Speaker Series

Upcoming Speakers

VADF Winter 2026

25 February 2026, 5 p.m. | FAB 2-20

Erin Morton | White Settler Anti-Relationality: The Curious Case of Taylor Swift and Canadian Art History

What does Taylor Swift have to do with Canadian Art History? While the Group of 7 had their own railway funded Eras Tour, white feminist Canadian artists such as Mary Pratt share a reputation for Swift's realist if muted social commentary. This talk examines the histories of white settler anti-relationality that led to "seeing like a settler" from the 19th-century photograph studio of William Norman to the 2020 folklore album and beyond.

Erin Morton is Associate Vice President Research at St. Francis Xavier University in Nalikitquniejk, in the Epekwitk aq Piktuk district of Mi'kma'ki. Her most recent book is Unsettling Canadian Art History. view the poster 

10 March 2026, 5:15 p.m. | FAB 2-20

Emily Jan | The road to Wayfinders

Emily Jan will speak about the process of mounting her work in the Wayfinders exhibition at the Art Gallery of Alberta, which includes the first Alberta showing of the 2022 installation Kali Yuga I: Footsteps, and the brand-new work Lord of Beasts, the first in a lens-based series called Gods of the Future World. Jan will talk about her sculptural process, her 2025 residency at KIAC (the Klondike Institute for Art and Culture in Dawson City, Yukon Territory), and the work of shifting gears in mid-life and mid-career.

Emily Jan is an artist, writer, and educator based in Amiskwaciwâskahikan (ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ) / Edmonton, AB, on Treaty 6 territory. She creates intricately crafted, hyper-realistic installations of found objects inhabited by handmade flora and fauna and is guided in her work by the spirit of exploration, kinship, and curiosity. Jan has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Art Gallery of Alberta, Contemporary Calgary, the Textile Museum of Canada, the Doris McCarthy Gallery, the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, and the 10e Biennale Nationale de Sculpture Contemporaine. view the poster 

About our Speaker Series

The Department of Art & Design hosts several visiting and local speakers annually. The Visual Art & Design Forum (VADF) is a speaker series for scholars, creative researchers, artists, and designers to discuss their projects with the University of Alberta community. Presentation formats vary widely, from the traditional lecture to dynamic panel discussions.

Previous Speakers

Fall 2025

  • 24 October 2025, 12:15 p.m. | FAB 2-20 and Online : Lauren Elkin – On articulation view the poster
  • 23 September 2025, 9:30 a.m. | FAB 2-20: Tanya Lukin Linklater – Artist talk: _structural_flex_  view the poster
  • 02 October 2025, 2 p.m. | HC L1-L2: Luis Jacob – The Order of Canada view the poster 

2025 Winter

  • 16 January 2025, 5:15 p.m. | FAB 2-20: Kelly Ruth – Reality Is Not As It Seems (view poster)
  •  22 January 2025, 3:30 p.m. | Online: Shi Wenhua, Independent Filmmaker – The Act of Seeing (Something I Learned) (view poster)
  • 10 March 2025, 7 p.m. | Timms Centre for the Arts: Elisa Harkins, Visiting Artist – Wampum / ᎠᏕᎳ ᏗᎦᎫᏗ (view poster)
    11 March 2025, 5:15 p.m. | FAB 2-20: Elisa Harkins, Visiting Artist – Artist Talk (view poster)
  • 13 March 2025, 10 a.m. | FAB 2-20: Christopher Swift, Visiting Artist in Printmaking (Assistant Professor in the Department of Art & Design at Binghamton University (SUNY)) – Rethinking Design as a Collaborative Practice (view poster) 

2024 Fall

  • 12 September 2024, 5:15 p.m. | FAB 2-20: Rachel Duckhouse, Visiting Artist: Printmaking – Same River Twice (view poster)
  •  10 October 2024, 5:15 p.m. | FAB 2-20: Beth Frey, Visiting Artist: FAB Gallery / Sculpture & Expanded Media – Artist Talk (view poster)
  • 17 October 2024, 5:15 p.m. | FAB 2-20: Zoë Heyn-Jones, Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Postdoctoral Fellow (2023-25), University of Alberta, Department of Art & Design and Drama – Decomposition + Regeneration: Composting Art, Design & Performance in the Americas (view poster) 
  • 21 November 2024, 5:15 p.m. | FAB 2-20: Dr. Erandy Vergara-Vargas, Assistant Professor of Art History, MacEwan University – Making Noise in the Public Space, Here and Over There (view poster)

2024 Winter

  • 18 January 2024, 5:15pm  FAB 2-20: Emmanuel Osahor – Notes on the Garden (view poster)
  • 01 February 2024, 2:00pm  Zoom Online (RSVP to gallery@ualberta.ca to receive event link): Niedzielski + Molina - From Here to There (view poster) 
  • 07 March 2024, 5:15pm  FAB 2-20: Robin Alex McDonald (Assistant Professor, Department of Studio Arts, MacEwan University) – Pink Triangles, Blue Feelings: Representations of Depression in 2SLGBTQ+ Contemporary Art (view poster) 
  • 14 March 2024, 5:15pm  FAB 2-20: Alicia Proudfoot (Artist in Residence, Sculpture)  –Somatic Archive through Sound and Form (view poster) 

2023 Fall

2023 Winter

  • 17 January 2023, 5:15pm  FAB 2-20: Jill Miller – FUTURE PERFECT (view poster)
  • 26 January 2023, 5:15pm  FAB 2-20: Riaz Mehmood – Poetic Resistance: Reflections on Ghazal: Songs for Home (view poster)
  • 14 February 2023, 2:15pm  FAB 2-20: Richard Boulet and Yvonne Mullock – Panel Talk chaired by Professor Sean Caufield (view poster 1; view poster 2)

2022 Fall

2022 Winter

  • 24 March 2022, Howie Tsui: "Artist Talk"
  • 10 March 2022, Panel discussion with Aijie Shi, Anran Tu, Yi Liu, and Yiyin Xue: "The Double Life of Objects: Nature, Nation, Narratives and Their Material Incarnations in Twentieth-Century China"
  • 09 March 2022, Cinthia Sifa Mulanga: "Artist Talk"
  • 17 February 2022, Juliana Cerqueira Leite: "Public Lecture"
  • 03 February 2022, Heather Leier: "Public Lecture"

2021 Fall

2021 Winter

  • 25 March 2021, Lisa Silverman: "Rethinking Jewish Space in Vienna before 1938"
  • 04 March 2021, Jackson 2bears: "Studio and Research Practices"
  • 11 February 2021, Ellen Lupton and Bon Ku: "Health Design Thinking"
  • 28 January 2021, Christina Battle: "Studio Practice"

2020 Fall

2020 Winter

2019 Fall

2019 Winter

2018 Fall

2018 Winter

2017 Fall

2017 Winter

2016 Fall