Eva Respini and Sirish Rao Named Vancouver Art Gallery Co-CEOs

The Vancouver Art Gallery Association Board of Trustees announced on September 28, 2026, the permanent appointment of Eva Respini and Sirish Rao as Co-CEOs, confirming a dual leadership model designed to advance the Gallery’s artistic ambition, operational resilience and global reach. The two were named Interim Co-CEOs in March 2025.

The announcement follows an evaluation process undertaken by the Governance and People Committee of the Board. In addition to assessing organizational performance, the Board sought extensive input from staff, donors, artists, community leaders and trusted advisors.

Moving forward, Respini will serve as Co-CEO & Chief Curator, leading the Gallery’s artistic vision, including exhibition strategy, collection development, curatorial partnerships and the new building project. Rao will serve as Co-CEO & Executive Director, leading operations, earned revenue and finance as well as community outreach, institutional partnerships and interdisciplinary programming, including the Gallery’s Art of Wellbeing Lab and the Centre for Global Asias.

Since their interim appointments, they have reconstituted the executive leadership team, opened the Gallery’s first dedicated collection floor in more than two decades, Highlights from the Collection, and expanded community engagement and international reach through new partnerships and programmes. They have also led the national architect selection process that commissioned Formline Architecture + Urbanism and KPMB Architects to design a sustainable new home for the Gallery.

Respini joined the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2023 as Deputy Director & Director of Curatorial Programs. From 2015 to 2023, she led the artistic programme at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston as Deputy Director and Barbara Lee Chief Curator. In 2022, she served as curator and co-commissioner for the U.S. Pavilion’s presentation of Simone Leigh at the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Previously, she served as Curator at the Museum of Modern Art for more than a decade.

Rao joined the Gallery in January 2023 as Director of Public Engagement & Learning. For a decade, he served as Director of the Chennai-based Tara Books. After relocating to Vancouver in 2010, he co-founded the Indian Summer Festival and served as its Founding Artistic Director. At the Gallery, his work has included the Art of Wellbeing Lab and a partnership with the BC Parks Foundation’s PaRx prescription programme, enabling healthcare professionals to prescribe free Gallery admission to their patients.

As the Co-CEOs take up their permanent roles, they are focused on developing new exhibitions and programmatic initiatives, cultivating support from Vancouver’s business and philanthropic communities, and realizing the new Vancouver Art Gallery. Longtime Gallery leaders Diana Freundl and Stephanie Rebick will also join the executive leadership team, overseeing collections, research and public programming, and exhibitions and publishing, respectively.

Image: Sirish Rao and Eva Respini, Co-CEOs of the Vancouver Art Gallery, in the permanent collection vault. Photo: Vancouver Art Gallery.