ROM Welcomes First Hatch Curator of Indigenous Art & Culture

Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) announced the appointment of Rhéanne Chartrand as the inaugural Hatch Curator of Indigenous Art & Culture. This newly created position signals ROM’s commitment to the ongoing work of reconciliation, as well as the Museum’s efforts to become an even more inclusive, open, and accessible hub for the community. As the first Hatch Curator of Indigenous Art & Culture, Chartrand will be responsible for leading a collaborative approach to stewarding and showcasing Indigenous collections at ROM.

“The museum is fortunate to have someone of Rhéanne’s deep experience and knowledge to share ROM’s important Indigenous collections with the public,” says Valerie Huaco, Deputy Director, Collections & Research, and Chief Innovation Officer. “Her insight and sensitivity into complex historical relationships position her to effectively continue ROM’s ongoing work of reconciliation.” 

In this new role, Chartrand will help develop educational and community outreach and programming; steer Indigenous-focused exhibitions and conduct scholarly research for the Museum. Chartrand will also collaborate with community stakeholders on the repatriation of Indigenous ancestral belongings from the collection at ROM.   

“I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues at ROM to ensure Indigenous peoples’ cultural sovereignty over how their belongings are cared for and shared,” says Rhéanne Chartrand. “It’s so important to have positive, affirming representations in museums that display us as thriving cultures. I’m passionate about helping ROM to revolutionize its curatorial and collections care practices in service of Indigenous communities and beyond.”

This newly established endowed position was made possible with the generous support of Hatch along with a matching gift from the Louise Hawley Stone Charitable Trust. Chartrand was appointed through an international executive search process led by Arts Consulting Group.

“Supporting the appointment of the Curator of Indigenous Art and Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum is one way that we can advance dialogue and reconciliation through education, knowledge sharing, and programming. We are very excited to welcome Rhéanne as she brings this aspiration to life,” says John Bianchini, Chairman and CEO, Hatch.

Rhéanne Chartrand is a Métis curator with over a decade of experience curating cross-cultural and multidisciplinary exhibitions, showcases, festivals, and programs. Previously, she served as the Curator of Indigenous Art at the McMaster Museum of Art from 2017–2023. Her most recent curatorial projects include we are made of stardust (2022); NIIPA 20/20 (2022); and what sustains us, co-curated with asinnajaq (2022); and guest curation of the 2022 Official Selection for imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. Additionally, she worked with organizations including the Art Gallery of Guelph, the City of Toronto, Harbourfront Centre, the Art Gallery of Mississauga, and OCAD University; and formerly served as co-founder of the Shushkitew Collective, a Métis arts equity initiative (2020 – 2024), and as board member with the Indigenous Curatorial Collective (2018–2022).

Broadly, her curatorial work focuses on the praxis of survivance, Indigenous epistemes, relational aesthetics, representational politics, acknowledgment, and gratitude. She also serves as a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto. Chartrand holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in History and Anthropology from McMaster University and a Master of Museum Studies from the University of Toronto. She is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario. Chartrand also has a long-standing connection to ROM. She began her museum career in 2007 as a volunteer researching and inventorying ancestral belongings stewarded by ROM.

Photo credits: Rhéanne Chartrand, Photo: Paul Eekhoff, 2024 © ROM.

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ABOUT ROM  

Opened in 1914, ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) showcases art, culture, and nature from around the world and across the ages. Today, ROM houses more than 18 million objects, from Egyptian mummies to contemporary sculpture, from meteorites to dinosaurs. ROM is the most visited museum in the country and one of the top ten museums in North America. It is also the country’s preeminent field research institute, with a diverse range of experts who help us understand the past, make sense of the present, and shape a shared future. Just as impressive is ROM’s facility—a striking combination of heritage architecture and contemporary, cutting-edge design, which marks the Museum as an iconic landmark and global cultural destination.

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