Penticton Art Gallery leaves turbulent 2025 behind with new executive director

New head at art gallery

Photo: Penticton Art Gallery

Jim Minshull is the new executive director of the Penticton Art Gallery

After a turbulent 2025, the Penticton Art Gallery has named a new executive director.

In a news release Jan. 2, the gallery stated Jim Minshull will fill the role, having been chosen by the president of the board and two independent community members.

Minshull steps into the shoes left by longtime curator and executive director Paul Crawford, who was informed in August that he would be placed on “temporary leave” with a “recall date of November 17, 2025,” according to a press release at the time.

Crawford was vocal about his feelings regarding what he terms in an ongoing civil lawsuit a “constructive dismissal,” alleging “significant bullying, harassment, and an overall toxic, dysfunctional, and exclusionary workplace environment.”

In the months following Crawford’s departure, as well as the layoff of the longtime gift shop manager, staff and board members began to resign.

A heated public meeting in October saw the board claiming financial dire straits for the gallery, and a room full of unhappy gallery members.

Two more board members resigned following that meeting.

Now, Minshull is taking the helm.

“Jim Minshull is well known in the Penticton community both as a Business Manager in the construction industry and as a performer in local theatre,” reads the gallery’s Friday press release.

“Respected for his work on both small community projects like the renovation of the Tempest theatre to multi-million-dollar projects for Wildstone and other construction firms throughout BC, Jim’s extensive project management, financial reporting and business relationship skills make him ideally suited to help establish a firm foundation on which the gallery can grow.”

The press release goes on to state that in his first six months, Minshull will “focus on financial sustainability, community engagement, facility maintenance, and program development to include guest curators and contract art educators.”