Sharing the Passion: Panel Discussion

Sharing the Passion:

Panel Discussion

March 28, 2026
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery
Free admission

Collecting art is vital to art museums. As a foundation for the mission, collections are more than objects. They are vehicles through which curators use to tell stories and develop new understandings of art and history. By acquiring and preserving artworks, museums provide a permanent home for art and artists, ensuring their work remains accessible for future generations. Collections happen through the vision of artists, directors, curators and donors. Collections are what makes a museum unique.

Moderated by Darryn Doull, Curator, Exhibitions and Programs at KWAG, this panel consisting of four leaders in the artworld join to share their passion for art collecting personally and institutionally and discuss why donating artworks to art museums in perpetuity is critically important.

Aaron Milrad, a prolific art collector and philanthropist has been a long-time supporter of the arts. As former counsel to Dentons Canada LLP, a global law firm, headquartered in Toronto he has provided specialized legal and business advice to clients nationally and internationally who are involved in the arts, media and copyright industries.

Carolyn Veseley, Executive Director of the Power Plant, and former Executive Director at Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, is a seasoned leader in the visual arts realm, with over 30 years of experience in effectively building and transforming organizations. Her extensive background encompasses collaborating with artists, arts organizations, funding partners and volunteer boards.

Ihor Holubizky is an art historian and senior curator who has held several curatorial positions in public art galleries including the Power Plant, Art Gallery of Hamilton, McMaster Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and Art Museum at the Queensland University of Technology. He has written extensively on historical, modern and contemporary topics in art and culture.

Jamelie Hassan is a visual artist based in London, Ontario. Since the 1970's, she has exhibited widely in Canada and internationally. She is also active as a lecturer, writer and independent curator and has travelled and worked within Canada and internationally. In 2001 she was awarded the Governor General’s Award in Visual Arts. She has exhibited at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery and several of her works are in the Gallery’s Permanent Collection.

The program has been organized in conjunction with the Gallery’s 70th anniversary exhibition celebrating our donors and the Permanent Collection.

Sponsored by:

Imagery:

Feature image
Tom Thomson, Untitled (c. 1910). Oil on canvas, 44 x 52 cm. Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery Permanent Collection: Anonymous Gift, 1995. Photo by the Government of Canada, Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), 2018. Photo by Robert McNair.
Headshots courtesy of the speakers.