Dr. Kate Sellen and Dr. Alexis Morris named Canada Research Chairs

Dr. Kate Sellen, Associate Professor, Faculty of Design and Dr. Alexis Morris, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts & S
Thursday, November 22, 2018 - 3:30pm

OCAD University congratulates Dr. Kate Sellen, Associate Professor, Faculty of Design and Dr. Alexis Morris, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences, on being named Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs.  

Dr. Sellen is the Canada Research Chair in Design for Health, performing design research in areas of health that involve significant challenges regarding the effective design of tools to support dynamic experiences and work practices. Her research will create new conceptual frameworks for use in design with a focus on safety, performance work/task dynamics and temporality. Dr. Sellen is also director and principal investigator of Health Design Studio: TEMPO. 

Dr. Alexis Morris is the Canada Research Chair in the Internet of Things, creating a human-centered Internet of Things capacity with adaptive human-machine interface designs, pattern recognition, context-awareness and mixed reality. His research enables humans-in-the-loop to better perceive complex information communications within smart environment applications while simultaneously aligning application behaviors to situation demands. Dr. Morris is also the director of Adaptive Context Environments (ACE) Lab.  

Gerald McMaster heading to 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale

Dr. Gerald McMaster, photo by Sebastian Kriete
Wednesday, September 20, 2017

OCAD U’s Gerald McMaster, together with an Indigenous design team, is representing Canada at 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. The Canada Council for the Arts announced that the Indigenous project UNCEDED has been selected through a national juried competition to represent Canada at the Architecture Biennale. 

Led by internationally-renowned architect Douglas Cardinal, the team includes Anishnaabe Elders and Indigenous co-curators, Dr. Gerald McMaster, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Visual Culture and Curatorial Practice at OCAD University, and Dr. David Fortin, incoming director of the McEwen School of Architecture at Laurentian University. Joining them is a decorated group of Indigenous architects from across North America.

“Having represented Canada as curator to the 1995 Venice Biennale of Visual Arts, and to be asked to be lead curator by such a distinguished group of Indigenous architects is both an honour and privilege," says Dr. McMaster. 

UNCEDED will emphasize and celebrate the work of Indigenous architects and designers throughout Turtle Island. It is grounded in the legacy of the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Report.

Dr. McMaster has more than 30 years of international work and expertise in contemporary art, critical theory, museology and Indigenous aesthetics. Throughout his career, his championing of the mainstream value of Indigenous art, among other things, has led to his being chosen to represent Canada at a number of prestigious international events.

Dr. Gerald McMaster named Canada Research Chair

Photo of Dr. Gerald McMaster by Sebastian Kriete
Tuesday, February 9, 2016 - 3:00pm

Groundbreaking curator, author, artist and educator Dr. Gerald McMaster has been named Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Indigenous Visual Culture & Curatorial Practice at OCAD University.

 “My position will enable me to be part of a uniquely vibrant community of students, researchers and creators,” said McMaster. “I am looking forward to learning from and working with them as I seek to expand knowledge of the ways transnational contact has affected artistic expression among Indigenous people, as well as the influence of those expressions on non-Indigenous societies.”

McMaster has held prestigious curatorial positions at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. In 2006 he was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada.

“We are grateful to the Government of Canada for supporting us in this unprecedented scholarship of Indigenous art history told through Indigenous voices,” said Dr. Sara Diamond, President and Vice-Chancellor. “To be the first art and design university to receive a Tier 1 CRC appointment is recognition of OCAD University’s strong research agenda.”

McMaster’s work will examine the ways in which cultures interact, influencing and inspiring one another. How can Indigenous artists engage with the non-Indigenous world while maintaining their difference? How does the vitality of Indigenous voice express and contribute knowledge to the global conversation on climate? How did Indigenous artists and cultures view their colonizers in the context of their art?

Born near North Battleford, Saskatchewan, McMaster (Plains Cree/Member of the Siksika First Nation) studied at the Institute of American Indian Art and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, receiving his MA in Anthropology at Carleton University, Ottawa. He completed his doctorate at the University of Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, Theory and Interpretation under renowned cultural theorist Mieke Bal. 

McMaster served as Canadian Commissioner for the Venice Biennale and Artistic Director of the Biennale of Sydney, Australia. He is currently collaborating on three major international projects in Europe, South America and Australia.

McMaster also teaches undergraduate courses in OCAD University’s Indigenous Visual Culture program (INVC) and leads a graduate seminar in exhibition issues in the Criticism & Curatorial Practice program.

OCAD University would like to thank the Canada Foundation for Innovation for providing infrastructure support for McMaster’s lab.