Norman Armour Stepping Down as Artistic and Executive Director

March 20, 2018

After 14 years of visionary leadership and tireless dedication at the helm of one of Canada’s leading international performing arts festivals, Norman Armour is stepping down as our Artistic and Executive Director, effective April 27, 2018.

Norman co-founded our festival with Katrina Dunn back in 2003, when they saw a need in our city for a festival that forged relationships with an international community of cutting-edge creators and introduced Vancouverites to the innovative, boundary-pushing art emerging on the globe’s boldest stages.

Over the past decade and a half, Norman brought his zeal to connect audiences to artists, to connect the local to the global, and to be a leader in providing a much-needed platform for contemporary performance. Under his stewardship, the PuSh Festival evolved from a modest start-up to become not only an indispensable part of Vancouver’s cultural calendar but an entity synonymous with creative risk and innovation, collaboration and partnerships, cultural relevance and leading best practices.

Norman leaves PuSh to begin consulting with the Australia Council for the Arts (a country whose work has left indelible marks on PuSh audiences). Based out of Vancouver, he will lead the development and implementation of the Australia Council’s international strategy in North America (Canada and the USA) in May. This is an exciting new opportunity for Norman to apply his knowledge, networks and skills.

With programming largely completed for the 15th anniversary festival in 2019, next year’s celebrations will mark the final iteration guided by Norman’s curatorial hand.

While the board of directors undertakes a search process for a new leader, PuSh will be led on an interim basis by Interim Executive Director Roxanne Duncan and Interim Artistic Director Joyce Rosario. The board is preparing a formal search and will announce when submissions for the leadership role will be accepted.

The PuSh Festival wishes to thank and congratulate Norman for years of vision, leadership, and creative energy; his work at PuSh Festival has very literally transformed the artistic ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest.

A celebration is in the works to honour Armour’s tenure at the PuSh Festival and his incredible cultural contributions. Details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Should you have any additional questions or comments, the PuSh team has set up a dedicated address to receive them: questions@pushfestival.ca.