Janet Carding will take the reins of the Royal Ontario Museum, as director and chief executive officer, in September.
Janet Carding, the newly hired director and CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum, is preparing to take charge of one of Canada's most recognizable structures. And that could be her biggest challenge.
The 45-year-old Englishwoman has the task of redirecting the public gaze from the ROM's flashy renovated exoskeleton, finished in 2007, to what goes on inside its many new galleries.
In September, Ms. Carding will become the first woman ever to lead the ROM, an institution with nearly a century's history and one of the most impressive collections in Canada. But since its $285-million renovation, many have tagged it an eyesore.
Even some museum staff members had mused that exhibition planning was not foremost in architect Daniel Libeskind's mind when he designed the jagged Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. It has since been named a "New Wonder of the World" by Condé Nast Traveller magazine, but also the eighth ugliest building in the world by Virtual Tourist.
Love it or hate it, all agree the ROM now needs to move the focus "from hardware to software," as departing director William Thorsell puts it.
"The building has been the focus for the past decade," said John McAvity, executive director of the Canadian Museums Association. "But the real value of a museum like the ROM is timeless and enduring, and is found in its collections, not in its glitz."
Though Ms. Carding is not well known in Canada, many of the country's arts leaders say she appears to have gathered the right tools during her 22 years in the museum world.
She leaves her post as an assistant director at the Australian Museum in Sydney, a large research institution in a multicultural city which, like the ROM, receives substantial government funding – something Australian Museum director Frank Howarth says she is adept at prying free from politicians. She has been a curator and a strategic planner, and possesses a "strong character," Mr. Howarth said.
"She's not anybody's yes-person," he added. "She's great at persuading people, which is good – exactly what you need."
Ms. Carding declined requests for an interview, saying through a ROM spokesperson she does not yet feel comfortable discussing her new role.
She also has to set the tone for the museum's presentation style. Its populism, or lack thereof, has been debated for years and, despite leading radical structural changes, Mr. Thorsell was seen as a traditionalist.
"This is a collections-based museum, not a theme park," he said in 2006.
But others argue a somewhat stodgy reputation has hurt the ROM. Gail Lord, a leading Toronto-based museums consultant, thinks the ROM's exhibitions have often been "as old fashioned as you can get." But she said Ms. Carding's role in driving the creation of the Wellcome Wing at London's Science Museum, a dynamic series of galleries full of digital technology, bodes well.
"Exhibitions need to be more lively, multidisciplinary, visitor-responsive: all that good 21st century stuff," Ms. Lord said. "But I really disagree with the idea that having dynamic exhibits means dumbing down."
Growing attendance will doubtless also be part of Ms. Carding's mandate. Mr. Thorsell once predicted the renovated museum could attract 1.6 million visitors each year, but it has stalled at one million in each of the past two years.
Canadian Museum of Civilization president and CEO Victor Rabinovitch hopes she can make the ROM a bigger draw, but without leaning too heavily on blockbusters to do so.
"The ROM is not an exhibition centre. The ROM has to be a great museum," he said.
In part, that means making the city's other arts institutions allies, rather than competitors, said Art Gallery of Ontario director and CEO Matthew Teitelbaum. He argues Toronto is entering "another phase" in which arts institutions have to band together to raise the city's cultural profile.
"I actually think it's the big challenge for everybody," Mr. Teitelbaum said.
James Bradshaw