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About the Collection List of Artists |
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The Simon Fraser University art collection has grown from its beginnings in the late 1960s to include more than 5,000 works in 2009.
The first works in the collection were two tile mosaics made by Vancouver artist Gordon Smith in 1965, the year that SFU opened its doors. The mosaics are just west of the pond in the AQ (Academic Quadrangle) and are available for viewing day and night, 365 days a year. The collection is diverse, but includes significant clusters of key works by certain artists, such as the group of 17 works by the Quebec painter Marcel Barbeau, several of which currently hang in highly visible public spaces. There are signature examples of work from Vancouver painters Richard Turner and Joan Balzar, Ontario artists such as William Ronald and David Craven, and significant sculptures by Bill Reid and Geert Maas. As is the case at many Canadian universities, much of the collection is on public, or semi-public view at any given time. Our twinned goals are to care for the collection and to make it widely accessible—this accessibility is an extension of SFU's educational mandate. Our students may or may not have grown up with art in their homes, but after their time at SFU, they will have become accustomed to being in daily contact with art. The SFU website cannot currently accommodate a full, interactive list of works with images. That is the next step. In the interim, you can consult a list of approximately 130 artists whose works are in the collection, on the List of Artists page. |