Toronto, ON –Kathleen Bartels, Executive Director and CEO of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Toronto, announced the appointment of Charity Chan as Head of Public Programmes and Learning. In this new position, Chan oversees MOCA’s public performances, lectures, workshops, screenings, and learning opportunities.

“We eagerly look forward to Charity sharing her passion for arts education with our visitors and the larger Toronto and regional community. With Charity’s guidance we look forward to forging new paths connecting art, artists, educators, and visitors and expanding MOCA’s offerings to embrace new ways to experience and share contemporary art” said Bartels.

Chan’s career has included developing community learning initiatives; cross-cultural arts curation; academic research; large-scale live event production; and fundraising. Her organizational expertise runs the gamut from artist-founded non-profits to institutions embedded within multi-national development agencies. Her areas of artistic specialization include experimental performance, improvisation, new media, sound and installation art. Chan has worked extensively in Montreal, the United States. and Latin America with artist residencies in Greece and Iceland. Since her arrival in Toronto in 2015, Chan has held positions at Art of Time Ensemble, Aga Khan Museum, Luminato Festival Toronto, Interactive Ontario, and the Ontario Science Centre.

Chan holds a BMus from McGill University and MFA from Mills College, Oakland, CA. She was an Andrew Mellon Fellow at the Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies at Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and was a research fellow at the Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College, Chicago. 

“MOCA Toronto’s commitment to socially engaged, community-rooted experimental arts practice renders it unique in the Toronto arts and culture landscape. Access to arts education that reflects lived realities is increasingly vital. Together, there is an opportunity to create and develop educational opportunities that are representative of the city’s diverse communities, increase access to artistic engagement, encourage mentorship, and highlight the immediacy of Toronto’s creative sector,” said Chan.

About MOCA Toronto

MOCA Toronto is motivated by the principle that museums and their programmes are culturally and socially beneficial to the diversity of the communities they serve. MOCA supports and promotes forward-thinking artistic experimentation and provides a community space for enrichment, discourse, collaboration, and creativity. Working across all contemporary art forms, MOCA’s programmes empower local artists and engage the Toronto art scene while contributing to the international art community and scholarship. MOCA is currently closed to the public in compliance with COVID-19 restrictions. Please check the MOCA website for updates on the reopening schedule as it becomes available. MOCA is a not-for-profit charitable organization. The evolution of the Museum is made possible through a unique alliance with Castlepoint Numa, public sector funders, private donors, members, sponsors, and a network of cross-sectoral partners.

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