Dr. Gerald McMaster to be given honorary degree by University of Saskatchewan

OCAD University’s Professor Dr. Gerald McMaster will receive an honorary degree from the University of Saskatchewan.  

Born near North Battleford, Sask. on the Red Pheasant First Nation, Dr. Gerald McMaster (PhD) is a Plains Cree artist, curator and professor. In the words of one of his honorary-degree nominators, he has made significant contributions “to visual arts, arts administration, and to inclusion and reconciliation.”

A continuing focus of McMaster’s work has been to increase the representation of Indigenous art and artists in galleries and museums and to modify the way culturally sensitive objects have been handled and displayed. In his current position as a Canada Research Chair, he is working with international collaborators on research projects that examine “contact zones” where two or more cultures interact with each other and explore how relationships affect Indigenous artistic expression. 

McMaster also continues to pursue the question, which has interested him throughout his career, of how Indigenous voices can bring new perspectives to established disciplines such as art, history and anthropology. He is an officer of the Order of Canada and a recipient of a National Aboriginal Achievement Award.