SACKVILLE, NB — The Owens Art Gallery at Mount Allison University will welcome Emily Falvey as its new director/curator this Fall. Falvey will begin her position on October 9 and replaces long-time director/curator Gemey Kelly who retired this summer.

Falvey is a Mount Allison graduate who began her career at the Owens and Struts galleries. She returns to campus from the Ottawa/Montreal area where she has worked as a professional curator and art critic, most notably with the Ottawa Art Gallery.

“We are delighted to welcome Emily back to campus as the director/curator of the Owens Art Gallery,” says Mount Allison University Provost and Vice-President, Academic and Research Dr. Jeff Ollerhead. “She brings a wide range of experience as a professional curator and academic and I look forward to seeing the array of art projects and exhibitions the Owens will continue to bring to the campus and wider community under her leadership.”

“I’m thrilled to return to Mount Allison University and the arts community of Sackville, and I look forward to working with the amazing staff at the Owens Art Gallery,” says Falvey. “I am honoured to take over from Gemey Kelly, whose work at the Owens is a sterling example of artist-centred curatorial practice.”

Falvey worked most recently as managing editor of RACAR (Revue d’art canadien/Canadian Art Review), and served on the editorial board for the art magazine esse arts + opinions. Her most recent exhibition, Here Be Dragons, is currently on view at Carleton University Art Gallery. She holds an MA in Art History from Concordia University and is a PhD candidate at the Université du Québec à Montréal where she has also taught in art history.

The Owens Art Gallery at Mount Allison University was established in 1895 and is Canada’s oldest University art gallery. Located at the heart of the Mount Allison campus, the Owens is the original home of Mount Allison’s Fine Arts program and hosts permanent and travelling exhibitions, as well as a number of events throughout the year. Home to over 3,000 works of art, it has continued its role as a teaching gallery, welcoming classes and community members year-round to learn about and enjoy art.

The Owens Art Gallery also oversees the Colville House and Colville Studio on campus, a centre devoted to the career of the late Canadian artist and Mount Allison graduate, Alex Colville.