Open letter calls for ouster of Art Gallery of Ontario trustee who led vote against Nan Goldin acquisition

An open letter published amid controversy at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto calls for the resignation of trustee Judy Schulich, who is reported to have instigated a committee decision to block the acquisition of a work by Jewish American photographer Nan Goldin. The AGO had planned to jointly purchase Goldin’s moving-image work Stendhal Syndrome (2024) with the Vancouver Art Gallery and Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center, but withdrew in mid-2025 after its Modern and contemporary curatorial working committee voted 11–9 against it. The decision was first reported by independent journalist Samira Mohyeddin on X and later covered by the Globe & Mail, which cited documentation alleging Goldin was labeled “antisemitic” and compared by an unnamed meeting participant to Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl. In the aftermath, AGO curator John Zeppetelli resigned, and two volunteer committee members also resigned; the Vancouver Art Gallery and Walker Art Center proceeded with the joint acquisition.

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