Principal Appraiser, PhD, ISA M

Elizabeth is the founder and principal of Focal Point. With over 15 years of experience in the arts sector, Elizabeth’s specialization in the art and photography market comes out of her passion for the field and her extensive practical and research experience.

Elizabeth is a Member of the International Society of Appraisers (ISA) and has been highly trained in the methodology, principles, ethics, and best practices of personal property appraisal. She has been trained and tested in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) as established by The Appraisal Foundation.

Elizabeth brings her extensive academic background and rigorous research methodology to her appraisal practice.  After receiving her PhD in 2016, Elizabeth has held academic faculty appointments at Queen’s University, University of Lethbridge, and OCAD University. Elizabeth has held a competitive SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship and a prestigious Jarislowsky Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue her research on Canadian art and photography. In 2012 she was awarded a Lisette Model/Joseph G. Blum Fellowship in the History of Photography to pursue her research at the National Gallery of Canada. In 2015 her dissertation project was awarded the Michel de la Chenelière Prize by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Elizabeth has held board positions on the University Art Association of Canada and on not-for-profit organizations such as YYZ Artists Outlet.

Elizabeth’s appraisal and collection development practice specializes in works from the 19th-century to the present and across media including new and digital media. She is particularly interested in photography and advancing the photographic art market in Canada, both of Canadian photography and of photographic acquisitions by Canadian collectors, and driving awareness of photographic markets in Canada.