Time for clarity on Remai Modern kerfuffle

The public has a right to know what’s going on at gallery, Sarath Peiris says.

Surely, a Jackson Pollock abstract piece is easier to comprehend than what’s happening with governance at Saskatoon’s Remai Modern art gallery, where we’d consider ourselves fortunate to one day see an exhibition of the master’s work.

It’s long past time we saw some leadership from Mayor Charlie Clark and clarity on how the gallery is to be run, and who is to be responsible. From what’s transpired recently, it appears that city council has supplanted the role of the art museum’s board of directors, with little public explanation.

Billed from its inception as a world-class facility, the Remai had a hugely successful first year of operation. It drew international attention for its design and offerings, and its 450,000 reported visits far exceeded expectations for the first year.

And yet, and yet, and yet. It seems that when it comes to a public art gallery in Saskatoon, controversy is never far away, especially when it involves city council.

Far worse than city hall’s inexplicably sudden rejigging of the museum’s board is all the secrecy, with neither the mayor nor the seven departing directors shedding any light on what’s behind it all. CEO and executive director Gregory Burke and chief curator Sandra Guimaraes have departed.

Clark reportedly told board chair Scott Verity and secretary Alison Norlen that they wouldn’t be returned to their posts, and the entire board executive subsequently resigned without much by way of explanation other than Clark’s vague references to “workplace concerns” and “the integrity of the governing process” and Verity describing the board’s relationship with the city as “confusing and difficult.”

It’s not only the 9,000-plus people who supported the gallery by buying memberships who are owed a coherent explanation. Across Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Canada, we all have an interest in the Remai’s success because we are stakeholders in this enterprise.

Saskatoon taxpayers contributed more than $30 million to build the gallery, and are providing nearly $6 million this year to run the facility. All Saskatchewan residents paid $16.7 million toward building the gallery, and Ottawa initially anted up more than $13 million for construction and then another $3 million.

For all that public investment and millions more in private personal and corporate donations, Saskatoon residents who went without a gallery for more than two years while construction dragged on still don’t even know the final cost of the building.

And that’s just the start of the lack of public accountability.

Certainly, with Burke facing a 2016 allegation of harassment from a former employee, there are personnel-related matters that the mayor can’t discuss publicly. However, Verity said in a statement that the board retained a third party to investigate and determined the accusation was unfounded.

If council is dissatisfied with the board’s handling of this personnel matter, Clark needs to say so. After all, many of the directors are respected professionals in the community who guided a successful first year of operation, and who presumably know about proper governance procedures and honouring board bylaws.

The problem is that few people involved in this mess are willing to actually talk publicly about it.

The statement by outgoing trustee Dion Tootoosis that the two council representatives on the board were monopolizing discussions, interfering with the board’s independence, is troubling. But directors issuing statements about council interference and other problems without responding to journalists’ questions isn’t enough.

It’s simply unhelpful message management that’s far from accountability.

The last thing Saskatoon needs is its supposedly world-class gallery’s programming decisions being dictated by city council arm-twisting the board.

While the board, accountable to council, might be asked to work with gallery executives to ensure a balance between regional and international exhibits, the solution isn’t to replace those with a different vision.

We have ample reason to know what’s going on at the Remai. Secrecy and closeddoor discussions, including this week’s annual general meeting of the Remai board, are no way to operate.