Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Andy Murdoch
NSCAD’s Radical Curating class presents Wintering Together
Mending workshop in the Treaty Space Gallery. Photo by Nour El Sabeh. At Treaty Space Gallery, something is taking shape slowly. Not just an exhibition, but a way of being in a gallery. A way of working together. A way of paying attention. Wintering: The Art of Radical Slowness, developed by students in NSCAD University’s Radical Curating class, resists the typical timelines of exhibition-making. There’s no single opening moment where everything is fixed and finished.
Artist Jim Dine donates collection of prints to NSCAD as teaching aids
Jim Dine in a zoom call with printmaking students. Photo by Wiebke Schroeder. On March 23, the anticipation was palpable in the printmaking workshop as several boxes of freshly arrived etchings were opened by Professor Mark Bovey. This rare gift – 55 etchings from the celebrated American artist Jim Dine – was officially received at NSCAD before a classroom of printmaking students on a video call with the artist himself, his studio assistant Daniel Clarke, and archivist Jeri Coppola in New York.
Verecan Group supports new NSCAD Design Shift Awards
NSCAD University is pleased to announce a generous donation from the Verecan Group in support of the new NSCAD Design Shift Awards, which will now be known as the NSCAD Design Shift Awards presented by Verecan. The NSCAD Design Shift Awards recognize outstanding design work by NSCAD students and recent graduates, celebrating practices that are critically engaged, forward-looking, and responsive to real-world challenges.
Alumni Ring Design Challenge 2026
The NSCAD Alumni Ring Design Challenge 2026 invites graduating students to submit creative concepts for the official 2026 Alumni Ring. This special “Make Your Mark” ring will be available for purchase by the class of 2026. The winner will receive: A Sterling Silver Alumni Ring (valued at ~$489) Public recognition across NSCAD platforms Feature in VIVD, the NSCAD alumni newsletter Eligibility: Open to all graduating students of 2026 — no purchase necessary.
NSCAD Design Week
Join us for four days of exhibitions, hands-on workshops, expert talks, live performance, and awards that celebrate human-centred design practice, material innovation, and design’s expanding role in society. Meet graduating students and faculty, hear designers working at the intersection of innovation, sustainability and wellbeing, get tactile and sonic in a studio workshop, and experience a live performance that turns material research into music and visuals.
Gerhard Richter and Andrew Scott to receive honorary distinctions from NSCAD University
Gerhard Richter. © Werner Bartsch NSCAD University is delighted to announce two honorary distinctions for 2026: Gerhard Richter, one of the most influential artists of the post war period, will receive the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts (honoris causa); and Andrew Scott, visual artist and founding member of the Canadian band Sloan, will be named a Life Fellow of NSCAD University.
MFA Open Studios
NSCAD MFA Open Studios will be on Saturday March 14th. This is a great opportunity to come and see work by the 1st and 2nd year MFA students and get a glimpse into our students’ studio practice and studio spaces. This event is open to the public. Please note: NSCAD students will greet visitors at the entrance to each site in order to sign them in and guide visitors to the MFA studio spaces.
The Best of Two Worlds: Leonard Paul in Conversation
Artist Leonard Paul with his high school art teacher. Photo by Nour El Sabeh. by Ross Nervig Leonard Paul is, in many ways, the embodiment of Etuaptmumk, or two-eyed seeing. Two-eyed seeing offers a way of understanding the world through more than one lens. Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall describes it as learning to see with one eye the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing, and with the other eye the strengths of Western ways of knowing, and using both together.
Aaron Coleman Artist Talk
Aaron Coleman’s studio practice comprises an amalgam of creative processes and historical research. Utilizing interdisciplinary methodologies, he creates works that address how mundane and seemingly anodyne artifacts embody the complex and pervasive history of race/racism and class/classicism in the United States. Employing a multi-media approach, he reworks and re-contextualizes images and site-specific objects, foregrounding their interactions – both past and present – in this history.
What A Sin: new exhibition by NSCAD faculty celebrates matriarchal power
Exhibition photo of What A Sin, courtesy of St Mary's University Art Gallery. A pair of NSCAD profs is celebrating the matriarchy in an exhibition at the Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery. What A Sin, which opened to a packed house on January 23, features the work of Craft division professors Ali Nickerson and Leesa Hamilton. Nickerson presents a variety of media including interactive soft sculptures, drawings, banners, and paintings, while Hamilton offers quilted soft structures and banners.
Jeanne Randolph artist talk
Jeanne has been dedicated to contemporary Canadian culture since 1983. Her first book, Psychoanalysis & Synchronized Swimming [1991] included ficto-criticism, the unique art criticism mode she invented, as have her writings in exhibition catalogues and chapters for books. Her cultural criticism have rhapsodized upon psychoanalytic theory, American football, Western philosophy, aphids, Barbie dolls, The Technological Ethos, Winnipeg parking lots, Las Vegas, the uncanny, Pythagoras, etc. etc. etc.
NSCAD’s 3-day intensive Campus2Market Discovery Program
Are you interested in forming a creative business idea or to use art and design in a new and innovative way for finding a solution to a social or environmental challenge? Join NSCAD’s 3-day intensive Campus2Market Discovery Program (previously named Collide Discover) on March 6/7/8th This program is designed to equip students with the skills needed to be a creative entrepreneur or innovator.
Design students help Nova Scotians manage their medications
Students from NSCAD's Design Studio class. Photo by Ginger Yu. The average age of a patient at the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation and Arthritis Centre is 57 years old, and each one manages up to 11 medications daily. The Centre, a clinic at the QEII hospital, helps patients recover from physical and neurological injuries. Their Self-Medication Program (SMP) teaches a select group of patients how to manage their medications outside of the hospital with the help of printed materials and staff.
NSCAD artistic duo’s show at Mercer Union embraces a makeshift, humble, collaborative ethos
HaeAhn Paul Kwon Kajander’s exhibition, How is Where You Are, at Mercer Union in Toronto, serves as a visual and intellectual salve for those worried about the future of artificial intelligence and its profound effects on creative ownership and process. In their first institutional show, the artistic duo, who are both faculty at NSCAD’s fine arts division, celebrates human adaptability alongside themes as varied as familial identity, memory-making and the restrictiveness of colonial timekeeping.
Making in Progress
NSCAD’s Sandra Alfoldy Craft Institute is hosting Making in Progress! a talk featuring presentations by NSCAD faculty Nora Renick-Rinehart, Rebecca Hannon, and Rory McDonald, and a facilitated discussion by Dr. Julie Hollenbach. The presenters will share insight into and material examples of their current research projects and studio work in a show and tell format event. Following the presentations, there will be a lively open discussion.
Graeme Patterson explores memory, miniature worlds, and moving on
One of Graeme Patterson’s first stop-motion animations was a deer, roughly hewn with wispy fur. The curious animal serves as narrator for the Sackville, New Brunswick, artist’s 2007 installation Woodrow, an ambitious mixed sculptural and video work that envisions the real-life village of Woodrow, Saskatchewan, as a deceivingly abandoned town inhabited with lingering memories and other worldly spirits.
Artist talk: Craig Love
Craig Love is a visual artist whose primary concerns are painting and text. His paintings aim at being associative springboards or poignant diversions for the everyday problems of being. Of particular interest is the propensity for how painted and written languages find their resting state nestled uncomfortably amongst approximation and abstraction. Craig is has been a visiting artist in residence as this year’s William and Isabel Pope Artist’s Residency in Painting.
In memoriam: James MacSwain, artist and NSCAD instructor
James MacSwain, multidisciplinary artist and pillar of Nova Scotia’s cultural community, died September 6 at the age of 80, at home, surrounded by friends. The NSCAD community mourns this prolific artist, who worked in performance art, animation, film, bookmaking, and sculpture. From Amherst, Nova Scotia, MacSwain completed his BFA across the border at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, but he spent most of his life in Halifax.
Applications open for Creative Social Ethics: Portfolio Development Workshop in South Africa
Creative Social Ethics is an educational program and based at the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa that is led by NSCAD Professor David B. Smith. The program partners with high schools from historically disadvantaged communities, and its goal is to make a tangible and meaningful impact upon the lives of individual learners, and in turn, the greater community as a whole.
SONIA CHOW, CHARLOTTE LITTLE & MAGGIE SIGRID WILDE
Over the month of June 2025, artists Sonia Chow, Charlotte Little and Maggie Sigrid Wilde were artists-in-residence in NSCAD’s Textiles/Fashion Department as part of the Sow to Sew Summer 2025 Artist Residency themed on flax.
Professor David B. Smith named NSCAD’s interim president
Bill Barker, Chair of the NSCAD Board of Governors, announced today that Professor David B. Smith has accepted the appointment of NSCAD’s interim president, effective September 1, 2025. A NSCAD alumnus, David is well known as a passionate advocate for the application of creative thinking skills to academic disciplines beyond the arts. He served as NSCAD’s president from 2006 – 2012 when he raised a record $9 million for the university.
NSCAD University approves 2025-2026 budget
The proposed budget for the university for 2025-2026 was approved by NSCAD University’s Board of Governors on July 3. The budget was developed with NSCAD’s Budget Advisory Committee (BAC), which includes student, staff, and faculty representation, and presented to the board’s Financial and Physical Resources Committee in May. The NSCAD budget sets out spending priorities for 2025-26.
NSCAD Design team pays tribute to William Hall, first Victoria Cross recipient from Nova Scotia
The Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia (BCC) recently unveiled a new exhibit honouring William Hall, the first Black person, the first Nova Scotian and one of the first Canadians to receive the British Empire’s highest award for bravery, the Victoria Cross. A design team connected with NSCAD University was behind the new exhibit, which introduces visitors to Hall’s career and accomplishments and recognizes his achievements and impact after they were overlooked for much of Hall’s later life.
NSCAD Grad Hangama Amiri is shortlisted for the 2025 Sobey Art Award
One NSCAD graduate — Hangama Amiri (BFA 2012) – stands among six artists shortlisted for Canada’s top artistic honour: the Sobey Art Award. The award is given annually to a Canadian artist who has exhibited their work in a public or commercial art gallery in the previous 18 months. This year’s overall winner will receive $100,000. Amiri represents Canada’s Atlantic region.
Cheryl L’Hirondelle returns for a fall residency at CIMADE Lab and a Nocturne show
After an incredible public artist talk last spring, award-winning interdisciplinary artist and musician Cheryl L’Hirondelle is back at NSCAD’s CIMADE Lab for a second residency that will include a talk, a studio visit, and a participatory piece at Halifax’s Nocturne: Art at Night.
NSCAD introduces its new Campaign team
Marking a major step on its transformational journey towards a consolidated campus at the Halifax Seaport, NSCAD’s President Shannon is introducing the team who will run its upcoming capital campaign.
Thirteen NSCAD filmmakers to watch at the Atlantic International Film Festival
As filmmakers and cinephiles from across Atlantic Canada gather for the Atlantic International Film Festival (AIFF) from September 11 – 18, many NSCAD alumni will make their presence felt with feature-length films, documentaries, shorts, and animations. Here are thirteen films with a NSCAD connection to keep your eye on. You can buy tickets online, or, even better, students could volunteer and be a part of the festival.
Two NSCAD students reach finals in the National Jewellery Student Competition
Two NSCAD students, Siyu Dong and Vanessa Shum, were finalists in the 21st Annual National Jewellery Student Competition, held at the L.A. Pai Gallery in Ottawa. The winner, Elinor Nelson-Hachey (George Brown College), was announced Saturday August 24 at the Pai gallery. Other finalists in addition to Nelson-Hachey, Dong, and Shum were were Tomoe Akiba (George Brown College) and Nancy Rousseau (École de joaillerie de Montréal).
NSCAD researchers receive $3.2M for sustainable agriculture and textiles project
Associate Professor Jennifer Green’s four-year Flax Fibre to Fabric project connects fourteen researchers from five universities across Atlantic Canada. A NSCAD researcher is leading a regional push for sustainable agriculture and textiles with a four-year, $3.2 million NSERC-SSHRC Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative (SARI) grant.
NSCAD welcomes three new full-time faculty
NSCAD University is pleased to introduce three new faculty members who joined our community this summer: Ufuk Gueray, an Assistant Professor in Fine Arts (Painting), Nora Renick Rinehart, an Assistant Professor in Craft (Fibres), and Patryk Stasieczek, a 24-month Limited Term Appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor in Media Arts (Photography).
Painting, performance, and the fantastic collide in Mitchell Wiebe’s art
NSCAD alumni Mitchell Wiebe talks about his work and holding concurrent exhibitions in Nova Scotia this summer With two shows running concurrently in the city, 2024 is a summer of love for Halifax-based artist Mitchell Wiebe (MFA 1996). The first show, VampSites, marks the reopening of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, running from June 8 to Sept. 30.
Meet our 2024 Valedictorian, Page Cowell
Page Cowell, who will graduate this year with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Interdisciplinary Arts, has been chosen by the 2024 graduating class as their valedictorian. She is also a finalist for the 2024 Student Art Award. Page was born and raised in Tillsonburg, Ontario on the territory of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee and Attawandaron peoples. Page is proud to come from a long line of working-class family who have been a model of diligence and an inspiration to her work.
Professor Jacqueline Warwick appointed new Dean, Academic - NSCAD
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Jacqueline Warwick as NSCAD University’s new Dean, Academic. This is a full-time appointment for a 5-year term effective May 1, 2024. Dr. Warwick has been in the position of Interim Dean, Academic since August 2023. She is a Canadian musicologist (PhD UCLA, 2002) who came to Halifax for a position at Dalhousie in 2003.
Laurie Anderson to receive an honorary degree from NSCAD - NSCAD
NSCAD University will give groundbreaking artist Laurie Anderson an honorary degree at its May 14 convocation ceremony. During her visit to NSCAD, Anderson has a busy schedule. On May 13, she will give an artist talk to the NSCAD community, meet with NSCAD Student Art Award Finalists, and attend the Graduate Exhibition closing reception at the Anna Leonowens Gallery. On May 14, Anderson will deliver a convocation address to graduating students on the day.
NSCAD grads launch Halifax Art Book Fair
With the popularity of art book fairs in recent years growing beyond the pale of major cities like London, New York, or Frankfurt to smaller cities around the world, four art publishers and art book enthusiasts are launching a book fair in Halifax. The inaugural edition of the Halifax Art Book Fair (HABF) and conference will take place on April 13th from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the All Nations Church, 2535 Robie Street (corner of Robie and Charles). Admission is free.
Masters of Design Studio 2 Class: End of Semester Show
Together with students from Saint Mary’s University, NSCAD’s Master of Design Studio 2 class will showcase their latest innovations, products, and services. The MDES-6520-2 class has been invited to join the: SMU Sparks Expo Friday April 12, 12:00 to 4:00PM At the Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre, Inspiration Studio (SH212) 5907 Gorsebrook Ave.
NSCAD announces the 2024 Student Art Award finalists
NSCAD is excited to announce the ten finalists of the 2024 NSCAD Student Art Award. The award recognizes the exceptional works made by NSCAD students across ten disciplines at the university. The winning artist receives a $5,000 purchase prize, with their artwork added to a special section of NSCAD’s Permanent Collection. The remaining nine finalists will receive $1,000 each. This premier award provides young artists with visibility and promotion as they embark on their careers. a.
NSCAD enters Atlantic Canadian sports community with the launch of a new kayak team
For the first time in its 137-year history, NSCAD will have a sports team to compete against any and all universities in Atlantic Canada, thanks to a generous donation from a private family donor. Two kayaks have been given to the university from the Lloyd Family Foundation and will form the basis for the NSCAD Harbour Rats Kayak Team; they have also an undisclosed amount to develop a team logo and uniforms for our athletes.
NSCAD University mourns the loss of Richard Serra, 1938-2024
NSCAD University mourns the loss of artistic giant Richard Serra. Serra died at his home in Long Island on Tuesday, March 26. He was 85 years old. You can read obituaries of Richard Serra in the New York Times, in Hyperallergic and in newspapers around the world. Serra had several connections with NSCAD over the years. He attended the now infamous “Halifax Conference” in 1970 but didn’t participate in the conference when he found out that the artists would be in one room and the students in another.
NSCAD University appoints Dan Harroun as Associate Vice-President of Operations
NSCAD University is pleased to announce the appointment of Dan Harroun as its new Associate Vice-President of Operations. Harroun will begin his work on April 2, 2024, and he will be integral to the facilitation of NSCAD’s planned consolidation at the Port Campus in 2030. Harroun joins NSCAD with a rich background in engineering and project management and brings more than two decades of operational experience to the position.
NSCAD Spring Makers' Market
Come to NSCAD’s annual spring market featuring 40 vendors with work from over 50 NSCAD students. Find anything from reworked clothing, to paintings, ceramics, and more! NSCAD’s market is in partnership with Etlitoq, the second annual Indigenous Pop-up Market, hosted by NSCAD’s Treaty Space Gallery.
$935,000 donation from the Dalglish Family Foundation will have an immediate, transformational impact at NSCAD
NSCAD University has received its largest gift from a donor outside Atlantic Canada: $935,000 from Toronto’s Dalglish Family Foundation, which will provide materials for student projects, enhance visiting artist programming, and purchase new photography equipment. This is a first-time gift to NSCAD from the Dalglish Family Foundation. The Foundation’s directors recognized NSCAD as an ideal recipient due to the family’s longstanding commitment to the arts as both practitioners and patrons.
Artist Cheryl L’Hirondelle visits NSCAD for a public talk and studio visits
Cheryl L’Hirondelle Artist Talk, 7 p.m. Halifax Central Library Artist Cheryl L’Hirondelle’s talk will share how her interdisciplinary art and music practice brings together relations between language, land, and the more-than-human. This talk is open to the public. March 22: Cheryl L’Hirondelle Open Studio, 5–6:30 p.m. Lab – Room 007, NSCAD Academy Building, 1649 Brunswick St. March 25: Cheryl L’Hirondelle Studio Visits, 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Lab or online. Sign-up required.
NSCAD announces the Price Awards for Excellence in Teaching
NSCAD University will soon formally recognize the outstanding quality of its teaching with a new annual award gifted to the university by a former president of the university. The Price Awards for Excellence in Teaching, established by The Sarah M. McKinnon and Peter J. Dawes Foundation, will be presented each year to both a full-time and part-time NSCAD faculty member, with each of the two awards valued at $1,000.
Community Mobile Media Lab receives Intentional Initiative Award from Research Nova Scotia
Solomon Nagler, filmmaker and professor of Media Arts and Film at NSCAD, has received the Intentional Initiative Award from Research Nova Scotia to further his work with the Community Mobile Media Lab (CMML). The CMML is a mobile media production hub, with film production equipment, that can be temporarily set up in Nova Scotian communities. The media lab will house a series of post-production workstations, a mobile sound mixing studio and professional film production equipment.
Hangama Amiri will deliver an artist talk on January 9
Tuesday, January 9, 2024 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Bell Auditorium Hangama Amiri holds an MFA from Yale University where she graduated in 2020 from the Painting and Printmaking Department. She received her BFA from NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is a Canadian Fulbright and Post-Graduate Fellow at Yale University School of Art and Sciences (2015-2016).
What NSCAD students did on their trip to New York City
Two NSCAD print students, Evan MacPherson and Christie Melville, travelled to New York City with Professor Mark Bovey on a four-day trip that covered all major galleries, plus the IFPDA Print Fair, the Printed Matter book fair, and an alumni event at the Canada Gallery. The students who went applied to go and received supporting funds from the NSCAD student travel subsidy.
Erinn Beth Langille is the new director of NSCAD’s Anna Leonowens Gallery Systems
Stepping into the role of director at the Anna Leonowens Gallery Systems feels like coming home, says Erinn Beth Langille. “I graduated from NSCAD twenty years ago. The Anna Leonowens Gallery was the first space I saw myself as an active participant in the creation of visual culture. It was where I learned to engage, be critical, and be creative all at once.” Erinn moves to her new position at The Anna from the Creative Entrepreneurship Lab at NSCAD, where she has been coordinator since 2021.
NSCAD statement against hate and discrimination
As university communities across North America increasingly struggle to find common ground, too often we see those with whom we disagree as unworthy of our respect, our friendship, or even our belief in their good faith. The result is isolation, intolerance, and greater inequality. NSCAD University’s mission as one of North America’s top art universities is to ensure a rigorous and supportive academic community where our creativity and differences are celebrated.
Governor General Literary Award-winner Jack Wong talks about his path from engineer to artist
There are two stories Jack Wong tells to explain his journey from engineer to children’s author: One rises out of the types of projects he worked on in his hometown of Vancouver leading up to the Olympics circa 2008. “A lot of those projects were controversial—relocating vulnerable populations, widening all the highways to increase vehicle capacity, perhaps at the expense of public transit,” he says.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Andy
Contact Andy, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack