Arthur Lismer
Below Kelly McKinley, the Richard and Elizabeth Currie Director of Education and Public Programming at the Art Gallery of Ontario, gives a brief introduction to her presentation on Arthur Lismer.
A Thoroughly Modern Art Educator: Arthur Lismer at the Art Gallery of Ontario, 1927–38
Arthur Lismer is best known as one of the founding members of the Group of Seven—the group mythologized as Canada’s first national school of art. Outside of Canada, he is more likely known, if at all, as a pioneering art educator—the work to which, ironically, he devoted the majority of his professional life.
Lismer wrote that the purpose of art was not the decoration of life, but life itself. He decried the state of art education as not serving the needs of modern society by being too technical and skills-based, focusing on training the hand and the eye to the exclusion of the mind and of a more holistic view of art as a form of vision and understanding. In his lectures and writings, he explored the role of art in human development and growth and its importance in adapting to change. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, Lismer made the case for artists as interpreters of change, and for art as an antidote to a materialistic world. His views on art and art education are also echoed in his democratic social agenda for the public art museum—which he envisioned as a community center, open and at the service of people of all ages and from all walks of life.
In 1927 Arthur Lismer was hired to establish art education programs at the Art Gallery of Toronto (today the Art Gallery of Ontario). His philosophy and approach cannot be attributed to one particular individual or school of thought; rather he borrowed liberally and creatively from across many (John Dewey, American Progressive Education, John Cotton Dana, Victor D’Amico, John Ruskin). His work was also informed by a rich and varied professional life as an artist, art instructor, lecturer, graphic artist, and teacher trainer. The result of his eleven-year tenure in Toronto was a groundbreaking program and pioneering vision, not just for the city and the country, but for the world—a program and vision that brought invitations to speak, consult, and work from across Canada, and from the U.S., South Africa, Italy, France, Australia, and New Zealand.
Image Credit: Arthur Lismer, A.R.C.A.