GALLERY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The SPAO Centre benefits from the professional skills, expertise, associations, and oversight of its Gallery Advisory Committee. Members meet twice per year (approximately every six months). If you wish to be considered for membership on the Gallery Advisory Committee, please send an expression of interest by filling out this form.

YANAMINAH THULLAH

Independent Curator

Yanaminah Thullah is a multidisciplinary creative who aims to amplify the liberation of marginalized peoples within arts and culture spaces. She’s a host, spoken word artist, and recently, had her curatorial debut “We do not dream of labour” at the OAG. Yanaminah grounds her art in storytelling in digital and physical spaces.

DON SNYDER

Professor Emeritus TMU

Don Snyder has an extensive background in photographic history, curation and writing for visual media. He was the first Curator of Photography at the Addison Gallery of American Art, where he originated the museum's photography exhibition program. At TMU, he established the first Image Arts Gallery in the downtown arts district and was instrumental in the founding of Function, the School's annual publication of student work, essays and interviews. He has taught in the Communication and Culture MA program, the Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management MA program, and the Documentary Media MFA program, and has twice served as Chair of the School of Image Arts.

TANIA PASSAFIUME

Head Conservator of Photographic Materials Library and Archives Canada 

Tania Passafiume has been the Head Conservator of Photographic Materials for Library and Archives Canada since 2005. After graduating from Queen’s University with a Master’s in Art Conservation (specializing in photographs, works on paper and book conservation), she moved to Rochester, New York. It was in Rochester at the George Eastman House where she remained for over three years, first participating in the Certificate Program in Photographic Preservation and Archival Practice and then as a Fellow in the first cycle of the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the Advanced Residency Program in Photograph Conservation.

SARAH E.K. SMITH

Scholar and Independent Curator 

Sarah E.K. Smith is a scholar and curator whose research explores contemporary art and museums, with an interest in how artworks and institutions provide a lens to address cultural diplomacy, cultural labour, and cultural policies. An Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University, Sarah also holds the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Art, Culture and Global Relations. Sarah is also a core member of the Open Art Histories initiative, a collective of Canadian scholars in communication, art history, visual arts, and museum studies, who aim to advance discussions on the pedagogy of visual culture. Sarah maintains an active independent curatorial practice and previously worked as Curator of Contemporary Art at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. She is currently contributing to Western University’s Centre for Sustainable Curating.

KATIE LYDIATT

Recording Secretary

Katie Lydiatt is a curator, researcher, and arts administrator living and working in so-called Ottawa. She holds an MA in Art History and Curatorial Studies from Carleton University. Her MA research investigated issues of belonging, locality and citizenship in the context of photographer John Paskievich's images of Winnipeg's North End. She has formerly held positions at SAW Gallery, the Carleton University Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, and served as Editor for the RENDER Graduate Journal of Arts and Culture in 2019. She is currently the Gallery Manager and Residency Coordinator at the SPAO Photographic Arts Centre.