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2011 President’s Report 

PROCESS 

The relentless questioning, exploring, examining – that’s the foundation 

of the creative process. And that’s what we do so well at NSCAD.

Finding the art in science, math, language… and life 

Message from the President David B. Smith 

The hypothesis is simple: If you teach students to think critically and 

creatively, they’ll apply these skills in the course of all their studies – 

and throughout their lives. 

Creation. Innovation. Discovery. It all starts with a question. 

Whether that questioning happens at the laboratory bench or in the 

artist’s studio, alone or in collaboration, the process of exploration and 

discovery is the same. In a word, it’s research. 

In this year’s President’s Report, we turn the spotlight on NSCAD 

University’s growing influence as centre for academic excellence in 

visual arts research. And we do so by focussing on its singular defining 

feature: the creative process. 

In its many forms and iterations, all creative practice is a journey: 

one where the process is as instructive as the destination. Where the 

tangents you take along the way lead to new perspectives, new possibilities 

and new understandings. Where inspiration is made manifest. 

This is where innovation lives. 

As one of North America’s leading visual arts universities, we nurture the 

creative process through studio practice and research. And we’re ideally 

suited for the role. NSCAD is long-renowned as a creative crossroads: 

a place where stellar faculty and leading critical thinkers come together to 

shape new ideas and journeys. Our interdisciplinary tradition encourages 

forward-thinking, collaborative inquiry across faculties - and beyond, with 

other universities, institutions and organizations worldwide. 

In the stories that follow, you’ll see the rigour of the creative process at 

work. From transforming traditional disciplines to tackling urgent social 

needs through design and education, NSCAD-driven research is helping 

change the way the world thinks and acts. 

In early 2012, NSCAD will put a public face on the creative process. Our new 

Institute for Applied Creativity will serve as a collaborative hub, designed to 

meet a growing realization that creativity is the foundation for all innovation, 

which in turn drives productivity. Here, individuals and organizations from 

outside the visual arts will work alongside NSCAD researchers, using a common 

medium – creativity – for a common purpose: discovery. 

And therein lies the power of the creative process. 

“ I’ve always believed in the importance of 

critical and creative thinking skills to learning,” 

says President David B. Smith. “While 

there’s anecdotal evidence demonstrating 

how the arts increase learners’ engagement, 

I wanted to prove that through a comprehensive 

longitudinal research study.” 

“ I want to make that link.” 

Designed by Smith and authorized Western 

Cape Department of Education in South 

Africa, NSCAD’s Art in Schools Initiative is 

a four-year study that measures the impact 

of visual arts programming integrated 

directly into the non-arts curriculum. 

Launched in January 2011, the project 

tracks a cohort of 360 students as they 

progress from Grade 9 through to Grade 12 

at Modderdam High School in Bonteheuwel, 

an economically disadvantaged township in 

the Western Cape. 

“ We look at all the courses – math, science, 

social science, Afrikaans and so on – and 

pull out assignments that can be turned 

into visual arts projects to enhance learning 

and exercise the right side of the brain, 

not just the left.” 

Smith and his team will assess how creative 

programming increases learning outcomes 

and student engagement by measuring 

results like test scores, final grades, class 

attendance and graduation rates against 

students in the years immediately preceding 

and following the study group. 

“ The students are already growing in selfesteem, 

and we hope they’ll apply this new 

confidence to life beyond the classroom.” 

On behalf of the faculty, staff, students and Board of Governors of NSCAD 

University, I am delighted to present my fifth President’s Report, for the 

fiscal year ending March 31, 2011. 

view video profile > 

www.nscad.ca/report2011/profile-smith.html 

NSCAD UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2011

eHome: Designed for dignity 

In product design, you must eliminate the “I” and focus on the user. 

For Gene Daniels, the journey started 14 

years ago in Baltimore. “As an architect, I 

became intrigued with the idea of linking 

the world of social needs – in particular, 

homelessness - with the world of design.” 

“ I decided to create an affordable and 

functional shelter that would respect the 

individual’s dignity while creating a sense of 

community.” 

The result? eHome, a simple, low-cost, 

energy self-sufficient modular structure 

that provides safe and secure temporary 

housing. Inspired by the easy-to-assemble 

principles of Swedish furniture design, each 

e-Home can be put together in 45 minutes 

by two people using an Allen wrench. 

Made of lightweight, recycled, vacuumformed 

plastic panels, eHome ships easily. 

Inside, the beds fold up to create enough 

living space for two adults and a child, while 

interchangeable solar-powered modules 

provide for life’s necessities like heating 

and cooking. 

“ Throughout my research, people asked, ‘Can 

I make this home mine?’” explains Daniels, 

who’s currently in discussions with an 

international relief agency. “eHome’s beauty 

is its versatility; it allows for different ways 

of configuring and creating community that 

can work anywhere in the world.” 

Originally designed for the urban homeless, 

Gene’s research focus soon broadened. 

“Think of the tent cities set up after 

natural disasters. People are still living in 

these communities years later.” 


www.nscad.ca/report2011/profile-daniels.html 

NSCAD UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2011 


Traffic: Defining Canada’s place in conceptual art 

“ Traffic” brought a clarity to works we thought we knew so much 

about, revealing a depth and breadth people hadn’t realized existed. 

In 2005, while researching her book on the 

history of conceptual art in Canada, art 

historian Jayne Wark discovered others 

circling the same topic. 

Jayne soon found herself part of a team 

of three university and two institutional 

gallery curators from across the country, 

planning the first national touring exhibition 

of Canadian conceptual art. 

“ The reasons for the exhibit were the same 

as those for my book,” Jayne explains. 

“While there’d been a significant revival of 

interest in conceptual art worldwide in the 

past 15 years, Canada was next to invisible 

in the publications and exhibitions.” 

Thus was born Traffic: Conceptual Art in 

Canada 1965-1980. 

Organized by region, in recognition of the 

influence of institutions like NSCAD on 

the movement in Canada, Traffic brings 

together works that hadn’t been seen 

for years, exposing links between artists 

never before evident. 

“ The bulk of the exhibition’s documentary 

and archival content comes from NSCAD, 

not surprising as so many of the luminaries 

of contemporary art passed through 

our doors,” adds Jayne, who curated the 

Atlantic section. “While they didn’t create 

objects per se, the traces of their installations 

and performances remain in the 

ephemera.” 

Opened in 2010, Traffic was nominated “Best 

Exhibition of the Year – University Gallery” 

by the American Art Curators Association. 

In April 2013, Traffic travels to Karlsruhe, 

Germany for a three- month showing, 

presented by the Badischer Kunstverein. 


www.nscad.ca/report2011/profile-wark.html 


Tracing the City: Interventions of art in public space 

The creative process is something that develops through time, even 

though you might only be able to articulate it at the point where it all 

comes together. 

When the Institute of Applied Creativity 

opens its doors in early 2012, you’ll find an 

innovative research collaboration between 

the visual arts and social science underway. 

Funded by a SSHRC Research Creation 

Grant of $237,000, Tracing the City is a 

three-year project. Comprising two NSCAD 

professors - filmmaker Solomon Nagler 

and sculptor Kim Morgan – and Dalhousie 

University social anthropologist Martha 

Radice, this interdisciplinary, cross-institutional 

team is looking at what happens 

when the public space of a city intervenes 

in the private experience of art. 

“ Film and sculpture are on the opposite 

ends of the creative spectrum, so we 

thought it would be interesting to explore 

the kind of work that would come of this 

collaboration,” says Solomon. “As an 

anthropologist, Martha brings an ability to 

interpret, assess and disseminate visual 

culture to the table.” 

One of the highlights of the project, an 

international research symposium, will 

serve as the launching pad to a final, major 

collaborative public piece engaging the 

research team and their NSCAD student 

assistants with the greater community. 

“ We don’t have the answers yet and they’re 

going to shift. In fact, they’re bound to 

shift,” explains Kim. “You just have to go 

with the process, because that’s where the 

exciting things happen.” 


www.nscad.ca/report2011/profile-nagler-morgan.html 



A delicate strength: The fine balance of Kye-Yeon Son 

I love the dialogue between what the material gives to me and my 

intuitiveness, my aesthetic. The metal and I collaborate; we are partners. 

“ I’m inspired by nature,” says Kye-Yeon 

Son. “Whether the beauty and empty 

feeling in the leafless trees of a Canadian 

winter or the contours of pines across a 

Korean mountain range, I interpret this 

response in my work.” 

Kye’s chosen métier is metal, one of the 

most technically challenging materials. 

Winner of the 2011 Governor General’s 

Awards in Visual and Media Arts, Saidye 

Bronfman Award, Kye has always loved the 

physical characteristics of metal – especially 

the delicate strength of fine wire. 

When Kye creates, her goal is simple: to 

reveal the design best suited to the metal 

– and no other material. “I start with a 

sense of where I’m going; then I trust my 

intuition to work out the details.” 

hands come to understand the possibilities 

of metal, and it is through this feeling 

and knowledge that you gain much more 

freedom with the material.” 

During her recent research sabbatical at 

Seoul’s Kookmin University, Kye experimented 

with methods and materials new 

to her: laser-cutting, micro-welding and 

enameling techniques applied to steel 

plates and wires. 

“ My research always involves tackling 

technical challenges. As an artist and an 

educator, that’s my job: to push the limits 

and show what can be done.” 

“ Metalsmithing is a technical skill you 

learn only by doing. Through practice your 


www.nscad.ca/report2011/profile-kye.html 


Designing for the future of Gaelic Nova Scotia 

Participatory design brings researchers, designers and users 

together in collective creativity to arrive at a deeper understanding 

of needs and desires. 

When interdisciplinary designer Marlene 

Ivey returned to Nova Scotia after 23 years 

in Scotland, she looked for opportunities to 

integrate her design capability with community 

culture. 

And she found it in An Drochaid Eadarainn 

(The Bridge Between Us), an innovative 

interactive website that explores the 

potential for an online experience to reflect 

the social reality of living Gaelic culture. 

“ Bridges were traditionally the place where 

Gaelic people met to sing, dance, play music, 

tell stories, even court,” says Marlene. 

“This new website, which evolved from 

Stòras a’ Bhaile, a Gaelic immersion folkways 

program held at Nova Scotia Highland 

Village, will serve as a “virtual bridge” – an 

organic archive where Gaelic learners and 

speakers can share their own songs, stories, 

videos, photographs and interviews.” 

As project manager working with a collaborative 

team that includes the Highland 

Village Museum, the Office of Gaelic Affairs, 

the Municipality of Victoria County, St. FX 

University and the Atlantic Coastal Action 

Project, Marlene brings her skills in transformational 

design to the initiative. 

“ My research practice focuses on designing 

for experience, employing methods involving 

everyday people to address issues of 

sustainability,” she explains “I use creative 

play and visual thinking methods to create 

common understanding, share knowledge 

and generate ideas.” 

“ You could say I build scaffolding that allows 

others to bring their life experience and 

expertise to the design process.” 


www.nscad.ca/report2011/profile-ivey.html 



Board of Governors 2010 - 2011 

David B. Smith, President 

Officers 

Michael Donovan, Chairman 

TBA, Vice Chairman 

Paul Goodman, Treasurer 

Margaret Fountain, Secretary 

Student Representatives 

Natasha Krzyzewski 

Craig Budovitch 

Alumni Representatives 

David Murphy 

Julia Rivard 

Message from the Chair Michael Donovan 

For close to 125 years, Halifax has 

been home to a small but massively influential 

presence, an institution that’s 

come to define our city, both here and 

in visual arts circles worldwide. 

NSCAD is more than bricks and 

mortar. It’s the creative pulse of 

downtown Halifax. 

Appointed Governors in Council 

Ian Austen 

Richard W. Emberley 

Paul Goodman, Treasurer 

Victor Syperek 

Governors at Large 

Frank Anderson 

Rob Cameron 

Michael Donovan, Chairman 

Margaret Fountain, Secretary 

Kim Knoll 

Kevin Latimer 

Grant Machum 

Gillian McCain 

Jim Mills 

Rob G. C. Sobey 

Faculty Representatives 

Rudi Meyer 

Jan Peacock 

Honorary Governors 

Rob Hain 

David Silcox 

Life Governors 

June Buchanan 

Ross Christie 

Tom Forrestall 

Charles A. E. Fowler 

Robert E. Geraghty 

Deborah McLean 

Gregory Silver 

Frank Van Wie Penick 

Charlotte Wilson-Hammond 

In Memoriam 

With sadness and regret, the NSCAD 

community marked the passing of three 

long-time friends of the university: 

Mary Sparling, Doctor of Fine Arts, 1994 

Margo Takacs Marshall 

Shirley Thomson, Doctor of Fine Arts, 1999 

That presence is NSCAD University - 

and its influence is everywhere. 

From our two downtown heritage campuses 

to the clean, contemporary lines 

of our Port Campus on the city’s waterfront, 

NSCAD defines our city’s – indeed, 

our region’s - cultural landscape. 

You see it in our galleries and studios. 

Our public art. In theatre. Fashion 

and design. Our film and music industries, 

and beyond. Wherever you find 

creative energy, you’ll likely discover 

the deft touch NSCAD alumni, faculty 

or students at work. 

NSCAD is more than bricks and 

mortar. It’s the creative pulse of 

downtown Halifax. What goes on here 

- in all its intensity and vibrancy and 

passion – permeates our city, bringing 

a cultural depth and dimension 

to this regional centre. 

And as a nidus of innovation and new 

thinking, NSCAD has made Halifax an 

internationally recognized centre for 

creative practice and research. 

So how does a small, specialized 

university come to exercise such 

influence? 

Precisely because we’re small and 

specialized. 

That makes us nimble and agile. 

Here, new ideas can take root and 

germinate quickly across disciplines, 

unencumbered by layers of administrative 

complexity. 

That makes us flexible, able to 

respond quickly to creative opportunities 

and challenges. 

As a result, NSCAD attracts both 

internationally renowned faculty and 

immensely motivated students, drawn 

to intimate, intense environment of an 

art and design school. 

Most importantly, through, our single 

focus means all our financial and 

human resources can be directed to 

realizing one compelling vision: to 

set the standard for the 21 st century 

school of the visual arts. 

NSCAD is unique, the sole university 

east of Toronto dedicated to art and 

design, and one of only four in the 

country. We are a vital force socially, 

culturally and economically in Atlantic 

Canada. And as this year’s report so 

clearly demonstrates, our growing 

reputation for excellence in research 

and creative practice is setting the 

course for our future as Canada’s 

premier university of the visual arts. 


Nova Scotia College of Art and Design 

5163 Duke Street 

Halifax, NS 

B3J 3J6 Canada 

T 902 494 8251 

www.nscad.ca/report2011 

For financial information, visit 

www.nscad.ca/report2011/financials

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