber, link to my account, Avoid the use of toxic and offensive language. The lawsuit alleges that the board members led a “smear campaign” against Bondil with their claims of a toxic work environment, and says the real reason for her termination was a dispute over the hiring of a senior manager. However, his report does state that the independent human-resources report commissioned by the board last year – and which led the board to intervene in the museum’s management and create the curatorial director position – was rigorous and credible, accurately reflecting employees' experience at the time. "remove":"add"](select.closed),dom.control.setAttribute("aria-expanded",o)}function onToggleClicked(){var l=!isPanelOpen();setPanelState(l)}function onWindowScroll(){window.requestAnimationFrame(function() {var l=isPanelOpen(),n=0===(document.body.scrollTop||document.documentElement.scrollTop);n||l||!allowExpand?n&&l&&(allowExpand=!0,setPanelState(!1)):(allowExpand=!1,setPanelState(!0))});}pencilInit(".js-sub-pencil",!1); // via darwin-bg var slideIndex = 0; carousel(); function carousel() { var i; var x = document.getElementsByClassName("subs_valueprop"); for (i = 0; i < x.length; i++) { x[i].style.display = "none"; } slideIndex++; if (slideIndex> x.length) { slideIndex = 1; } x[slideIndex - 1].style.display = "block"; setTimeout(carousel, 2500); }, Due to technical reasons, we have temporarily removed commenting from our articles. Museum leadership can change. Concluding that the crisis at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is filled with shades of grey, a Quebec government report on the situation calls for an overhaul of the institution’s governance. Mr. Beaupré's report considers whether it’s a conflict of interest to have major donors on boards, as the MMFA and many large museums do, and remarks on the important separation of powers between a board and a general director, and the principle that the chair of the board should not run the institution. 351 King Street East, Suite 1600, Toronto, ON Canada, M5A 0N1, Just $1.99 per week for the first 24 weeks, var select={root:".js-sub-pencil",control:".js-sub-pencil-control",open:"o-sub-pencil--open",closed:"o-sub-pencil--closed"},dom={},allowExpand=!0;function pencilInit(o){var e=arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]&&arguments[1];select.root=o,dom.root=document.querySelector(select.root),dom.root&&(dom.control=document.querySelector(select.control),dom.control.addEventListener("click",onToggleClicked),setPanelState(e),window.addEventListener("scroll",onWindowScroll),dom.root.removeAttribute("hidden"))}function isPanelOpen(){return dom.root.classList.contains(select.open)}function setPanelState(o){dom.root.classList[o?"add":"remove"](select.open),dom.root.classList[o? Museum employees have come forward backing Mary-Dailey Desmarais, seen here. Full Disclaimer. The province grants the museum about $16-million annually, covering about a third of its operating budget. The MMFA did not have any comment on the lawsuit, but said it would address it in “due course.”. And Mr. Bourgie, who is himself a major donor to the museum, said he did not think that status put him in a conflict of interest. Condé Nast Traveler ... Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Some governance experts have said it was inappropriate for the board to overrule its director on a hiring matter, while others have said it was appropriate because of the nature of the workplace complaints. Spokesperson Louis-Julien Dufresne says Culture Minister Nathalie Roy has received the report and is studying it before making any further comment. "The switch in the psyche of people that an artist can do something like that. A fight at the museum: In Montreal, a feud between an acclaimed curator and the board that fired her enters a new stage. We hope to have this fixed soon. It does state, however, that the board acted in good faith in its handling of its own human-resources report, working with the employees' interests in mind. Search. I saw it in people's eyes, not in their words.". Please log in to listen to this story. Ms. Roy said Thursday she would follow the report’s recommendations to change the provincial law governing the museum and work with the MMFA board to revise its internal rules. If you are looking to give feedback on our new site, please send it along to, To view this site properly, enable cookies in your browser. Thank you for your patience. Follow Kate Taylor and Chris Hannay on Twitter, I'm a print subscriber, link to my account, Avoid the use of toxic and offensive language. © Copyright 2020 The Globe and Mail Inc. All rights reserved. Bondil declined to comment on Friday about the board change and the lawsuit. The report was commissioned by Quebec Culture Minister Nathalie Roy after the museum’s board fired its high-profile general director, Nathalie Bondil, in July. Close. Click here to subscribe. Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. Soon donors were eager to give to the Marie-Solange Apollon Fund, named for Mathieu's grandmother. “Just like the minister.”. “Reading this report, it’s clear that correctives are needed to improve governance at the MMFA and I will be very happy to work with the new board towards this goal,” Ms. Roy said in a statement in French. Momentum can fade. It was purchased by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2018. opening at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 'How Can I Make Sure That I'm Not The Only One?' Its encyclopedic collection, which is on display in five pavilions, covers such subjects as international art, world cultures, decorative arts and design and Quebec and Canadian art. Since the start of the George Floyd protests, pressure has mounted on many institutions to address racial inequities and representation. Museums are facing mounting pressure to make their collections more representative. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is Quebec's most-visited museum and one of the most popular museums in Canada, welcoming a million visitors each year. One of the factors leading to the breakdown between the board and Bondil was over the selection of the new head of the curatorial division, who would act as a buffer between the director and some of her staff. "That would have been nice and some of us would have made the pilgrimage. Which is a good thing, because nowadays these works have become costly as museums are scrambling for artists they ignored during their lifetimes says Valerie Cassel Oliver, curator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The terms of the donations remain in place. Bondil said she agreed to the creation of the new position, but disagreed with the board’s choice of candidate. Also available in French and Mandarin. "But they don't accomplish the larger objective, which is to see the works in the permanent collection alongside other works of 20th century American art.". "The desire is to have them, but they're now too expensive and it's like, well, yeah, there were certain works that were $2,000 in 1970 when you didn't want them. Manuel Mathieu named his 2017 painting of his grandmother Self-portrait because of the role she played in making him who he is. It would have never, never had the impact that I believe they're having now," Sirmans says. “My main focus is to repair the huge damages of this defamatory campaign, not because of my past but because of my future,” she said. Nathalie Bondil gave the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts … Pointing to discrepancies between the Quebec law covering the museum and the MMFA board’s own internal rules, the report makes a series of recommendations that would clarify these roles. However, behind the scenes, staff complained she had created a toxic work environment and took credit for her employees' ideas. Now they're $200,000," says Cassel Oliver. The permanent collections and discovery exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts are free from Dec. 21 to Jan. 5, 2020. We aim to create a safe and valuable space for discussion and debate. "There's something that happened that I wasn't expecting," Mathieu says.