Annalee Adair

I am a cultural planner and public art consultant with over 30 years’ experience working with and for municipalities and with private sector clients. I am the Director of A. Adair & Associates and the founder of Public Art Support, an on-line collective resource of public art consultants. I am a member of Arts Consultants Canada, and have developed arts and culture plans, policies and programs as a consultant and have experience as a Public Art Program Director and Consultant at the municipal level in Canada. I am considered a go-to leader in innovative and inclusive community engagement practices, particularly for the development of public spaces. I have also managed public art projects of all scales – from $1000 to $7 million budgets. Some recent projects include managing Talent to Lead (T2L), a national leadership and mentoring program for Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC); developing an evaluation framework for Ontario Arts Council; consulting on City of Ottawa’s new Light Rail Transit public art program and completing the research and strategic direction for the Edmonton Arts and Heritage Plan.

Prior to returning to consulting, I was the City of Kingston’s Manager of Community Engagement & Education Division for 4+ yrs., where I led and staffed a new Division and oversaw the creation of the first Public Art Master Plan and policy, Y2K Youth Strategy, an Accessibility Audit of Cultural Venues, and a First People’s Recognition Protocol and Plan. Prior to my time in Kingston, I acted as the visionary and ED of ArtsSmarts for 9+ years and raised 5.2M for local programs in collaboration with 80 partner organizations including universities, ministries of education, provincial funding agencies and school boards. Earlier work in the sector includes Program Director of City of Ottawa’s Public Art Program for 12+ years, where I oversaw the civic collection, art galleries, and public art, and initiated the Community Arts & Social Engagement Division and a Youth Arts Leadership Program. Prior to working in Ottawa, I worked as the Collections and Public Art Coordinator for the City of Regina - and as the Visual Arts Manager for the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils.  I am a founding member of the Creative City Network of Canada’s National Public Art Roundtable, and have lectured on public art, and community engagement at: Simon Fraser University, Ottawa Art Gallery, Creative City Network, American for the Arts, Ontario Presents, CAPACOA. I have written on public art for The Canadian Encyclopedia, and have served on numerous public art juries and curated exhibitions of public art.