WAG-Qaumajuq names first Indigenous director, CEO

WAG-Qaumajuq has appointed its first Indigenous director and CEO.

John Mahli Lawa’ Hampton has been selected to take the helm of Canada’s oldest civic art gallery, WAG-Qaumajuq announced Thursday.

The appointment follows a national and international search led by Arts Consulting Group. Bill Elliott, WAG-Qaumajuq’s deputy director and chief financial officer, has been serving in the role on an interim basis since longtime director and CEO Stephen Borys departed the gallery in 2025 after 17 years.

Hampton, who uses they/them pronouns, will begin in the role on Dec. 10.

“Obviously, I’m thrilled and also very humbled to be entrusted with leadership of such an important institution,” Hampton said in a phone interview from Regina, where they most recently served as executive director and CEO of the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina and, before that, as executive director of the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba in Brandon.

“My partner and I are very excited to be coming back to Manitoba. It was a really warm and wonderful place when we lived in Brandon, so I’m excited to be coming to Winnipeg, which I’ve known and loved my whole life.”

A citizen-at-large of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, Hampton, 41, grew up in Alaska but spent most of their life in Regina.

Along with director experience in Regina and Brandon, Hampton also co-chaired the last two Canada Arts Summits, served on the Canada House Gallery Committee, was named one of CBC’s Future 40, and authored Decolonizing Museum Management: Towards a Human Institution for the Manual of Museum Management.

Hampton’s immediate goal in the role is relationship building and getting to know the people and artists of Winnipeg. Longer-term projects include advancing the institution’s ongoing reconciliation and decolonization work — work Hampton says is generational.

“It doesn’t happen over the course of one CEO’s tenure. I am just really grateful for all of the people who have been doing that work at WAG-Qaumajuq because they’ve given a really strong foundation and momentum, have built relationships that I’m going to come in and be able to see how I can continue and extend that work and take those next steps. I’m grateful that it’s not going to require some type of change or course correction.

“It’s really just about continuing the work, continue going further with it, because it takes one step at a time to get that work done. Sometimes you make leaps and strides, and sometimes you push for that inch.”

Aynsley Cockshott, chair of WAG-Qaumajuq’s Board of Governors, is excited to welcome Hampton.

“I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing Hampton’s exceptional leadership on the national stage through their work co-chairing the Canadian Arts Summit, as well as their leadership at the MacKenzie Art Gallery,” she said in a media release.

“We look forward to building on our current momentum and vision to deepen audience connections while advancing the art museum’s world-renowned collections, exhibitions and programs.”

Hampton is looking forward to walking through the doors of WAG-Qaumajuq every day.

“It’s such an inspiring space. I am so excited that, every day, I’m going to be able to walk in and see those relatives from across Inuit territories and to see the rest of the collection and that beautiful Tyndall Stone building. It’s just going to be a dream.”

jen.zoratti@winnipegfreepress.com