Haitian-born, Montreal-based artist Manuel Mathieu's solo exhibition in Toronto, at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery.Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail
The board of directors of Toronto’s Power Plant art gallery is vacant after members resigned en masse on Wednesday over a leadership struggle with its parent organization, the Harbourfront Centre.
The Power Plant, one of Canada’s leading public contemporary art galleries, has been in a legal fight with Harbourfront since June, when Harbourfront attempted to dismiss 12 members of the board, according to court documents. The court battle and the resignations have exposed dissension at high levels of the organization.
Richard Lee, one of the departing board members, said the Harbourfront Centre’s attempt to remove almost half the board jeopardizes the art gallery’s independence.
“There’s no sense of autonomy, no sense of democracy,” Mr. Lee said.
The Power Plant and Harbourfront Centre are separate charities, but are closely entwined. Harbourfront is the landlord and major funder of the Power Plant, and the art gallery’s staff are legally employees of the centre. Harbourfront appoints 13 of the board’s 27 members; two more are employees of the centre; and the other 12 are independently elected.
The two organizations have been embroiled in a months-long legal battle over governance, according to court documents.
On June 2, the president of Harbourfront’s board of directors, Tenio Evangelista, wrote to the Power Plant’s board expressing concerns about its oversight of the art gallery, according to court files.
“Staff turnover at The Power Plant (TPP) remains disproportionately high and, as has been communicated to you a number of times over the past year, is an area of focus for Harbourfront Centre’s board,” Mr. Evangelista wrote in the letter, which was filed in court.
The letter includes a written resolution to remove 12 directors appointed by Harbourfront and replace them with 13 new ones, including Mr. Evangelista. (One board member would have filled a vacancy.)
The Power Plant’s board and counsel fought the removal resolution, saying it was legally invalid, the court documents show, and Harbourfront sued the art gallery on June 21, seeking a ruling on whether the resolution was valid.
A decision in the case has not been released.
In the ensuing months, some board members left voluntarily. On Wednesday, the remaining 16 – including both independent directors and those appointed by Harbourfront – quit in protest and released a public letter about their concerns.
“We hope our resignation draws attention to the current crisis of governance and enacts the necessary changes to ensure a healthy and successful Power Plant going forward,” said the letter, signed by 15 of the departing members.
Marah Braye, Harbourfront’s chief executive officer, confirmed on Thursday that the art gallery’s board was empty. She said she was working on appointing interim directors.
Ms. Braye said she did not want to elaborate on the nature of the issues that led to the breakdown in communications between the two groups.
Mr. Lee said he did not know what concerns Harbourfront had before the June 2 request to terminate board members.
The board resignations also come at a time that the Power Plant is looking for new artistic leadership.
The gallery’s long-time artistic director, Gaëtane Verna, left in September to take a position as executive director at the Wexner Center for the Arts, a prestigious art institution at Ohio State University. The Power Plant has not yet announced a replacement.