Dr. Jean Sutherland Boggs

Dr. Jean Sutherland Boggs

One of the classes I most enjoyed in University while studying Fine Art, was Canadian Art History. When I first attended the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in the early 70s, there were no Art History professors that were women, with the exception of one later on taught, in the following years to come.

Thirty years later, when I returned to complete my Bachelor of Fine Art Degree at Mount Allison University, most all of the Art History professors were women; very accomplished, artists, teachers and curators in their own right. It was an extremely exciting turn of events for me now in a Fine Art program in 2008, to be taught and educated by these wonderful  intelligent, dedicated creative, and socially conscious women.

Dr. Jean Sutherland Boggs was the first female director appointed in 1966 of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa Ontario.
The history of the National Gallery of Canada is an interesting one, but at times, controversial for a myriad of reasons.

Tonight I listened for a second time, to this engaging CBC Rewind program, Remembering A Champion of Art profiling  "Miss Boggs" through a number of in depth interviews, giving a glimpse into this remarkable woman, who contributed so much to the recognition of Canadian Artists, and obtaining extensive collections and exhibits of art from artists all over the world, that were second to none for Canada's National Gallery.

Dr. Jean Sutherland Boggs I believe, in many ways was ahead of her time. If she was the Director of the National Gallery today, she might have been even more of a power house of influence, especially in her role as an Art Historian.