First Nations Artists presented by Verne Harrison (McDonald Stewart Gallery, Guelph)

Canadian Studies is pleased to welcome Verne Harrison (McDonald Stewart Gallery, Guelph) to present First Nations Artists.

Bio

Verne Harrison is a practicing artist from Guelph, ON.  He works with a wide variety of media and has been exhibiting since 1982.  His work is in several public and private collections in Canada and the United States.  He was awarded a commission for a permanent outdoor sculpture installation in the Donald Forster Sculpture Park at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, ON in 2002.  Some of the more recent exhibitions of note that Harrison has contributed to include: Shakespeare Made in Canada: Finding the Bard in Contemporary Portraiture, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, 2006, Transactions: 11 Artists from Canada, at the Chongqing Art Museum (China) 2008 and Circa 1978, a solo exhibit at Jacana Art Gallery in Vancouver in 2010 which will be touring to The Prairie Art Gallery in Grand Prairie, Alberta.

Harrison is currently the Gallery Coordinator at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre where he has been employed for 20 years. In his capacity as Gallery Coordinator, Verne maintains the Art Centre and University of Guelph art collections and installs the exhibits at the Art Centre.  Each year, Harrison has worked with several university students interested in gaining knowledge and experience related to art galleries.  He has worked in public galleries since 1987 when he was hired to the newly opened Power Plant Art Gallery at Harbourfront in Toronto ON, initially as Education Assistant, and then as Installation Supervisor.

Harrison has volunteer experience with various arts organizations dating back to 1972.  He has co-founded a number of volunteer gallery projects in that time including the first student art gallery at the University of Western Ontario where he received an Honors Bachelor of Fine Art Degree in 1984.

Canadian Studies 2200E is a second-year essay course with no pre-requisite. The course examines many facets of Canadian culture and identity including history and politics, First Nations issues, the arts and the media, Quebec and French Canada, popular culture from music and multiculturalism to health care and hockey. 

Why are Canadians obsessed with defining Canadian identity? Are there distinctive features of Canadian culture? Where will this debate take Canada in the 21st centure?

Join us for these talks and consider registering for Canadian Studies 2200E in 2012-13 

March 5, 2012 - 10 a.m. Vitali Student Lounge