The RIC
The Ryerson Image Centre (RIC) exists for the research, teaching and exhibition of photography and related media. Admission to the gallery is free.
Attica USA 1971: Images and Sounds of a Rebellion (installation view), Ryerson Image Centre, 2017 © Clifton Li, Ryerson Image Centre
About the RIC
Ryerson Image Centre, 2018 © Riley Snelling, Ryerson Image Centre
As an active partner within the academic fabric of Ryerson University, the cultural network of Toronto, and the national and international photography community, we develop programs that speak to and welcome interested parties from many walks of life, including students, faculty, artists, historians, and curators, as well as the general public.
The RIC boasts three interrelated areas of activity: an exhibition program, which addresses topics of social, cultural, aesthetic, and historical concern from a variety of contemporary perspectives; its research program, which conducts and facilitates inquiry into primary resource materials and offers lectures, symposia, and publications devoted to the history of photography; and, accessible in its Peter Higdon Research Centre, a collection of photography spanning the medium's history—including the renowned Black Star Collection of twentieth-century photo-reportage. The RIC is also home to several artists' archives, including those of Berenice Abbott, Wendy Snyder MacNeil, Jo Spence, and Werner Wolff.
Our museum-standard facility consists of approximately 4,500 square feet of exhibition space; a Great Hall for lectures, conferences, screenings and receptions; a glassed-in entrance colonnade with a 16 foot new media wall visible from the street; a temperature and moisture controlled vault for our growing collection; and a state of the art, professionally-staffed research centre.
Dana Claxton, Cultural Belongings, 2015, LED firebox with transmounted lightjet duratrans. Courtesy of the artist. Collection of Eira Thomas
Ryerson Image Centre announces fall exhibitions, outdoor art, and public programs
Sep. 8, 2021
Today, Ryerson Image Centre announces a dynamic fall season of exhibitions, outdoor art, and online programs. The upcoming RIC exhibitions, presented in conjunction with the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, feature works by artists Dana Claxton, Susan Dobson, Emmanuelle Léonard, and Rana Nazzal Hamadeh, and are scheduled to open September 15, 2021. Public art installations to be shown outside the gallery on Ryerson University campus.
Staff + Advisory Board
Gallery Staff
For general inquires, please email: ric@ryerson.ca
For media inquiries, please email Feven Tesfamariam: ftesfamariam@ryerson.ca
Paul Roth
Director
Natalie Spagnol
Manager, Administration and Operations
Kristen Gergely
Administration, Finance and Special Events Coordinator
Gaëlle Morel
Exhibitions Curator
Valérie Matteau
Senior Exhibitions Officer
Kristen Dobbin (parental leave)
Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations Officer
Feven Tesfamariam
Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations Officer
Eric Glavin
Art Installer and Facility Technician
Jorge Ayala
New Media Programmer
Simone Estrin
Coordinator, Public Programs and Visitor Services
Sara Angelucci
Student Gallery Curatorial Coordinator
soJin Chun
Outreach Programmer, Youth in Focus
Research Centre &
Collections Staff
For information on access to the collection, please email: riccollections@ryerson.ca
Denise Birkhofer
Collections Curator and Research Centre Manager
Thierry Gervais
Head of Research
Chantal Wilson
Registrar and Collections Officer
Jennifer Park
Art Preparator
Anna Jedrzejowski
Collection Cataloguer and Reference Specialist
Charlene Heath
Archivist and Research Coordinator
Laura Margaret Ramsey
Digital Asset and Imaging Specialist
Locrin Stewart
Registration Assistant
D'Arcy White
Project Assistant, Processing and Registration
Alexandra Gooding
Research Program Coordinator
Advisory Board
Florence Minz, Chair
Economist and management consultant; current board member and former Chair, Royal Conservatory of Music, former Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum of Nature; former Chair, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care and Voices for Children; former member of the Governing Council, University of Toronto; former Director, St. Michael’s Hospital and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Edward Burtynsky
Ryerson University alumnus and one of Canada's most respected photographers; Burtynsky’s photographic depictions of global industrial landscapes are in the collections of more than fifty major museums around the world.
Atom Egoyan
One of the most celebrated contemporary filmmakers on the international scene; winner of the Grand Prix and International Critics Awards from the Cannes Film Festival; recipient of several Academy Award nominations.
John Honderich
Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario; former Publisher of the Toronto Star; Chair of Torstar's Board of Directors.
Shabin Mohamed
Chartered Accountant; Trustee of the Board of the AGO; Board Member of the Institute of Contemporary Culture at the ROM.
Howard A. Tanenbaum
Former Chair of the Ryerson Image Centre Advisory Board; lawyer; financier; real estate developer; art collector; co-founder (with his wife, Carole Tanenbaum) of The Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Family Charitable Foundation.
Opportunities
Careers
Complete listings for employment opportunities at the Ryerson Image Centre are shared through Ryerson University's Human Resources department. Please visit www.ryerson.ca/jobs, or call (416) 979-5075 for more information. Student internship and work study positions also become available seasonally and may be posted on this page. To stay up to date, sign up for our e-newsletter via the website footer.
Volunteer opportunities
DUE TO OPERATIONAL CHANGES CAUSED BY COVID-19, THE RIC IS NOT ACCEPTING NEW VOLUNTEERS AT THIS TIME.
At the RIC we rely on a diverse group of volunteers to help support our exhibitions, special events and public programmes. As a volunteer, you can gain valuable experience in a professional gallery setting. In exchange, we would be happy to provide a reference letter, or sign-off on your volunteer hours.
What can you expect as a RIC Volunteer? Some of your duties include:
- Interacting with visitors to offer information or answer questions about the RIC and our current programming
- Assisting with events, including set-up and take-down
- Supporting our front of house and docent team during exhibition tours, opening parties and school group visits
We ask for a minimum 4-month commitment, which includes on-site training. Volunteer shifts can range from 3-4 hours in length and take place on days, evenings and weekends.
Volunteer recruitment is held annually late August / early September, but we encourage you to get in touch via email and introduce yourself when regular operations commence. Please direct all inquiries to ric@ryerson.ca