Vancouver’s oldest cultural institution will soon have a new chief executive officer. On May 1, Ryan Hunt moves in to the top job at the Museum of Vancouver. He will become the permanent successor to Mauro Vescera, who retired as CEO at the end of 2024.
“I’m eager to connect with the Museum’s partners and meet new ones,” Hunt said in a news release earlier this month. “I look forward to supporting impactful collaborations with neighbouring arts and culture organizations to benefit our community.”
Since 2019, Hunt has been executive director of the BC Museums Association. In 2023, Charity Village named the association as the best not-for-profit employer for workplace mental health for organizations with 20 or fewer employees.
“I am thrilled to have Ryan Hunt as our incoming CEO,” Museum of Vancouver board chair Bruce Granville Miller said in the news release. “He has a deep knowledge of the museum sector from his time as executive director of the BC Museums Association. Ryan is noted for his energetic and collaborative approach to management and has valuable experience with all levels of government and First Nations.”
The BC Museums Association announced on April 14 that it is seeking a new executive director, with an anticipated start date of July to August 2025.
Prior to working with the BC Museums Association, Hunt was communications and membership engagement coordinator for the Local Government Management Association of B.C. He was also a marketing and digital strategy specialist and, before that, education coordinator for London Heritage Council in Ontario.
Hunt studied history and medieval studies
Hunt has a master of arts degree in medieval studies from the University of York in the U.K., as well as a master’s degree in public/applied history from Ontario’s Western University. He also has a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Victoria.
The museum’s director of collections and exhibitions and curator of contemporary culture, Viviane Gosselin, served as acting CEO after Vescera’s retirement.
Back in 1894, the Museum of Vancouver began as the Art Historical and Scientific Association. The website states that the first recorded contributed item was a stuffed trumpeter swan. It rented premises for exhibitions in its first two years.
In 1903, the association turned over its collection to the City of Vancouver. Two years later, what was then called the City Museum moved into the Carnegie Library at the corner of Main and Hastings streets.
It wasn’t until 1968 that the City Museum occupied its current building in Vanier Park. The same year, it was renamed Centennial Museum before subsequently being renamed the Vancouver Museum in 1981. It wasn’t until 2009 that it became known as the Museum of Vancouver.
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