Joan Murray

Joan Arden Charlat Murray (born August 12, 1943) is an American-born Canadian art historian, writer and curator.

Education and personal life Joan Charlat was born in New York City in 1943. She moved to Canada in 1959 to marry W. Ross Murray (1930–2020) and studied art history at the University of Toronto, receiving an Honours B.A. (1965). Murray completed an M.A. at Columbia University in 1966.

Career In 1968 she took a position as the head of education at the Art Gallery of Ontario; in 1969 she became Research Curator, and following that became the first Curator of Canadian Art (1970–1973). At the Gallery, she also served as the Acting Chief Curator (1972). to 1999, Murray served as Director of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa. From 2005–2006, Murray served as the Interim Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario after the unexpected resignation of Vincent Varga.

As one of only seven female art curators in Canada at the time of her AGO appointment, Murray advocated for the role of women in curatorial roles. She believed women were well-suited for these nurturing, essentially administrative roles. She also has authored many books on the history of Canadian art, most notably Canadian Art in the Twentieth Century (1999), Northern Lights: Masterpieces of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven (1994), McMichael Canadian Art Collection: One Hundred Masterworks (2006), and Laura Muntz Lyall: Impressions of Women and Childhood (2012). She has published over one hundred catalogues and two hundred articles on subjects ranging from folk art to contemporary artists. Her collection of papers and over 600 interviews with artists are stored in Library and Archives Canada.

Honours Murray was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 1992; and in 1993, received the Senior Award from the Association of Cultural Executives for her contributions to Canadian cultural life. She received the Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Ontario Association of Art Galleries in 2000. Murray was selected as University College, University of Toronto 2013 Alumni of Influence in 2013.

Books