Richard Rhodes is leaving as the editor of Canadian Art magazine.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Richard Rhodes is leaving as the editor of Canadian Art magazine, a position he has held since the spring of 1996.
Rhodes's departure was announced last Friday by the Canadian Art Foundation, the Toronto-based non-profit organization that publishes the four issues of the glossy magazine released each year. Rhodes, 63, is staying on at the quarterly until the end of this year and will carry on an association with it thereafter as editor emeritus. A search is under way for his successor.
In the meantime, former associate editor David Balzer is returning to the periodical, which also is published online and has updates on social media, as deputy editor, effective next week. Rhodes succeeded Sarah Milroy, who served as Canadian Art's editor/publisher from 1991 to 1996.
Before his arrival at Canadian Art, Rhodes served as curator of the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto, a member of the Canada Council Visual Art Advisory Committee and the founder/editor, in 1984, of C magazine. He is also an artist (photography, painting) and critic and, in 2001, wrote a well-received introduction to Canadian art for young people titled A First Book of Canadian Art.
In the future, Rhodes said Monday, "my plans are to look at new ventures that gel my interests in writing and art education. … In 2016, I want to take [his multiplatform experience with Canadian Art] to get a little closer to working on a day-to-day basis with artists and the amazing works they make."