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Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #37, Joshua Basseches

By Toronto Life

| November 28, 2016

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Joshua Basseches

Director, ROM

37It’s Basseches’ job to re-establish the ROM as a leading cultural hub in Toronto. After accepting the top job at the end of 2015, he revived the Welcome Project, a radical makeover for the ROM, with a ground-floor café, repurposed lobby and re-opened east entrance. Basseches has suggested that he’ll de-emphasize traditional exhibitions and instead foster experiences that guests can curate themselves. The renovations will be pricy, but Basseches helped raise more than $600 million during a capital campaign at the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts, so he knows how to whip up support.

Up next:

He’s creating an outdoor performance space, commissioning public art installations and debuting two exhibits—Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion and Philip Beesley: Intimate Veils.

Joshua Basseches

Director, ROM

Up next:

Toronto's Most Influential People of 2016

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #1, Justin Trudeau

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #2, Drake

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #3, John Tory

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #4, Kathleen Wynne

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #5, Gerald Butts

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #6, Bill Morneau

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #7, George Cope

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Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #10, Masai Ujiri

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #11, Ratna Omidvar

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Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #14, Cameron Bailey and Piers Handling

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #15, Marie Henein

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #16, Larry Tanenbaum

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #17, Deb Matthews

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #18, The Weeknd

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #19, Josh Donaldson

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #20, Doug Murphy

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #21, Charles Khabouth

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Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #25, Patrick Brown

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Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #27, John Zerucelli

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #28, Ted Livingston

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #29, Tatiana Maslany

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #30, Ian Black

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #31, Sandy Hudson and Janaya Khan

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #32, Rachel McAdams

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #33, Heather Reisman

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #34, Cory Joseph, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #35, Karen Kain

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #36, Stephan Jost

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #38, Michael Katchen

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #39, Kristin Cochrane

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #40, John Ruffolo

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #41, Mitzie Hunter

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Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #44, Maureen Taylor

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Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #46, Mohamad Fakih

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #47, Matt Galloway

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #48, Penny Oleksiak

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #49, Carolyn Bennett

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #50, Michael Ford

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