Join our Board
If you are interested in making a meaningful contribution to the arts and to your community, you may be the right fit for the RMG’s Board of Directors. As the governing body for the RMG, the Board of Directors sets policy, exercises oversight and provides strategic direction. Terms are voluntary positions for a period of three years with the option to renew for one additional term.
Who We Are
Vision: Art cultivates caring communities.
Mission: We build relationships with diverse artists and communities to present collections, exhibitions, and programs.
Values
Care: We believe well-being is vital and demonstrate care through compassion, kindness, and patience.
Artists: We centre artistic practices, perspectives, and voices.
Equity: We integrate anti-oppressive and anti-racist practices in all facets of the organization working towards systemic change.
Collaboration: We bring together multiple people and perspectives to learn, create, and connect with each other.
Accessibility: We welcome everyone and find ways for all to participate.
Accountability: We take responsibility for our actions and communicate clearly, promoting safety and openness for all.
The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is in the treaty lands of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation. This land has been the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg and was stewarded by various communities belonging to the Haudenosaunee and Wendat confederacies. It is covered under the Williams Treaties and the Dish with One Spoon Wampum.
This area continues to be home to many Indigenous people from across Mishiike Minisi. We recognize the sovereignty of all Indigenous nations and acknowledge the cultural history of this place and its people. We have a collective responsibility to protect and nurture the land. We recognize the continuing impacts of colonialism and have a responsibility to redress the ways it has helped shape our organization. We work to address structural inequities and amplify Indigenous voices in the gallery.
What We Do
As the governing body for the RMG, the Board of Directors sets policy, exercises oversight, and provides strategic direction. Terms are voluntary positions for a period of three years with the option to renew for one additional term. The RMG’s Board operates in an advisory capacity with a policy model.
Our strategic plan for 2025-2027 Art, Community, Care was recently completed and has provided key priorities and goals for us to work towards over the next three years. We’ll share it directly with applicants who are successful in reaching the interview stage.
Your Commitment
Board meetings take place in-person at the RMG six times a year, plus additional time serving actively on one of our committees (Acquisitions & Collections, Finance & Investment, Governance & Nominations, or Fundraising) in virtual meetings. You can anticipate contributing approximately 4 – 6 hours per month, as well as strategic planning sessions and regular communications. You must be a member of the RMG or willing to join.
We ask that all Board members act as ambassadors and advocates for the gallery, including sharing information with your networks and attending events and programs when possible.
Who We Need
We are currently looking for members to join the Board who support and believe in our values, are part of Oshawa and Durham Region, and bring a diversity of experience, cultures and backgrounds.
The RMG is actively seeking applications from qualified candidates who are representative of the diversity of our community and have the skills and knowledge to productively engage with our communities. We are particularly seeking individuals in this round who could contribute to our Acquisitions and Collections Committee and Fundraising Committee.
As part of the application process, we encourage applicants to complete the optional demographic survey and/or self-identify within your cover letter. We welcome those from racialized communities, women, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, and persons across the spectrum of sexual orientation and gender identities. To foster inclusion, the RMG has a comprehensive Board orientation and mentorship structure for new Board members.
We are committed to recruiting based on merit and to removing barriers to participation. Should you require accommodation during the interview process, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.
Founding, History + Collection
In the mid-1960s, Oshawa designer William Caldwell organized an exhibition of work by local artists at a small commercial space on Simcoe Street. After overwhelming community support, a number of visionaries—including Ewart McLaughlin and his wife Margaret (painter Alexandra Luke)—recognized that Oshawa needed a more permanent home for the arts. The McLaughlin’s provided financial support as well as a number of significant works from their private collection, and in 1967 The Robert McLaughlin Gallery was established as Oshawa’s public gallery for contemporary art.
Significant support was later provided by Isabel McLaughlin, an important modernist painter, and a founding member of the Canadian Group of Painters, as well as by artist Aleen Aked, who provided a generous endowment for education and outreach initiatives. This unique legacy of strong female patronage is foundational to the RMG, contributing to the ongoing support and acquisition of work by women artists.
Today, the RMG collection has grown to over 4,700 works, The Thomas Bouckley Collection, an art library, and archives. The collection includes nationally significant modern Canadian abstraction, the largest holding of works by Painters Eleven in the world, an expanding collection of contemporary art, and public art. Though this is the founding core of our collection, the RMG is also dedicated to collecting with intention in order to reflect the diverse voices and contemporary issues that make up the continuing story of Canadian art, including that of our local community.
Process
Deadline for applications is Sunday, March 9, 2025. Please use this form to submit your application. All applications are confidential.
Applications will be reviewed by the Governance and Nominations Committee and interviews scheduled in April. Please hold the dates of March 31 and April 1 from 6 – 8:30 pm as these are the pre-scheduled interview times. All interviews will be held virtually.
Selected candidates will be invited to the Annual General Meeting on Thursday, June 12.