Gerald McMaster speaking at the University of Saskatchewan. (Submitted photo/Stobbe Photography)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Outstanding achivement

Red Pheasant’s McMaster receives honour for artistic accomplishments

Mar 9, 2022 | 4:30 PM

Gerald McMaster, who has cultivated one of the most distinguished careers in Canadian art over more than 40 years, has been recognized by his peers.

Originally from Red Pheasant Cree Nation, McMaster was given an Outstanding Achievement Award last week, as part of the 2022 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts. These are handed out by Canada Council for the Arts.

During an interview with battlefordsNOW, McMaster said it’s an honour to receive this recognition. The award, created in 1999, also comes with a $25,000 cash prize.

“[I’m thankful to] the jury who nominated me, my family who supported me and the artists,” McMaster said. “All the Indigenous artists I’ve ever worked with and wrote about. It means a lot to me.”

(submitted/Gerald McMaster)

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The long-time educator and curator has received a number of awards during his career, including the Order of Canada in 2005, but he said it’s special to receive this distinction from the artistic community in Canada. One of the things McMaster is proudest of is helping to push Indigenous art into the forefront.

“There was a lot of effort to try to position Indigenous art and artists in the mainstream,” he said. “Much of my career was about doing that.”

Seeing that progress over several decades, to where it’s more and more frequent to see Indigenous artists and curators, McMaster said he’s hopeful about the future.

“The landscape has changed, I’m very happy with what has gone on over these many years,” he said.

Gerald McMaster in the Cultural Resources Centre, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, from 2002. (submitted/Gerald McMaster)

Time of transition

A professor of Indigenous Visual Culture and Critical Curatorial Studies at OCAD University, as well as Director of the Wapatah Centre for Indigenous Visual Knowledge, McMaster’s career has taken him across the world. Prior to living in Toronto for the past 15 years, he had stops in cities like Washington D.C. and Philadelphia.

Gerald McMaster in Amsterdam, Holland, from 1985. (submitted/Gerald McMaster

However, a new chapter is coming, as McMaster will retire from his university position at the end of the year. He said it’s going to allow him to pursue several of his passions and visit family and friends back home.

“Now I can be selfish with my time, and focus on things that are more personal,” he said. “It’s always a pleasure for me to go back home.”

One of the projects that will keep him busy in his retirement will even take place in the Battlefords. McMaster is planning to work with some of his cousins in documenting Indigenous histories. This includes writing, interview elders and recovering images that identify individuals.

“Much of [our history] has been erased through government policy, whether it’s unwritten or memories have disappeared,” McMaster said. “I’m hoping to contribute and develop something that’s important.”

“There’s histories to be written.”

(submitted/Gerald McMaster)

He added that a future possibility is building a small cultural centre near the main road in Red Pheasant, which would be for both people in the community and passerby’s.

Next project

Currently, McMaster still has one major curatorial endeavor to present before wrapping up many of his duties in Toronto. Arctic Amazon: Networks of Global of Indigeneity will premiere in September at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery and Ryerson Image Centre, show casing artists from across the circumpolar arctic (including Greenland, Alaska and Scandinavia). There are also Amazonian artists from Peru, Brazil and more.

“It will be a big project, to connect these regions together,” McMaster said. “I’m quite excited about it, I’ve been working on it from several years.”

Writers are currently crafting essays for the project, that will be included in a large book and published at a later date.

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josh.ryan@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @JoshRyanSports