Jean Giguère

2014 Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts

Jean Giguère stands out for her passionate commitment to the arts, her expertise in board governance, her forthright approach, and her success in building partnerships at the provincial and national level. A firm believer in the power of the arts to uplift the spirit of the community, she has compiled a three-decade record of volunteer involvement with the arts, notably with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) and the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (MTC). She is actively involved with Culture Days, Canada’s annual national cultural celebration, and serves on the boards of Business for the Arts and the Canadian Museum of History.

Ms. Giguère joined the RWB board in 1997, at a challenging time in its history. Under her leadership the board developed and adopted an exemplary governance model that stabilized the organization. She served five years as Board Chair, chaired the Development Steering Committee, and sat on the Strategic Organizational Review and Board Governance committees. She was appointed Chair Emeritus in 2011.

At MTC she served as Vice-President (Community Support), Special Events Chair, and as a member of the Executive Committee. She currently sits on MTC’s Advisory Board. She spearheaded the first “Lawyers Play,” an annual fundraiser in which members of the Manitoba Bar Association perform in an MTC production, raising almost a million dollars to date.

Ms. Giguère helped establish Culture Days, a project committed to making culture a daily habit for all Canadians. A member of the National Executive, she also co-chairs Culture Days Manitoba and will chair the 2014 National Culture Days Congress.

She served for five years on the Canadian Arts Summit Steering Committee and chaired the 2009 Summit. She is a director of Business for the Arts, a national organization that builds partnerships between the arts and the business community, and in January 2014 she was appointed to the board of the Canadian Museum of History.

“I encourage everybody to embrace the opportunity to volunteer in the arts,” says Ms. Giguère. “Your commitment is rewarding both to the arts and to yourself.”

Jean Giguère is the recipient of the Winnipeg Arts Council’s inaugural Arts Volunteer of the Year award and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her outstanding contribution to artistic life in Canada.