lawyer Lawson A.W. Hunter, who was one of the driving forces in realizing the Ottawa Art Gallery’s new building, joined Senator Patricia Bovey, former director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, to assemble an advisory group of artists, designers, writers, historians, politicians, senators, journalists, lawyers, executives and business leaders from across Canada to make the case for the PGC. The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, agreed to serve as the advisory group’s patron. In 2018, the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) agreed to support this new private-public partnership, as a collaborator. Robert Tombs, artist, designer and president of the RCA, subsequently joined the PGC’s volunteer Board of Directors. In 2019, the PGC’s advisory group commissioned Toronto’s Lord Cultural Resources, an international agency that specializes in museum, cultural and heritage sector planning, to research, write and deliver its master plan. On July 30, 2020, the Portrait Gallery of Canada launched its web presence and its first online exhibition Personae: Indigenous and Canadian Portraits 1861-2019, organized by guest curator Robert Tombs. Artists featured were: Wally Dion, Christine Fitzgerald, Thaddeus Holownia, Ruth Kaplan, Peter Krausz, Arnaud Maggs, William Notman, Karen Stentaford, Stephen Stober, Robert Tombs and Herbert Taylor. On March 4, 2021, the Portrait Gallery of Canada officially became a federally-registered not-for-profit corporation. On June 5, 2021, the PGC announced the appointment of Joanne Charette, former Vice-President Corporate Strategy and Communications, International Development Research Centre and former Director of Public Affairs, National Gallery of Canada, as its first gallery director, an interim assignment. On August 19, 2021, the PGC launched its online exhibition In Keeping with Myself, organized by guest curator Darren Pottie. Artists featured were: Jaime Black, Catherine Blackburn, Rande Cook, Erika DeFreitas, Danièle Dennis, Olivia Johnston, Séamus Gallagher, Jean-Sébastien Gauthier, Christina Hajjar, Laura Hudspith, Jocelyn Keays, Suzy Lake, Meryl McMaster, Zinnia Naqkvi, Annie France Noël, Dainesha Nugent-Palache, Laurence Philomène, Skawenatti and Sage Szkabarnicki-Stuart. On February 24, 2022, the PGC launched its first online solo exhibition Giiyaabi Omaa Nindayaamin (We Are Still Here) by KC Adams and curated by PGC curator Ann Davis. On April 27, 2022, the Board of Directors of the Portrait Gallery of Canada announced the appointment of Robert Steven, former president and CEO of the Art Gallery of Burlington, as its new executive director, effective May 2, 2022. References External links https://www.portraitcanada.ca Proposed museums in Canada Art museums established in