Board Biographies

Suzette Couture is an award-winning screenwriter/producer with decades of ratings success, most recently with Netflix (top film in multiple countries for nine weeks). She won the Golden Reel Award for highest-grossing Canadian movie, was awarded the HUMANITAS Prize for her CBS miniseries HAVEN, won four Gemini Awards for best television screenplay, including a Gemini for DOOMSTOWN, the television movie she produced with partner Pierre Sarrazin. Her CBS miniseries JESUS was nominated for an Emmy Award. Couture won the WGC Best Screenplay Award for AFTER THA HARVEST, a television movie starring Sam Shepard, directed by Jeremy Podeswa. She is Chair of the English language Board of Directors of Bell Media’s Harold Greenberg Fund and sits on the board of the Canadian Film Centre and is the Chair of the Board, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of BlockFilm, a new content financing platform where she is also Chief Creative Officer for Canada and the U.S. She has had a long-standing passion for design and the decorative arts and how these enhance the visual excitement and authenticity of film and television productions.

Susan Golets - has spent more than 30 years working in the not-for-profit and public sector. She is an experienced leader with the Ontario provincial government, and  has worked in a variety of ministries. Over the years she has lead transformational change initiatives in complex policy and political environments by: conceptualizing strategic policy frameworks, designing integrated programs, building partnerships and effective relationships with stakeholders, and developing high performing teams to deliver timely results.

She is currently the Director, Sport Recreation and Community Programs Policy Branch for the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Susan has a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Toronto and most recently, for six years, served on the board of the Fred Victor Centre, where she also chaired the Service Quality Committee. Susan and Nestor love to travel in Canada and abroad, and they are avid collectors of whatever moves them.

Gilles Latour, President & Treasurer - contributed to the growth of the Canadian education sector for over 15 years as Chief Operating Officer of the EdCan Network - Canadian Education Association. As COO Gilles’s role included the management of budgets, oversight of all areas of membership, events management, sponsorship and patron development, circulation and publishing. Gilles served as volunteer Past President of the Canadian Society of Association Executives - Trillium  – a non-profit professional association providing knowledge and resources to the association sector. Gilles has extensive volunteer experience with arts-related organizations, serving as Past President of Craft Ontario (formerly the Ontario Crafts Council), Past President of the Canadian Crafts Federation (CCF/FCMA) and Board member of Visual Arts Ontario (VAO). Gilles currently serves on a number of committees in the professional and arts volunteer sectors.

Charlotte Mickie – Charlotte is an avid collector of contemporary art and has served in the past as a Director of the Board for the Powerplant and Advisory Board Member of C Magazine. 

On a professional level, Charlotte is the Vice-President of international  arthouse film sales company Celluloid Dreams, based in Paris.  She has most recently handled IMAGINE (Critics’ Week, Cannes Film Festival, 2022), HIT THE ROAD (Cannes, Directors’ Fortnight, 2021), BABYTEETH (Venice Biennale Competition 2019, winner of the Marcello Mastroianni prize), and Oscar short-listed THE PAINTED BIRD (Venice Biennale Competition 2019).  Through her career Charlotte has represented movies by directors such as Jacques Audiard, Francois Ozon, Atom Egoyan, Todd Haynes, Michael Moore, Benh Zeitlin, Todd Solondz, and Hirokazu Koreeda. Charlotte is a returning Expert for ACE (Ateliers du cinema Européen) and a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 

Dr. Michael J. Prokopow is is an historian and curator. His areas of expertise include material culture, design and architecture, cultural theory, and curatorial practice. He has published widely on aesthetics, craft and modernism. In 2020 he completed a book on the British painter Hurvin Anderson.  In 2016, he co-curated with Dr. Rachel Gotlieb the critically acclaimed traveling exhibition “True Nordic: How Scandinavia influenced design in Canada.” He is currently completing a survey of contemporary residential architecture in British Columbia to be published by Figure 1 Press.

Michael serves on a number of non-profit boards, including the Arthur Erickson Foundation, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale and the editorial board of Studio: Craft and Design in Canada. Previously, he served on the boards of C Magazine, Architectural Conservatory of Ontario and Craft Ontario. He is a faculty member at OCAD University. 

Stephanie Rebick is a curator, editor and writer based in the unceded territories of the xʷmə kʷəyəm (Musqueam), S wxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwəta (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She is currently Director of Publishing and Content Strategy at the Vancouver Art Gallery. She also frequently collaborates with Information Office, a Vancouver-based art book publisher and design practice. Stephanie has curated and co-curated numerous exhibitions including Fashion Fictions (forthcoming); Where do we go from here?; Modern in the Making: Post-War Craft and Design in British Columbia; Robert Rauschenberg 1965–1980; Out of Sight; Guo Pei: Couture Beyond; Cabin Fever; MashUp: The Birth of Modern Culture; and Grand Hotel: Redesigning Modern Life. She has contributed to a number of publications including KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art; Visceral Bodies; Unreal; Grand Hotel; and MashUp. Most recently she has edited volumes on the work of Jan Wade and Omer Arbel. Her curatorial interests include visual culture, new media and the intersection of craft, design and contemporary art.

Julie Riches, Secretary - is Principal of Riches Appraisals & Consult. She has worked within the decorative arts and fine art sector for over a decade. Julie provides USPAP compliant personal property appraisals throughout Canada and the United States. Areas of expertise include ceramics, silver, glass, furniture, textiles, coins, and militaria. Julie is Chair of the Antiques, Furnishings & Decorative Arts Committee (AF+DA) for the International Society of Appraisers (ISA) and is an Accredited Member of the same organization.

Following in the footsteps of her family matriarch, Julie developed an appreciation of antiques at a young age. She is an avid collector whose passions have led her to become steeped in the arts, working to create and provide opportunities to give back to the larger community while utilizing a network of artists, collectors, and like-minded professionals. Additional volunteerism with non-profits and not-for-profits has focused on the development of new member strategies, membership retention, and the implementation of innovative learning platforms.

Janice P. Warren, Vice President - is a lawyer whose practice focusses on business immigration, primarily representing Canadians wishing to relocate to the United States. She is an ardent collector of art glass, keenly encouraging young makers in Ontario. She was on the Board of Craft Ontario for 10 years as well as chairing its event/fundraising committee. Until recently Janice volunteered in the same capacity with Dress for Success. She was a regularly published restaurant reviewer/critic. 

Henry Wiercinski, Chair - was a partner in a national law firm practicing in business law. Since retirement he consults on legal matters. Henry has interests in transportation, urban development and the arts. He is vice-chair of the Annex Residents’ Association, vice-chair of Rail Safety First, a coalition that advocates for safe, transparent and accountable rail, and a director of pointA, a not for profit transportation demand company.

Erin Wiley - is currently working as decorative art assistant at A.H. Wilkens. Her past experience includes working in operations and interning in marketing at the Gardiner Museum, which cemented her passion for ceramics and the decorative arts. Erin earned her BA in Art History from Queen's University and completed a graduate certificate in Culture and Heritage Site Management from Centennial College. She volunteered with the Sarnia Historical Society and the Union Gallery in Kingston, Ontario. In joining CSDA/CCAD and the Young Professionals & Creatives Committee, Erin hopes to bring together young people from all over the country into conversation about what the decorative arts mean in Canada today.

Anthony Wu - is an Asian Art consultant and researcher with a specialisation in Chinese decorative and fine art for various auction houses and clients in Canada and the USA. Recently, he has been in charge of setting up Asian Art auctions at Heffel’s. Anthony has a B.A. and M.A. in Art History from the University of Toronto. He is a Certified Member with the Appraisers Association of America and is USPAP compliant through January 2023. He is also a consultant and official Asian Art blogger for the New York-based auction platform Bidsquare.com, a regular contributor to Orientations magazine in Hong Kong, and on the board of directors with the Canadian Association of Personal Property Appraisers. His goal is to provide excellent customer service based on the requirements of his clients, whether it is identifying, selling, or acquiring Asian Art pieces.