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The Confederation Centre Art Gallery has a new director.
Pan Wendt will lead the Prince Edward Island gallery’s artistic and strategic direction. It’s a familiar space for Wendt, who was the gallery’s curator for the last 15 years.
“The gallery is incredibly important to me,” Wendt told CBC’s Island Morning.
“I love this place and I love the community here, and so I just feel responsible to be involved. So it makes sense to try this out.”
In his time as curator, Wendt organized more than 100 exhibitions, including Erica Rutherford: Her Lives and Works. That exhibition is now on tour across Canada until the end of 2027, and earned Wendt and his team the Premier’s Award for stand-out project of the year at the 2025 P.E.I. Arts Awards.
Wendt curated the award-winning exhibit Erica Rutherford: Her Lives and Works, which is currently on tour across Canada. (Ken Linton/CBC)
As director, Wendt will now oversee exhibitions, collections, publications and public programming. He will also be responsible for advancing the gallery’s mandate to reflect diverse voices and perspectives from P.E.I. and beyond.
“The curator is more or less the creative director. So now I obviously have to face thinking about money, administration, staffing, the kinds of, you know, in a way less fun aspects of the job,” he said.
Though the role is less creative, Wendt said he’s looking forward to tackling the challenges of a stewardship position at the gallery.
“I think people are craving real places, real experiences. Everybody’s looking at their screen all the time. And we also feel the need for a break,” he said.
“So we’re certainly interested in adding more kinds of programming, hands-on experiences in the gallery.”
Wendt, who was born in Halifax but raised on P.E.I., is taking over from Kevin Rice, who announced his retirement last fall after nearly four decades at the centre.
Impact of Confederation Centre renovations
The change in leadership at the art gallery is just one of many changes happening at the Confederation Centre these days. A $65-million renovation is underway, and includes an arts academy, which CEO Steve Bellamy previously told CBC News represents an expansion of the centre’s learning programs.
WATCH | What to expect from the Confederation Centre expansion:
Confederation Centre renovation set to be completed next fall. Here’s what to expect from the expansion
The $65 million renovation of P.E.I.’s Confederation Centre of the Arts is on budget and should be complete by fall 2026. With the expansion will come new programming. CBC’s Tony Davis found out more.
Wendt said the work may also include a renovation of the art gallery’s entrance on Grafton Street.
“[That] would really be a game-changer for us because it would mean a street entrance that’s a kind of walking traffic we haven’t had access to historically,” he said.
Memberships a future possibility
In 2024, the Confederation Centre Art Gallery began charging admission during the summer months to help offset costs.
Wendt said the idea is to charge during the peak tourism season, but not during the winter when the gallery is used mostly by locals.
“The gallery has limited possibilities for generating revenue,” he said. “So we’re looking at different ways of thinking about how could we make it really accessible to locals for repeat visits, and then continue to be able to charge visitors.”
Wendt said discussions about the possibility of memberships are ongoing.
He said in his experience, there is an interesting psychological effect when people pay admission to a gallery: they tend to stay a little longer.
“They give a little more time. And art does ask for that in some way. It’s a real-life experience in a place that, you know, draws you into a little bit of reflection.”