Born in Bucharest, Romania, Mira Godard studied Art History at the Ecole du Louvre and Physics and Math at the Sorbonne University. She continued her studies in Canada, acquiring a B.Sc. from Concordia University in 1954 and an M.B.A. from McGill University in 1960. In 1959 she purchased the Agnes Lefort Gallery, which at the time, was the gallery of standing for avant-garde artists, such as Paul-Emile Borduas. In 1962 she opened the Mira Godard Gallery and paved the way for Yorkville to be the hub for Canada’s most respected commercial art galleries. She yet again opened a gallery in Calgary in the late 1980s, which played an important role in bringing contemporary art to the West.

Among her many pioneering contributions was the creation of the Art Dealers Association of Canada. A founding member of PADAC, she was the Association’s first President in 1967. In 2010 she finally agreed to accept the Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, having refused to accept it before, feeling her life’s work was not done. Sadly, Mira Godard passed away in September 2010 before the Annual General Meeting and so Gisella Giacalone accepted the award on her behalf. We honour her memory and contribution, which is incalculable in the development of Canada’s contemporary art market.