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John Mahli Lawa’ Hampton has been named the new director and CEO of the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq.
Hampton, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, was most recently the executive director and CEO of the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, and prior to that, the executive director of the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba in Brandon.
They officially start their new position in Winnipeg on Dec. 10.
“I like to cross-country ski, [and] I think you got better trails that we do here,” Hampton quipped in a phone interview from Regina with CBC Radio’s Up to Speed on Thursday.
“I’m just excited to get back to the people that I know there, but also to meet a lot of new people.”
Hampton takes over at Manitoba’s largest art gallery from Stephen Borys, who was its director and CEO for 17 years and oversaw the addition of Qaumajuq, the WAG’s Inuit art centre, in 2020. Borys stepped down in July 2025 to start a consulting firm.
Bill Elliott, the deputy director and chief financial officer of WAG-Qaumajuq, has served as interim director and CEO since.
Hampton has co-chaired the last two Canada Arts Summits and is the author of the article Decolonizing Museum Management: Toward a Human Institution, published in the Manual of Museum Management.
WAG-Qaumajuq board of governors chair Aynsley Cockshott said Hampton, who grew up in Regina, is not only “very grounded in a Prairie experience,” but also has a wide relationship circle across Canada.
“Having had the experience of leading a fantastic institution like the MacKenzie, they are coming into the WAG with … the practical abilities and skills to run a complex institution,” Cockshott told Up to Speed.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq in the city’s downtown is shown in a 2021 photo. (Lindsay Reid)
Hampton “also really enunciated an incredible artistic vision that we found some compelling,” she said.
The first year on the job will be about building relationships and establishing strong ties with the local community, Hampton said.
“Part of that [is] that they feel welcomed into the direction of the gallery, that the gallery is reflective of Winnipeg and the territory here,” they said.
“By leaning into that unique and authentic voice … we can build and amplify our voice on the national stage.”
WAG-Qaumajuq said in a news release Hampton’s hiring will help advance the gallery’s strategic vision, strenghten relationships and support its long-term sustainability.