This December, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery will start a new chapter with Bernard Doucet as its new executive director.
Following Tom Smart’s retirement in April, Doucet will take the reins and oversee the gallery’s programs, shows and activities.
As former executive director at the Sobey Art Foundation, Doucet said one of his favourite experiences was meeting artists from different regions across the country. His belief in the profound educational experience that comes from being in the presence of artists has inspired him to connect with the art community.
“I want the Beaverbrook to be a part of the hearts and minds of everyone from across the province, Caraquet, Edmundston, St. Andrews, Woodstock, Moncton,” he said. “The challenge is making people feel that as a provincial institution [the gallery], belongs to them no matter where they live in the province.”
Doucet’s strategy to involve New Brunswick residents with the gallery is to encourage proactivity within the team. He believes in taking the initiative to engage the community, rather than waiting for them to visit the gallery.
As the new director, Doucet also plans to serve military members and their families by building a program specifically for them.
“I believe that members of the armed forces are the civil servants from whom we ask the most as a society … I think it’s critical and very important for public institutions to be very available to them and their families.”
Although the program’s structure is still being developed, it will be one of his priorities.
“It’s incumbent on us as an institution to go to them and invite military families in.”
One way Doucet plans to reach post-secondary students is through consultation and analyzing student needs and wants in the arts community. Doucet’s focus is to find out the best way the gallery can serve students through exhibitions and programming.
“There’s a lot of life and vitality to come into the front door of the building. I want to make sure that this is as open and accessible to them as possible,” said Doucet.
In addition to reaching out to post-secondary students, he wants to reach classrooms across the province, from elementary to high school.
Doucet recalls coming to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery for the first time when he was nine.
“I had never been in a museum before. I grew up in New Brunswick and it was the first time I ever came in here,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this has been a lifelong passion for me professionally ever since.”
Reflecting on what he would say to his nine-year-old self, if he told him he would be director of the same gallery decades later, Doucet would not forget to advise him to get as much experience as possible.
“Don’t be afraid to take risks, fulfill yourself and have personal experiences to support doing important things later in life.”
