Congratulations to Paola Poletto, who has been awarded the John Hobday Professional Development and Renewal Award by the Canada Council for the Arts. This award in arts management is granted to talented arts managers in Canadian professional arts organizations for professional development or mentoring purposes.

The $10,000 award will allow Paola to take part in the International Leadership Program in Visual Arts Management jointly offered and accredited by New York University, Spain’s University of Deusto, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Throughout the program she will gain a global perspective on visual arts management, drawing uniquely from business management and leading creative museum practice.

Paola has been with the AGO since 2013, and is currently Manager, Studio and Group Learning, Public Programming & Learning.  Previous to this, Paola also held positions at the City of Mississauga’s Culture Division, the Design Exchange, and Toronto’s Italian Cultural Institute/Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italy.

Says Paola, “I am thrilled and honoured to receive the John Hobday Award in Arts Management. The International Leadership Program in Visual Arts Management is a program that I believe will help both further and bridge my combined interests and skills in local and international community development and entrepreneurship in the visual arts.” Congratulations, Paola! We are so proud of you.

There will be a presentation of the award as part of an upcoming public program at the AGO. Stay tuned for details.