Anne Chafe, CEO of The Rooms, plans to retire this May after nearly two decades in leadership roles at the museum and art gallery.

She assumed the role of interim CEO in July 2019 and secured the permanent position in June 2020, almost a year after the provincial government removed former CEO Dean Brinton without providing details.

Key Achievements During Her Tenure

Chafe spearheaded the development of three permanent museum exhibitions:

• Here We Made a Home in the Elinor Gill Ratcliffe Gallery;
• From This Place: Our Lives on Land and Sea in the Cenovus Energy Gallery;
• Beaumont-Hamel and the Trail of the Caribou: Newfoundlanders and Labradorians Overseas and at Home, 1918–1949 in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery.

Tourism Minister Andrea Barbour praised Chafe as a “thoughtful steward of one of the province’s most important public institutions.” Barbour highlighted Chafe’s guidance of The Rooms through significant transitions.

Margaret Allan, chair of The Rooms board of directors, emphasized Chafe’s enduring impact. “Her contributions to the organization are immeasurable,” Allan stated.

The tourism department will collaborate with The Rooms board and the Independent Appointments Commission to select a new CEO.