Mireille Eagan (born 1982) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

arts writer and

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

Career

Mireille Eagan was born in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, in 1982 and grew up in

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, and in

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. She is a graduate of

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccal ...

(Bachelor of Arts in Art History) and

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

(Master of Arts in Art History). She was Curator at the

Confederation Centre Art Gallery The Confederation Centre Art Gallery (CCAG; ) is an art museum that forms a part of the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The art museum pavilion forms the northeast portion of the Confederation Centre ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

from 2008 to 2010. She is currently Curator of Contemporary Art at

The Rooms The Rooms is a cultural facility in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The facility opened on June 29, 2005 and houses the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Provin ...

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ame ...

. She was Curator of Canadian Art from 2011 to 2013. Eagan has written for several catalogues, magazines, and newspapers such as Canadian Art ''

ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...

magazine'', and others. In 2017, Eagan was awarded the Gold Medal for Excellence in Digital Publishing for her article on

Christopher Pratt John Christopher Pratt (December 9, 1935 – June 5, 2022) was one of Canada's most prominent painters and printmakers.

. In 2017, she also received the Critical Eye Award from EVA CARFAC. In 2013, she was the Atlantic juror for the

Sobey Art Award The Sobey Art Award is Canada's largest prize for young Canadian artists. It is named after Canadian businessperson and art collector Frank H. Sobey, who established The Sobey Art Foundation. It is an annual prize given to an artist 40 and under w ...

and the RBC Painting Competition in 2017. In 2019, Eagan successfully co-nominated Marlene Creates as the first artist from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to receive the

Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts The Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts are annual awards for achievements in visual and media arts in Canada. Up to eight awards are presented annually, each with a prize amount of $25,000. Created in 2000 by then Governor General ...

Curatorial work

Mireille Eagan has curated exhibitions with institutions across Canada, as well as internationally. In 2010, she curated ''inbetween'' at the

which travelled to the Doris McCarthy Gallery, Scarborough. In 2013, she co-curated an official collateral project with the 55th

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

alongside curator Bruce Johnson. Titled ''About Turn: Newfoundland in Venice'', the exhibition was organized by the Terra Nova Art Foundation, and featured the work of Peter Wilkins and Will Gill. It was on display at Galleria Ca'Rezzonico until November 24, 2013. Of particular note was the solo exhibition titled Mary Pratt, which toured throughout Canada from 2013 to 2015. It was a collaboration between The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery and the

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) is a public provincial museums of Canada, provincial art museum based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The art museum's primary building complex is located in downtown Halifax and takes up ...

, and was co-curated with Sarah Fillmore and Caroline Stone. Venues included the

Art Gallery of Windsor Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

in Windsor, Ontario; the

McMichael Canadian Art Collection The McMichael Canadian Art Collection (MCAC) is an art museum in Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located on a property in Kleinburg, an unincorporated village in Vaughan. The property includes the museum's main building, a sculpture gar ...

in Kleinburg, Ontario; the

MacKenzie Art Gallery The MacKenzie Art Gallery (MAG; ) is an art museum located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The museum occupies the multipurpose T. C. Douglas Building, situated at the edge of the Wascana Centre. The building holds eight galleries totaling to of ...

in Regina, Saskatchewan; and the

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. The solo exhibition ''Mary Pratt: This Little Painting'' was shown at the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

from April 4, 2015, to January 4, 2016. A version of it toured to the

Owens Art Gallery Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccal ...

, on display from March 11 to May 22, 2016. The exhibition was co-organized by the National Gallery of Canada and The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery] and was curated with Jonathan Shaughnessy. An additional solo exhibition of note was ''

Christopher Pratt John Christopher Pratt (December 9, 1935 – June 5, 2022) was one of Canada's most prominent painters and printmakers.

: The Places I Go'', at The Rooms in 2015. The exhibition was a ten-year retrospective of work by the

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

painter, focusing on his travels through his home province. In 2018 and 2019, Eagan curated ''Future Possible'', a two-part exhibition series that explored the comprehensive art history of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Eagan is lead editor and author on the multi-author art historical publication ''Future Possible: An History of Newfoundland and Labrador'', published by The Rooms and Goose Lane Editions in 2021. Other notable group exhibitions include ''Migrant Art and Its Legacy in Newfoundland'' at The Rooms in 2015, ''The Free World'' at The Rooms in 2016, and ''Folklore and other Panics''. In 2016, Eagan co-curated an exhibition at The Rooms with Josée Drouin-Brisebois titled "enter the fog," which included Maya Beaudry, Julia Feyrer, Tamara Henderson, and Tiziana La Melia.

Performance

At the age of 11, Mireille Eagan went to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

to recorded the theme song for '' Katie and Orbie'', an animated television series aimed at preschoolers, originally broadcast in Canada in 1994 by the Family Channel.Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 464–465. ISBN 978-1476665993. The show later aired in the United States on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

from 1996 to 1997 and on

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

from 1997 to 2000. In Canada, the series aired on

Family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

and

Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Tele ...

until 2012. The theme song as well as the music was written and composed by her uncle Edmund Eagan who had also worked as a composer on several television series and films such as ''

Cyberchase ''Cyberchase'' is an animated series, animated science fantasy children's television series that airs on PBS Kids. The series centers around three children from Earth: Jackie, Matt and Inez, who are brought into Cyberspace, a digital universe, i ...

'', ''Hoze Houndz'', '' The Railway Dragon'', '' The Rick Mercer Report'', '' Monster Force'' and various ''

For Better or For Worse ''For Better or For Worse'' is a Canadian comic strip by Lynn Johnston that ran originally from 1979 to 2008 chronicling the lives of the Patterson family and their friends, in the town of Milborough, a fictional suburb of Toronto, Ontario. Now ...

'' specials as well as a synthesizer on early episodes of ''

The Raccoons ''The Raccoons'' is a Canadian animated television series that ran on CBC from November 11, 1985, to March 19, 1991, in Canada and on Disney Channel from July 4, 1985, to August 28, 1992, in the U.S., with three preceding television specials ...

''.

Honours and awards

* 2017: Gold Medal for Excellence in Digital Publishing for her article on Christopher Pratt. * 2017: Critical Eye Award from VANL-CARFAC. * 2022: APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award for ''Future Possible: An Art History of Newfoundland and Labrador'', which was written by Eagan and published by Goose Lane Editions in February 2021. * 2022: Melva J. Dwyer Award (Honourable Mention) for ''Future Possible: An Art History of Newfoundland and Labrador'' * 2022: Canadian Museums Association Award for Outstanding Research (Honourable Mention) for ''Future Possible: An Art History of Newfoundland and Labrador'' * 2022: Critical Eye Award from VANL-CARFAC

References

External links

Confederation Centre of the Arts

The Rooms {{DEFAULTSORT:Eagan, Mireille Canadian art critics Canadian women art critics Canadian art curators 1982 births Living people Canadian women curators Mount Allison University alumni Canadian women non-fiction writers Art museum people