Patricia Bovey

Patricia E. Bovey (born May 15, 1948) is a Canadian art historian, gallery director, curator, and academic. In 2016, she was appointed to the Senate of Canada to represent Manitoba.

Career Bovey was the curator of the Winnipeg Art Gallery (1970–1980), director of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (1980–1999) and the Winnipeg Art Gallery (1999–2004); and an art consultant (2004–2016).

On October 27, 2016, Bovey was named to the Senate of Canada by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Bovey assumed her seat on November 10, 2016, as a member of the Independent Senators Group. On May 8, 2020, Bovey left the ISG and joined the Progressive Senate Group. During her time in the Senate, Bovey fought for arts related causes such as reinvigorating the Portrait Gallery of Canada. Fellow of the Canadian Museums Association; 2019: Manitoba Book Awards' finalist for book on Don Proch;

Selected memberships and boards Bovey has served as the chair of the Board of Governors of the University of Manitoba and board chair of Emily Carr University. She served on the National Gallery of Canada's Board of Trustees; the Board of the Canada Council for the Arts; the Withrow/Richard Federal Task Force on National and Regional Museums; the Eckhardt-Gramatté Foundation Board; and the Board of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra; and was a member of the Trudeau Foundation and the Manitoba selection committee for both the Rhodes Scholarships and the Loran Scholarship. She is a past chair of the Canadian Art Museum Directors Organization.

Selected publications Bovey writes mainly on Western Canadian art. A passion for art: the art and dynamics of the Limners, Victoria, B.C. : Sono Nis Press, 1996; Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald: The Development of an Artist, Ann Davis; Patricia E. Bovey, the Winnipeg Art Gallery: Winnipeg, 1978; Pat Martin Bates: Balancing on a Thread, Frontenac House, 2013; Don Proch: masking and mapping, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press: St. John's College Press, 2019; Western voices in Canadian art, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2023.