Currently on display across all three floors of the Daniels Building at 1 Spadina Crescent, the 2023/24 End of Year Show spotlights student work from each of the degree programs at the Daniels Faculty, including graduate and undergraduate studies in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Forestry, Urban Design and Visual Studies.

On view until the end of June, the annual exhibition this year encompasses “three-dimensional, two-dimensional, audio and digital projects,” say Brandon Bergem and Jeffrey Garcia, co-curators of the 2023/24 Show.

Both are sessional lecturers at the Faculty as well as the co-founders of the interdisciplinary design practice Office In Search Of (OISO).

“Our best approximation,” they say, “is that 300-plus students are represented [in the show], with contributions ranging from…a four-foot-by-four-foot orthographic drawing [and] a collection of gifs on a monitor [to] a three-foot-long section drawing and a handcrafted wooden lounge chair.”

According to the curators, the selection and organization of the vast body of student submissions was based largely on two guiding principles.

“The first was how to celebrate the immense collective creative output produced by students at the Faculty and not focus on individual students or prioritize any course or program. The second was how to best represent the projects optimally without compromising the integrity of the work.”

For example, they say, “students in the Forestry program produce exceptional research, and Visual Studies students often display work in formats that require different consideration than what we are accustomed to in studio reviews.”

As a whole, the exhibition offers a comprehensive and revealing survey of the wide-ranging yet synergistic study taking place at the school right now.

Still, say Bergem and Garcia, how to exhibit the breadth of this work presented no small challenge.

“The layout of an entire exhibition catalogue was spread across every pin-up panel in the main-floor hallway. In the second-floor hallway, each pin-up panel was dedicated to specific drawing types (site plans, sections, elevations, etc.), then covered in a wallpaper of black and white drawings from students’ projects, assembled like puzzle pieces. 

“On the second floor, we devised a continuous 16-foot strip composed of collages and renderings that were mounted on the walls in one of the rooms that projected into the space by wrapping around the columns. In another, tree-based objects like mallets, chairs and a memorial sculpture were staged like a tableau in the centre of the room, with research graphics attached to the walls.

“In a room on the third floor, most of the 2D material was suspended rather than pinned to the walls and the 3D objects were placed on a clustered field of plinths and light tables.”

Through these various entry points, visitors are consequently invited “to discern the themes based on commonalities and differences—for example, how can design be used as a method to advocate for biodiversity and the prevention of environmental degradation? How can the intersection of urbanism, architecture and social equity be used to inspire a higher quality of living? [And] how can the concept of a building site transcend physical location to be inclusive of cultural, historical and ecological influences?"

At the same time, questions based on medium and methodology—such as the effectiveness of orthographic drawings in communicating design intent and organization or the degree to which unconventional two- and three-dimensional forms challenge expectations of how design is interpreted—are also posed in the show.

The End of Year Show in its current building-wide incarnation will be on view at 1 Spadina until the end of June. A curated selection will then be installed in the Larry Wayne Richards Gallery and the Commons until early September. 

The Daniels Building is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. every weekday, with fob access only on Saturdays and Sundays.

All photographs by Adrian Yu + Office In Search Of

The SHIFT* Collective, a student-run publishing group based within the Daniels Faculty, will be hosting a launch event this week to celebrate the first edition of its new digital and print publication, called Scaffold* Journal.

The launch will take place on Friday, May 31, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., in the Student Commons at 1 Spadina Crescent. Remarks will be made by the editorial team, accompanied by refreshments and a complimentary zine. No tickets are required, and all interested students, faculty and members of the public are invited to attend.

Focusing on the various methodologies of design research and visual inquiry used by students, scholars and practitioners, the first edition of Scaffold* includes the work of 21 contributors, as well as interviews with six emerging scholars and practitioners, plus visual contributions.

As noted in the call for submissions in December, the journal “intends to demystify the research process and present researchers with the opportunity to curiously and critically reflect upon their own creative and design processes.”

To that end, a diverse range of published works has been assembled, deconstructing methods from the use of interviews and ethnography in the design process to architectural reconstruction and speculative fabulation. Contributions include essays, drawings and mixed-media works spanning architecture, landscape architecture, visual studies and urban design, with projects and ideas from students at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels.

Drawing on the legacy of the previous journal SHIFT* as a risograph publication, the collective will release an exclusive zine that reflects on the inspirations behind the new journal and its formation over the past months. Three commissions from undergraduate and graduate students also reflect on the process of “what it means to scaffold a project,” from the role of social media in curating precedence to self-scaffolding and the ongoing projects of SHIFT* team members.

In addition, the team has designed a small installation detailing the works behind the publication, displayed on the ground level of the Daniels Building (pictured at top).

The SHIFT* Collective “would like to express its immense gratitude for the ongoing support” of the Daniels Faculty and of the Office of the Dean, “both of which have been instrumental in the realization of this first publication.”

The journal’s faculty advisory board, which includes head operational advisor Lukas Pauer and internal advisor Jewel Amoah, “has also played a crucial role in the development and curation of the project.”

The digital publication can be accessed at theshiftcollective.net on May 31.

A full printed volume including the first and second editions will be released in the fall.

Ever wondered what's inside 1 Spadina Crescent? Curious about the history of the revitalized neo-Gothic building at its centre? Whether you have always wanted to wander the halls or simply haven’t visited in a while, there is something for everyone to discover during Doors Open Toronto 2024.

More than 150 buildings and sites are on the roster of this year’s instalment of the popular annual event, which sees local landmarks throw their doors open to the public. The Daniels Building at 1 Spadina Crescent will be open for self-guided tours on Sunday, May 26 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Originally built as a prospect to the lake, the historic structure was the first site of Knox College in 1875, a military hospital during the First World War and the place where Connaught Laboratories manufactured insulin in the 1940s. Today it’s home to the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto, which reimagined the complex for the 21st Century.

A striking contemporary addition, designed by NADAAA and completed in 2018, combines the Knox College structure with cutting-edge facilities, from versatile new studios to a digital fabrication lab. In addition to taking in the architectural splendours and storied history of the revitalized 1 Spadina hub, visitors will have plenty of current work to take in as well.

Here’s a glimpse at what will be on view:

End of Year Show 2023/2024 

A Daniels Faculty tradition encompassing a wide range of projects, this exhibition showcases student work from across the Faculty’s degree programs in Architecture, Forestry, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design and Visual Studies. Student work can be seen on all three floors of the Daniels Building. 

Outer Circle Road by Seth Fluker 

Outer Circle Road by Seth Fluker is a collection of Toronto photographs depicting a city’s energy in constant flux. On view in the first-floor Larry Wayne Richards Gallery and presented in partnership with CONTACT Photography Festival, the series reflects the dynamism of our urban context, a landscape of abundance, waste and regeneration.  

Robotics in Architecture and Design  

Throughout the building you will encounter robotic arms as well as a variety of installations and objects created with their help. Many of these were produced over the past week as a part of workshops run during ROB|ARCH 2024, an international conference centred on robotics in architecture and design. Outside, don’t miss Geosphere, a larger, immersive display by the faculty’s John Nguyen, Nicholas Hoban, Paul Kozak and Rahul Sehijpaul, that is installed at the south entrance.

Building Black Success through Design Showcase 

Head to room DA240 on the second floor for a celebration of the outstanding design achievements by the young designers who recently completed the Building Black Success Through Design (BBSD) program. BBSD is a free mentorship program at the Daniels Faculty for Black high-school students that inspires them to pursue excellence and innovation within design industries and academia, enhancing diversity in the fields. 

Eberhard Zeidler Library 

The library is open to the public, offering students, researchers, urban planners, design professionals, journalists and design aficionados access to art, architecture, landscape architecture and urban design collections unrivalled in Toronto.  

Admission to the Daniels Building and to all Doors Open venues is free. A dedicated brochure with map of the Daniels Building will be available for visitors.

Visit the Doors Open Toronto website for a full list of participating sites.

The 2024 Visual Studies Undergraduate Thesis Exhibition, Still there are seeds to be gathered, featured the work of 18 students across artistic disciplines within the Daniels Faculty’s Bachelor of Arts in Visual Studies (BAVS) program.

The exhibition marked the culmination of their undergraduate studies, and their thesis research has been collected in an accompanying publication and recently launched website.

On view at SPACE on King from April 12 to 14, the exhibition’s title stems from Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction. “In the early weeks of our thesis course, our class held a discussion of Le Guin’s text,” write Ella Spitzer-Stephan, Satyam Mistry, Nusha Naziri, Auden Tura and Olive Wei in an excerpt from the exhibition text.

“The concluding statement, ‘Still there are seeds to be gathered, and room in the bag of stars,’ sparked an unknown feeling that borders the poetics of our completed time in school as well as a rethinking of our projects as ever-changing. As a ‘non’-ending phrase, Le Guin uses it to mark this text as ‘unfinished,’ citing the space for transformation and growth.”

From a visual response to the disconnect between quantum and classical principles of modern physics to work that integrates augmented and virtual reality into our surroundings, installations that reflect notions of belonging and personal collection, to research that investigates the role of a curator in contemporary art, or the translation of poetry from Farsi to English—the body of work presented by the students is complex and open to continued exploration.

“In the context of this exhibition, the research each student has taken upon themselves has not reached a ‘conclusion.’ Each thesis project poses a question vital to its artist, one that will continue to be explored beyond the scope of this exhibition,” the group writes.

Students within the BAVS program are deliberately left with ample room in their course of study to pursue other scholarly interests at the U of T. This flexibility is a fundamental component of the program, as it encourages students to bring those ideas culled from elsewhere to bear within their own artistic practice, allowing ideas and modes of thought that might be rooted in more conventional forms of making art to be openly refined and challenged.

Still there are seeds to be gathered featured the work of Evan Bulloch, Noemi Cabalbag, Paris Chen, Ashley Gu, Rania Haider, Joy Li, Alex Lyu, Satyam Mistry, Nusha Naziri, Salma Ragheb, Irene Song, Ella Spitzer-Stephan, Auden Tura, Janie Wang, Maxen Wang, Olive Wei, Nara Wrigglesworth, and Lilian Zeng.

Visit the website to learn more about their projects: academic.daniels.utoronto.ca/visual-studies-thesis-2024

The annual Thesis Booklets showcasing the final thesis projects of both graduate and undergraduate students at the Daniels Faculty are available for viewing.

The Graduate Booklet features the work of Master of Architecture (MARC), Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA), Master of Urban Design (MUD) and Master of Visual Studies (MVS) students at the Faculty, while the Undergraduate Booklet showcases the final project work of students in the Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies (BAAS) and Bachelor of Arts in Visual Studies (BAVS) programs.

Thesis booklets are a Daniels Faculty tradition, printed for and distributed to thesis students, as well as thesis advisors, external reviewers and guests.

The Booklets contain images and brief statements by students who are presenting final projects for the semester listed at the culmination of their studies.

Flip through the latest booklets below or download PDFs by clicking here: graduate, undergraduate.

GRADUATE FLIPBOOK

UNDERGRADUATE FLIPBOOK

And flip through a special digital edition of the Thesis Booklet featuring a diverse array of Post-Professional Master of Architecture (MARC) projects. The post-professional MARC is an advanced design and research program for individuals already holding a professional degree in architecture.  

POST-PROFESSIONAL FLIPBOOK

Jean-Paul Kelly (Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream) is among the 25 intergenerational artists, duos and collectives showing work at Greater Toronto Art 2024, the second edition of the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto’s recurring triennial show.

Other members of the Daniels Faculty community featured in the exhibition include sessional lecturers Sukaina Kubba and Oliver Husain. Alumnus Mani Mazinani, who graduated with an Honours B.A. in Visual Studies in 2008, rounds out the Daniels contingent.

MOCA Toronto’s triennial exhibition was conceived in 2021 “to look more closely and consistently at artistic practices with a connection to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).” 

This year’s edition, which “looks back as much as it looks forward,” presents work made between the 1960s and the present, “allowing the co-mingling of art created in different decades to provide new ways of understanding the current moment and imagining the future.”

The director of the Visual Studies department until this year, Kelly is a prizewinning artist who makes videos and exhibitions that pose questions about the limits of representation by examining complex associations between found photographs, videos, sounds and online media streams. 

For GTA24, he created a new installation, How cruelty disgusts the view, while pity charms the site (pictured above and below), which is composed of six line drawings in graphite. The drawings are inspired by 18th-century English artist and social critic William Hogarth’s modern moral prints The Four Stages of Cruelty.

The exhibition will also include B.A.A.D.C. (Bonjour aux amis de calamité), a 2016 wall-based sculpture that references writer and political activist Jean Genet’s sensual short film from 1950, Un chant d’amour (A Song of Love).

A multidisciplinary artist who joined the Faculty as a sessional lecturer in 2021, Kubba is represented in the triennial with a series of new wall-based sculptural drawings made from PLA filament. Her series is traced from a Persian rug that has been in Kubba’s family for generations. The fractured vignettes highlight narratives of travel and trade, of migration, and of relationship to land.

Sessional lecturer Husain, an artist and filmmaker, often collaborates with other artists and friends on his projects, which frequently have “a fragment of history, a rumour, a personal encounter or a distant memory” as jumping-off points.

At GTA24, Husain and collaborator Kerstin Schroedinger, an artist working in performance, film/video and sound, are showing DNCB, a 2021 three-channel video installation that ruminates on the complex history of Dinitrochlorobenzene, a chemical substance that is used in the processing of colour film and was also explored as an experimental alternative AIDS treatment in the 1980s and 1990s.

Husain and Schroedinger will also present Hypericin Yellow Movie, a new lecture performance based on this body of research. The free showing (one of their 2021 films is pictured below) will take place at MOCA on Friday, May 31 at 7:00 p.m.

Alumnus Mazinani, lastly, is an interdisciplinary artist who makes work that connects scale and sensation, improvisation and ancient thought. His practice encompasses installation, lens-based media, sculpture, sound and music. 

For GTA24, Mazinani was commissioned to develop a major new work, Solar Scale, an immersive five-channel sound and light installation structured around pentatonic music and harmonic pulsation.

At 7:00 p.m. on July 19, Mazinani and a group of collaborators will present a musical performance that extends the Solar Scale soundscape to a live experience. The concert will feature the Solar Organ, an electronic pentatonic instrument created by Mazinani, playing improvised and composed music on MOCA’s ground floor. A variety of invented and traditional pentatonic scales will be used by the musicians, covering a spectrum of approaches to pentatonic sound generation.

This year’s triennial runs at MOCA through July 28. For more information on the exhibition and other works on display, click here.

Image credits from top to bottom:

“How cruelty disgusts the view, while pity charms the sight,” No. 1-6, 2024. Six graphite drawings on laid paper, painted wood frames and fabric wrap mats, painted and oxidized steel posts. Installation view, Greater Toronto Art 2024 at MOCA Toronto. © and courtesy of Jean-Paul Kelly. Photo by LF Documentation.

“How cruelty disgusts the view, while pity charms the sight,” No. 4, 2024. Graphite drawing on laid paper, painted wood frame and fabric wrap mat, painted and oxidized steel post. Installation view, Greater Toronto Art 2024 at MOCA Toronto. © and courtesy of Jean-Paul Kelly. Photo by LF Documentation.

Oliver Husain and Kerstin Schroedinger, "THE GARDEN – Cinematics of the Soil." Installation view, 2021. Courtesy of the artists and Silent Green Kulturquartier. Photo by Husain/Schroedinger.

Dallas Fellini, graduating this semester from the Master of Visual Studies in Curatorial Studies program, has been awarded the 2024 Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators.

Established in 2012, the prize is awarded annually to a Canadian curator or curatorial team under the age of 30 with the goal of supporting an inclusive national arts sector while recognizing the vital role of exhibitions in expanding awareness and art histories.

Exhibitions proposed by prize recipients are subsequently presented at the Art Gallery of Guelph, which announced Fellini’s win earlier this week.

Fellini (pictured above) is a Toronto-based curator, writer and artist whose research is situated at the intersection of trans studies and archival studies, interrogating the compromised conditions under which trans histories have been recorded and considering representational and archival alternatives to trans hypervisibility.

Their winning submission for the Middlebrook Prize, a proposed exhibition called Some kind of we, features works that approach or incorporate t4t sensibilities.

The term t4t is shorthand that emerged in the early 2000s in Craigslist personals ads, where it was used by transgender and transsexual people prioritizing relationships with other trans people.

Emphasizing networks of trans relationality, self-representation, cross-generational inheritance and desire and love between trans people, the exhibition will feature video works by B.G-Osborne with Benjamin Da Silva (pictured below) and by Mirha-Soleil Ross in collaboration with Xanthra Phillippa MacKay, as well as a print project by Cleopatria Peterson.

It’ll be paralleled by a “distributed exhibition” that speaks to trans histories of pre- and early-Internet activism and community building in Canada.

Fellini’s winning submission was selected by a three-person jury of esteemed curators: Alyssa Fearon (Director/Curator at Dunlop Art Gallery), Tarah Hogue (Curator of Indigenous Art, Remai Modern) and Renée van der Avoird (Associate Curator of Canadian Art, Art Gallery of Ontario).

While Fearon noted the importance of the exhibition’s emphasis “on t4t relationality and visibility,” van der Avoird was struck by its highlighting of an “urgent topic with artworks that are compelling, moving and impactful.”

Hogue, meanwhile, noted the significance of the “distributed exhibition as a means of reaching trans audience members and reiterating the networks of support trans communities have created.” 

Some kind of we will be on view at the Art Gallery of Guelph later this year, from September through December.

For more information about the Middlebrook Prize and on past winners, visit middlebrookprize.ca.

Fellini portrait by Phillip Lý. Video still (7:22) from POLISHED, 2016, by B.G-Osborne in collaboration with Benjamin Da Silva, courtesy of the artist.

For the multidisciplinary artist Cassils, who joined the Daniels Faculty’s Visual Studies department as an associate professor last summer, practicing art is a long game requiring passion, imagination and vision.  “You also have to have strategy, tenacity and a thick skin,” they say.

Among those qualities, skin is an especially apt reference point for the transgender artist, who makes their own body “the material and protagonist” of their work. Incorporating live performance, film, sound, sculpture and photography, it has been performed and exhibited in galleries and performance venues from Philadelphia to Perth, garnering prestigious grants and awards along the way.

On March 5, Cassils (pictured above) will present an overview of their multifaceted oeuvre, which they characterize as “a form of social sculpture,” as part of the Winter 2024 MVS Proseminar series. The talk, which is free of charge and open to all, will take place in the Main Hall of the Daniels Building at 6:30 p.m.

In anticipation of the event, Cassils took the time to ruminate on their experience at U of T so far, their desire to enhance somatic learning at Daniels and more.

You joined the Daniels Faculty as an associate professor in July. What has your experience been like so far?

The students at Daniels are so big hearted, open minded and gracious. I have felt lucky to work with them.

What will your talk on March 5 cover?

It will be an overview of my art practice as it intersects with performance, protest, community building and the fostering and importance of compassion and love in dark times.

For the uninitiated, how would you characterize your practice? What themes or issues are addressed by it?

I am a transgender artist who makes my own body the material and protagonist of my performances. My art contemplates the history(s) of LGBTQI+ violence, representation, struggle, survival, empowerment and systems of care. I see performance as a form of social sculpture: Drawing from the idea that bodies are formed in relation to forces of power and social expectations, my work excavates historical contexts to examine the present moment. 

What will some your priorities be as an instructor at Daniels?

I am interested in utilizing my many years as an embodied practitioner to support somatic and experimental ways of learning that heighten the creative process. I hope to be a force of solidarity and for marginalized students and to bring with me a pedagogy informed by real living artist practices that operate outside traditional cis, white, colonized, heterosexual norms. 

The Visual Studies department at Daniels is unique within the Faculty and among university programs generally. How do you see your role within it? And what would you say to any budding artists or curators who are thinking of studying with us?

My role it to model what it takes to be a real living artist operating in the world as well as to foster the unique vision and talents of each student. Art is a long game and you have to have passion, imagination and vision. You also have to have strategy, tenacity and a thick skin.

Being a Visual Studies student allows you access to a cohort of peers. The best way to get things done as an artist is to shuck the ego-based emphasis of certain aspects of the art world and build your own community, your own networks of mutual aid. Working together in and outside class gives us a unique opportunity to foster these connections. We are stronger together.

Portrait by Robin Black

The national theme for Black History Month 2024 is Black Excellence: A Heritage to Celebrate, a Future to Build. 

This month is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions that Black individuals and communities have made to Canadian society, history and heritage—and for the Daniels Faculty to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to inclusion.  

The Faculty is marking Black History/Black Futures Month with public lectures that explore Black identity and the built environment, and by highlighting ongoing initiatives such as the Faculty’s Building Black Success through Design program, a curated book display in the Eberhard Zeidler Library, and an art installation that reflects interpretations of Black Flourishing.

Mark your calendar for public lectures

The Daniels Faculty’s Winter 2024 Public Program continues on February 1 with “I heard you were looking for me,” a lecture by architect and academic Germane Barnes (pictured above) exploring themes of community-oriented design, the expansion of architectural representation and alternative design authorship.  

Barnes’s award-winning research and design practice, Studio Barnes, investigates the connection between architecture and identity by examining architecture’s social and political agency through historical research and design speculation. Mining architecture’s social and political agency, he examines how the built environment influences black domesticity.  

Two weeks later, on February 15, architect Kholisile Dhliwayo of afrOURban Inc. will be at the Faculty to present “Black Diasporas Tkaronto-Toronto.” Dhliwayo (pictured above) leads the afrOURban project Black Diasporas, a community-led, geolocated oral-narrative mapping initiative that examines the experiences, spaces and places having meaning to Black people.

This lecture will outline how oral narrative, filmmaking and exhibition are both archival and aspirational—archival in their celebration of the spaces and places created by Black communities in Toronto and aspirational in the articulation of hopes and dreams and how these manifest in the built environment. 

Dhliwayo is a founding member of afrOURban Inc., an Adrian Cheng Fellow at the Social Innovation Change Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School and a 2023 resident at the Center for Architecture Lab in New York City.

Visit an installation of student artwork 

Head to the Historic Stairwell between the second and third floors of the Daniels Building to view Black Flourishing: Six Student Artworks, a temporary installation that reflects diverse interpretations of Black flourishing and Blackness in design and community. 

In response to an open call by the Daniels Art Directive and the Daniels Faculty during the Winter 2023 term, the six artists represented offer their creative expression of Black traditions and futures of excellence. In alignment with the broad objectives of the University of Toronto’s Anti-Black Racism Report (2021) and the Scarborough Charter on Anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion in Higher Education: Principles, Actions and Accountabilities (2021), this installation celebrates and promotes Black art and representation in university spaces. 

Check out a curated display in the Library

Stop by the Eberhard Zeidler Library all monthlong to check out a display of books about Black architects who made history, like Norma Sklarek and Paul R. Williams, and those who are making history today, like Afaina de Jong and Tosin Oshinowo.

Curated by Master of Architecture students Jessica Chan and Justina Yang, the recommendations are grouped into books on the general history of Black architects and books about specific Black architects. 

Learn more about Building Black Success in Design 

Since 2021, the Faculty has taken a proactive approach to addressing the lack of diversity in the design industry through its Building Black Success through Design (BBSD) program: a 12-week mentorship program for Black high school students interested in architecture and design.

BBSD partners high school students with current Black students or alumni from the University of Toronto serving as mentors. The current cohort includes 36 high-school-aged mentees and 13 mentors. Participants hone their skills across various mediums and software, while also delving into topics that resonate with their experiences and identity. At the end of the program, mentees will take away practical technical design skills, be able to research and use community feedback to inform their designs, and confidently present their ideas to their peers and mentors.

Now in its third year, the program was originally founded by three Black undergraduate students, Clara James, Renee Powell-Hines and Rayah Flash, while in the Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies program together. James continues to lead the program as the Faculty's Public Programming and Outreach Coordinator, while Powell-Hines is now a second-year Master of Architecture student and Flash is slated to graduate this year.

Follow along @bbsd.daniels and keep an eye on Daniels News & Events for future updates on the program.  

The Daniels Faculty is pleased to announce that Gareth Long, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, has been appointed Director of Visual Studies for a two-and-a-half-year term, starting January 1 of this year and concluding on June 30, 2026. He takes over from Jean-Paul Kelly, who had led the VS programs since 2021.  

An accomplished artist whose diverse practice often questions traditional notions of creation and production—his latest exhibition, entitled Delaware Abstract Corporation, opened last week at Susan Hobbs Gallery in Toronto and runs until February 24—Long joined the Faculty as a Sessional Instructor in 2017 and was hired two years later as an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream.

In July of 2021, he assumed the role of Undergraduate Coordinator for the Honours Bachelor of Arts in Visual Studies (HBA VS) program. 

The Daniels Faculty offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in the discipline: the HBA in Visual Studies and two Masters (MVS) degrees—a Master of Visual Studies in Curatorial Studies and a Master of Visual Studies in Studio Art.

“My Immediate priorities,” says Long, “are to work with the excellent [VS] team to build on and further the stability of the department as well as the rich learning experience for students that has already been put in place.”

Regarding longterm goals, he says, “I am someone who really values the friendships, collegiality and networks that working together fosters, both in my work as an artist and in my professional work as an educator. I would love to draw on these networks to further build partnerships and new collaborative opportunities locally and abroad for both staff and students—much like the partnership I established last summer with Fogo Island Arts that allowed us to bring eight undergraduate Visual Studies students to Fogo Island for a 10-day Studies Abroad course. Through this and other efforts, I hope that we can raise the visibility of our remarkable programs.”

According to Long, “Visual Studies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels offer a unique approach to art at a research university—and not just any research university, but one of the top research institutions in the world. As such, we try to take advantage of the rich and varied research-based academic ecology in asking students to situate themselves and their practices in our specific contemporary moment. Students must address complex and critical questions about what it means to make and exhibit work in our current milieux.”

The cross-pollination between Visual Studies and Architecture, he adds, “expands students’ view of art, contemporary practices, the built environment, questions of publics and how their work can and will interface with said publics, bringing more voices with varied practices into their orbits.”