Art Work: Community-Based Art 
Tuesday, Oct. 14, 11 a.m. (Atlantic)
Join Irvine Carvery Jr. (BDes 2006) and Amber Solberg (BFA 2013) as they discuss community activation, community-oriented art, their careers and the 'Nocturne effect'. Registration required.

Alumni Campus Tour: Join fellow NSCAD alumni for a tour of the university! We will start at the Fountain Campus, have a snack and chat break and then head over to the Port Campus. Saturday, Oct. 18, 10:30 a.m. (Atlantic) 5163 Duke St., Halifax, NS. RSVP here.

Award: Congratulations Claire Drummond (MFA 2023) who is the 2025 recipient of the Joseph Plaskett Award in Painting. The award comes with a $65,000 prize and Claire's work will be showcased at the Joe Plaskett Foundation Booth during Art Toronto in October. This award will allow Claire to spend time in Edinburgh, Scotland, to grow her artistic practice and reconnect with the Scottish heritage. In Europe, she will visit London, Paris, Florence and the Vatican to deepen her understanding of the evolution of maternal visual history. These references, combined with archival imagery and Celtic mythology, will serve as a starting point for a new corpus of works subverting inherited narratives of maternal memory and mythology, in order to better represent the interdependence and vulnerability of contemporary human experience. Read more. 

Award Finalist: Melanie Barnett (MFA 2024) has been selected as a finalist for the Salt Spring National Art Prize (SSNAP) 2025. Melanie's ceramic sculptural work When There Were No Frogs will join 51 other works by talented artists' creations and part of SSNAP. Exhibition runs Sept. 27 - Oct. 19. Awards Gala: Saturday, Oct. 18, 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. Mahon Hall, 114 Rainbow Rd, Salt Spring Island, BC  Read more.

Permanent Collection Acquisition: Congratulations to Pam Ritchie (BFA 1972, MFA 1985, Professor Emerita) whose sculptural jewellery work has been selected as part of the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal Decorative Arts and Design permanent collection. Read more. 

New Book: The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco is celebrating the ‘hatchday’ of one of its most iconic celebrities – Claude the Albino Alligator. Creative director 
Rhonda Rubinstein (BDes 1983) took the opportunity to create a children’s book about Claude called The Curious Colour of Claude with illustrations by Michael Bartalos. The Academy brought the community together for a month-long celebration of Claude (with the SF mayor proclaiming an official "Claude the Alligator Hatchday") alongside the launch of the book. Read more.

Mentorship: Visual Arts Nova Scotia has selected Kamila Orbegoso (BFA 2024), Jordan Johnson, Jessica Steele and Shane Keyu Song (MDES 2010) for its 2025/26 Mentorship Program. 
The emerging artists have been paired with mentors Margarita Fainshtein (Instructor), Melanie Colosimo (Former Gallery Director), Christopher Webb and Mathew Reichertz (MFA 1999, Faculty). The mentorship will culminate in 2026 with and exhibit featuring participants' work. Read more.

Residency: Cameron Walker (BFA 2024) has taken up residency at Union House Arts for September. Like a crow to shiny street scraps, he collects forgotten objects, images, inherited stories and traditions; constructing them into ‘homes,’ for feelings of grief, desire, and to confront collective histories. Their work is complicated through the lens of settler-Indigenous neuroqueer identities which Cameron inhabits. Read more.

Art Tour: Surfside Studio Tour is a free, self-guided tour of artist and artisan studios including Alissa Kloet (BFA 2011) of Keephouse, Barbara Thompson (BFA 1993), Erin Hollingshead (BFA 2016), Gloria Dunbar (BFA 1973) and more. The tour includes the communities of Lawrencetown, East and West Lawrencetown, Three Fathom Harbour, Seaforth, Grand Desert, and West Chezzetcook. Sunday, Sept. 28. Read more.

Book Launch and Talk: The Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art at Concordia University presents the virtual launch of, Craft & Craftivism: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Ceramic, Fibre, and Glass Artists in Canada, a free, three-volume e-publication. With guest speakers Shannon Stride, Denis Longchamps and Susan Surette.
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. (Eastern). Register Here.

Experience: Nocturne's 18th annual Art-at-Night event will take place 
October 16 - 19 across Halifax and Dartmouth with dozens of outdoor and indoor installations, performances, interactive projects, artist talks, workshops, and more! Main Project Showcase: Saturday, 
Oct. 18, 6 p.m. to midnight. 
Nocturne curator Marite Kuus has selected the theme Ground to inform and unite the many incredible projects. Look out for a NSCAD Guide to Nocturne on official social channels. Read more.

Exhibition: Magical Portals: Fairy Doors and Miniatures works by Nikki-Dee Maggio (BFA 2023) and Jennifer Eames. Combining photography and miniature sculpture, this exhibition captures child-like creativity and imagination. Runs until Sept. 28. Craig Gallery, Alderney Landing, 2 Ochterloney St., Dartmouth, NS. Read more.

Exhibition: Wien Chiaroscuro - A real-time immersive 3D stroll through Vienna’s rich history by Luc Courchesne (BDes 1974, Hon Doc 2022). Created during an artist residency, Luke takes us through his Viennese adventure, unveiling the creative processes and strategies used to transform the spectator into a wandering visitor. Runs until Oct. 2. Society for Arts and Technologies, 1201, Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. Read more.

Exhibition: In the Company of Crows, mixed-media paintings and drawings by Michael Peters (BFA 2009). Peters embraces an energetic and expressionistic approach that distills the vibrant and mythic qualities of these birds – their emotional and symbolic qualities – their “crow-ness”– rather than depicting their exact visual qualities. These are creatures that embody the paradox of being both ‘tricksters and messengers, untamed yet cunning, and always ambiguous’.
Reception: Friday, Oct. 3, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Runs until Oct. 12. PEER GALLERY, 166 Lincoln St, Lunenburg, NS. Read more.

Exhibition: ELBOWS UP! addresses questions of democracy, independence, and unity in Canada through visual art. Participating artists include: Chris Andrews (BFA 2004), Douglas Bamford (BFA 1995), Wayne Boucher (BFA 1975), Gracia Isabel Gómez Cantoya (MFA 2025), Shannon Donovan (BFA 2018), Rebecca Fisk (BFA 1993), Stef Hurley (VAC 2025), Mary Jane Lundy (BFA 2003), Shauna MacLeod (BFA 2011), Wilfred P. Moore (DFA 2014), Ali Nickerson (BFA 2004), Michael Peters (BFA 2009), Marilyn Smulders (BFA 2019) & Alan Syliboy (1975). 
Runs until Oct. 19 at the Mary E. Black Gallery, Residency Studio, 1061 Marginal Rd., Halifax, NS. Read more. 

Exhibition: Birdsall Worthington Pottery’s Final Show will feature work by ceramic collaborators Pam Birdsall (BFA 1973, BA 1974) & Timothy Worthington (MFA 1977). “After 48 years of working with earthenware clay and slips, we have each developed our own approach to making pottery. The plates in this show demonstrates Pam's love of drawing with liquid clay. Tim's pieces show his approach to drawing in damp clay, brushing slip and painting with underglaze." 
Opening reception and artist talk on Thursday, Oct. 9, 7 p.m. Runs until Nov. 1. Lunenburg School of the Arts, 6 Prince St., Lunenburg, NS. Read more.

Exhibition: Float, buoyant nautically themed works by Shelley Mansel (1995 - 1998), RJ Marchand, Kim Aerts, Shelley Mitchell (BFA 1996), 
Patricia Lindley, Kevin MacLean and Jamie MacDonald. Runs until Oct. 3. Prow Gallery, 1479 Lower Water St., Unit 185, Halifax, NS. Read more.

Exhibition: Ambera Wellmann (BFA 2011) debuted two exhibitions simultaneously this month in New York. Darkling at Hauser & Wirth and One Thousand Emotions at Company Gallery, offer parallel yet sharply divergent experiences of her ongoing exploration into the instability of form, selfhood, and historical memory. Both exhibitions run until Oct. 25. Hauser & Wirth Gallery, 134 Wooster St, New York, NY. Company Gallery, 145 Elizabeth Street (Lower East Side), New York, NY. Photo by Sara Messinger for The New York Times Read more.

Exhibition: Mi'kmaw History Month exhibition and market features Indigenous artists including Alan Syliboy (1975), Karen Beals, Raven Stephens, Lourne Julien, Marlene Joudry, Melissa White, Laylia Bennet and Jade Sark. Opening reception Thursday, Oct. 2, 6 p.m. 181 Coldbrook Village Park Dr., NS. 
Read more.

Exhibition: Vacant Possession, residential landscape imagery by 
Takashi Hilferink (MFA 2022, Painting and Drawing Technician). The title describes the ideal condition in which a new tenant or property owner inhabits a residence: free from occupants, belongings, and other encumbrances of the past. But every home has its ghosts. Hilferink explores remnants of the past that linger. Runs until Oct. 11. 5431 Doyle St., Halifax, NS. Read more.

Exhibition: What Holds explores the enduring allure of the ceramic box and lidded form—not merely as utilitarian objects, but as vessels of meaning, ritual, and artistic expression. This exhibition features the work of six invited ceramic artists and 25 selected artists, including Bruce Cochrane 
(BFA 1976), Jess Riva Cooper (BFA 2004), Zimra Beiner (BFA 2009), 
Alexandra McCurdy (BFA 1980), and more. Runs Sept. 26 - Oct. 22. Vessels + Sticks, 112 Avenue Rd., Toronto, ON. Read more.

Exhibition: In a world shaped by distance, caution, and accelerating technology, what does it mean to truly feel? Hands On by Halifax-based artist and educator Mengnan Qu (BFA 2012) explores this question through enamel, silk, and sculpted hands. To be fully alive is to be hands on. Runs until Oct. 26. Mary E. Black Gallery, 1061 Marginal Rd., Halifax, NS. Read more. 

Awards: Three NSCAD faculty members have received Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grants. The SSHRC supports post-secondary-based research, research training and knowledge mobilization activities in the social sciences and humanities. The recipients, Dr. Anton Lee, Dr. Nicole Lee, and Dr. Eddy Firmin were awarded a cumulative total of $209,992 for their respective research. Read more.

Visiting Artist: Jeweller, teacher and author Daniela Malev is hosting 
Connections: Physical and Mechanical connections in Adornment. As part of her public lecture, Malev will look at the pin mechanisms in samples of contemporary brooches and analyze function and incorporation of design. Malev's talk is based on her book, To the Point – pin mechanisms and brooch back design. Thursday, Oct. 2, 12 p.m. The Institute (location to be confirmed). Read more.

In Memoriam: James MacSwain (Faculty), multidisciplinary artist and pillar of Nova Scotia’s cultural community, died September 6 at the age of 80. He was at home, surrounded by friends. The NSCAD community mourns this prolific artist, who worked in performance art, animation, film, bookmaking, and sculpture. He taught at NSCAD for 40 years, inspiring and mentoring countless students and colleagues. Read more.

Visiting Artist Screening: A screening and artist talk with Seth Scriver (BFA 2002) & Pete Scriver and their animated film Endless Cookie. The film explores the relationship between brothers living half a country apart in Toronto and northern Manitoba. The narrative follows Pete's stories about life in the north, alongside a collage of animated vignettes. Friday, Oct. 3, 6:30 p.m. Carbon Arc Cinema, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, NS. Read more.

Exhibition: Landscapes is a curated selection of paintings and sculpture from much-loved NSCAD artist and professor emeritus Gerald Ferguson’s (1937 - 2009). In these works, Ferguson makes his most direct address to place: aligning the stark and economical approaches to painting he developed as a conceptual artist with the raw and sparse beauty of Nova Scotia. Runs until Nov. 8. The Blue Building, 2482 Maynard Street, Halifax, NS. 
Read more.

Exhibition: Geology, features textile work by Frances Dorsey (Former Faculty). Textiles in this exhibition  feature hand woven on a jacquard loom and others are double weave on a multi-shaft loom; all are dyed with natural dyes on linen, cotton and silk. Runs until Oct. 26. Ice House Gallery, 31 Creamery Rd., Tatamagouche, NS. Read more.