The president and CEO of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), Anne-Marie Jean, will leave her position on August 30, after leading the organization for nine years.
Her departure coincides with a notable movement on the board of directors. Sophie Prégent, actress and former president of the Union des artistes, becomes its president, succeeding Sylvain Lafrance, whose term ended in June 2023. In addition, four new directors are arriving: lawyer Alexandre Forest; podcast producer Zoé Gagnon-Paquin; Xavier Roy, who will leave the general management of the Festival de musique de Lanaudière in a few days; and Anne-Marie Trudel, former director of the Salon du livre de l’Outaouais, now a consultant in development and strategic support.
What do these changes portend?me Jean declined the interview request of the Dutyboth on the results of his mandate and on the challenges ahead for CALQ.
Mme Jean will become the delegate for Francophone and Multilateral Affairs at the General Delegation of Quebec in Paris. The press release announcing her transfer by the Council of Ministers, released on July 19, presents the outgoing CEO as “the instigator of many achievements at the Council, including the establishment of the Action Plan on the Dissemination of the Performing Arts.”
This 2023-2028 action plan, which indicates the directions by which the CALQ has chosen to support broadcasters, was built on reflections, projects and consultations carried out before the pandemic. It presents as directions for the coming years to stimulate consultation and partnerships, to promote the upgrading and development of skills, to create conditions conducive to accessibility and attendance and to ensure a diversified and inclusive cultural offer throughout the territory.
Mme Jean, continues the official announcement of the CALQ, also oversaw the creation of the program Recognizespecifically aimed at artists, the arts and indigenous organizations. She also expanded the CALQ’s network of studio-residences internationally.
The presidency of Mme Jean, continues the CALQ, will also have been marked by an ardent desire to make eco-responsibility a cross-cutting orientation in the CALQ funding programs.
A pivotal moment
Anne-Marie Jean’s departure comes at a pivotal moment. Announced with short notice, it comes at a time when the artistic world considers itself to be in crisis, and has been calling since the last Quebec budget for an indexation of the amounts allocated to the CALQ.
The CALQ announced this important change just after the Mission Support grants were awarded. These four-year grants ensure the basic financial operations of the organizations and had not been reviewed since 2017, before the pandemic.
The first reactions from the Quebec artistic community are that the sums granted through this channel are insufficient, in a period where the support that the government grants to the CALQ is considered lacking.
Until now, Anne-Marie Jean has spent most of her career in the arts. Director of development at the Juste pour rire festival in the 1990s, producer at Télé-Vision 84 and Zone 3, she then spent a decade running Culture Montréal. Appointed to the CALQ in 2015, she replaced Stéphane La Roche.