Staff overhaul is common when a new editor-in-chief comes on board at an established title and that’s exactly what’s happened at Transcontinental Media’s Western Living

Western Living editor Charlene Rooke, who took the position in January, finished building her editorial team with the hiring of a new art department.

Since the arrival of former Avenue (Calgary) and enRoute editor Charlene Rooke in late January, managing editor Felicity Stone, art director Doris Cheung and assistant art director Marilee Breutikreutz have departed. It’s taken almost a year, but with the recent hiring of a new art department, Rooke’s Western Living team is now fully in place.

Dwayne Dobson of Combine Design will art direct the magazine from his company’s office in Calgary. His team of designers will handle the magazine’s feature well while newly hired assistant art director, Melissa Coburn, will handle the front and back sections. Rooke and Dobson previously worked together in 2001, when they redesigned Avenue. Cobourn comes to Western Living’s Vancouver office from Fuel Advertising in Toronto, where she was working on the Bay’s Living Spree and Belle magazines.

The new art department completes a rebuilding process that began with the hiring of Rooke in February. She replaced longtime boss Jim Sutherland, who decided to go freelance after a 20-year editorial career. In September, associate editor Anicka Quin was bumped up to managing editor, while corporate lawyer and freelancer Neal McLennan was hired to edit the front of book. Former Nuvo designer Michael Sinanan also came on that month as a temporary consulting art director. His contract ended in December.

Western Living was the 41st largest magazine in Canada in 2006, with estimated annual revenues totaling $5.6 million.