From the U.K. to the Rockies

by Jill Sawyer

In October, The Banff Centre welcomed Kitty Scott as the newly-appointed director of Visual Arts, Walter Phillips Gallery, and the Banff International Curatorial Institute. Named by The Globe and Mail as one of Canada’s best-kept secrets in the arts earlier this year, Scott was curator of contemporary art at the National Gallery of Canada from 2000 to 2006. In August 2006 she was appointed chief curator of the Serpentine Gallery, one of London’s foremost contemporary arts spaces.

Scott says she hopes to bring a new energy to the Centre’s Visual Arts programs. “My goal is to make artists and their vision the central focus of our programs,” she says. “Canada is defined by its landscape,” she adds. “Through the Revitalization project, the Centre has the potential to dedicate new space and architecture to the exhibition and collection of contemporary art in this iconic Canadian landscape.”