Area(s) of Expertise
Curatorial Practice, Black Studies, Contemporary ArtOverview
Education
2011 PhD, University of Toronto, Ontario
Areas of focus: Culture, cultural policy formation, cultural production, nation making, citizenship and multiculturalisms
Thesis title: Where Outreach Meets Outrage: Racial Equity policy formation at the Canada Council for the Arts (1989-1999)
Supervisor: Dr. Rinaldo Walcott
2004 Diploma Interrogating the African Diaspora
African-New World Studies Florida International University, Miami
2001 MA, University of Toronto
Areas of Focus: Cultural Studies and Critical Pedagogy. Thesis: –Can Racism–: A Critical Inquiry into a Social Justice Education Project"
Thesis supervisor: Dr. Kari Dehli
1985 Honours Bachelor of Arts, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario
Professional Experience
2011-2014 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Art, Criticism and Curatorial Program Ontario College of Art and Design University Toronto, ON
2008-2011 Curator of Contemporary Art, The Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON
2006-2008 Sessional Instructor, Faculty of Art, Criticism and Curatorial Program Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto, ON
Sessional Instructor, Initial Teacher Education Program Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, ON
2004-2006 Coordinator, Other Canadians Database Project Centre for Media and Culture in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, ON
2001–2003 Coordinator, Ethno-cultural Audiovisual Database Project Centre for Media and Culture in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto 2001 - 2003 Projects Coordinator, Trent Centre for Community-Based Education Peterborough, ON
1999- 2000 Project Initiator and Coordinator, Can Racism- Artspace Gallery and Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School, Peterborough, ON
1995 -1998 Artistic Director, Artspace Gallery, Peterborough, ON
Selected Exhibitions
2013 -2015
Co-curator, Land Marks (touring exhibition " Chatham, Windsor, Peterborough). The Thames Art Gallery, Chatham, Ont. (originating gallery).
2011
Curator, Edna Paterson-Petty: African-American Quilts. The Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON.
Co-curator, Alex Wyse- Wyse Works: Exposing the Inevitable. The Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON
2010
Initiator and coordinator of Will Work for Food, a community arts project involving Sandy Hill Community Health Centre and Operation Come Home as primary community partners. The Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa,ON
Curator, Avaaz. Sound installation by Dipna Horra. The Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON
Curator, Intersections. Paintings by artist-programmer Eric Sze-Lang. The Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON
Curator, Duncan de Kergommeaux: These Are the Marks I Make "a survey exhibition of painter Duncan de Kergommeaux that spans 50 years of the artist's life. The Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ont., Museum London
2009
Curator, Fibred Optics, group exhibition that explores the multi-sensorial nature of visual narration and perception. Frances Dorsey, Jerome Havre, Ed Pien and Michele Provost. The Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON. and Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond,B.C in 2011.
2006
Curator in collaboration with Deanna Bowen, Reading the Image: Poetics of the Black Diaspora, group, national touring exhibition "Deanna Bowen, Maud Sulter, Christopher Cozier and Michael Fernandes- that explores issues pertaining to diasporic movement and the relationship of African peoples to the project of modernity. Thames Art Gallery, Chatham, Ont. (originating gallery); Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario; Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia;Yukon Art Centre, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory
2001
Curator, The Attack of the Sandwich Man, solo exhibition by Chris Cozier ( Trinidad) , video collaboration with Richard Fung; addresses issues related to nation- making, culture, the politics of gender and the post- colonial Caribbean. A Space Gallery, Toronto, Ont.
Awards \ Grants
2013 Connections Conference Grant, Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Culturally Diverse Curator Award, Ontario Arts Council
2012 Research Seed Grant, OCADU 2007 Travel Grant, Canada Council for the Arts, Equity Office
2006 School of Graduate Studies Research Travel Grant, University of Toronto
2005-2007 OISE/University of Toronto Academic Excellence Award
2005-2007 Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship
2005-2006 OISE/University of Toronto Academic Excellence Award
2003-2005 OISE/University of Toronto Graduate Fellowship Award
2003 Off-the-Radar Grant, Inter-Arts, Canada Council for the Arts
2002 OISE/University of Toronto Graduate Fellowship Award
2002 Curator Travel Grant, Canada Council New Media Section
Selected Publications
2015 Catalogue essay, Objects, Histories, and Memory, in conjunction with the exhibition, “Mining Memory: Sylvia D. Hamilton”, Thames Art Gallery, Chatham, ON
2013 Book chapter, "Arts funding, the State, and Canadian Nation-making" in Critical Canadian Studies, eds, Lynn Caldwell, Darryl Leroux, Carianne Leung. NS: Fernwood Press
2011 Interview with Duncan de Kergommeaux in catalogue These Are the Marks I make: Duncan de Kergommeaux, The Ottawa Art Gallery and Museum London co- publication
2010 Catalogue essay, Network Installations: Marie-Jos–e Laframboise, Mus–e d–art de Joliette, The Ottawa Art Gallery and Southern Alberta Art Gallery co-publication
2009 Catalogue essay, Fibred Optics exhibition, The Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON
2007 "Bring It Back: Thinking the Ethno-Politics of Identity Again" with Aruna Srivastava and Rinaldo Walcott, FUSE Magazine, Vol.30, #4 2006 Catalogue essay, Reading the Image: Poetics of the Black Diaspora, Thames Art Gallery, Chatham, ON.
2006 "In the Presence of Absence: Invisibility, Black Canadian History, and Melinda Mollineaux's Pinhole Photography", Canadian Journal of Communication, Vol. 31, 227-238
2005 "Social Justice Education through a School-Community Partnership in Media Arts–, Orbit: OISE/UT's Magazine for Schools, Vol. 35, No. 2 2005 –In the Presence of Absence: My response to re- presentations of an Emancipation Day picnic–, Small Axe: Journal of Caribbean Criticism (on-line edition), http://www.smallaxe.net/sxspace/works.html
2002 Contributor, 13 Conversations about art and cultural race politics, eds. Monika Kin Gagnon and Richard Fung. Artextes Editions, Montreal.
Professional Affiliations / Boards / Juries
Present
OAC Third Party Recommender, Toronto, ON
Board member - Vtape, Toronto, ON
Editorial Borad- C Magazine, Toronto, ON
Editorial Board - Topia: Canadian Journalof Cultural Studies
2013
Think Tank Member- Diversity Issues, Artist Run Centres and Collectives of Ontario
Think Tank Member - Diversity, Leadership and Mentoring in Ontario's Public Art Galleries, Ontario Association of Art Galleries
2006-2008
Board Member, Community Arts Ontario, Toronto, ON
Board Member "Community and Race Relations Committee, Peterborough, ON
2003-2005
Member- Advisory Committee on Equity, Visual Arts Section, Canada Council for the Arts, Ottawa, ON
1998-2000
Artist representative - The Canada Council Media Arts Planning and Policy Committee, Ottawa, ON.
1997 - 2000
Board Member - VTape, Toronto, ON
1995-1998
Board Member - Canadian Artists"Representation Ontario, Toronto, ON
1994
Board Member - Artspeak Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.