From the Director

Sasha Suda is the Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada.

Appointed in February 2019, Sasha is passionate about the Gallery’s ability to serve and resonate with Canadians from coast to coast to coast. She believes that the visual arts have the power to connect the past to the present and that they can help us to forge a more inspiring, creative, and equitable future.

Sasha has led the revitalization of the Gallery’s purpose, vision, and mission and its first-ever strategic planning process. As a result of this work, the Gallery has undertaken an exciting digital rebranding exercise, transformed its exhibition planning process, and reimagined its external stakeholder engagement strategy. A new, and clear, focus on justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility with a firm commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples embraces the future and positions the National Gallery of Canada for its next chapter. 

Born in Toronto to Czech parents, Sasha studied at Princeton University before completing her Master’s degree in art history at Williams College and her PhD at New York University. Her professional career began at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where she worked in various roles in the Medieval Department between 2003 and 2011. Following this, Sasha returned to her native Toronto to work at the Art Gallery of Ontario, first as an assistant curator, and eventually as Curator of European Art and the Elliott Chair of Prints & Drawings. In these roles, she led major international exhibition projects and spearheaded innovative digital initiatives that presented historical art to audiences in a new light.

Sasha lives in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood of Ottawa with her two children, Frances and Felix, her husband Albert, and their dog Phil Collins (the drummer, not the artist).