Garry Kennedy

Life & Legacy

Garry Neill Kennedy, (6 November 1935 – 8 August 2021) was a Canadian conceptual artist, educator and administrator from St. Catharines, Ontario. Kennedy worked at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) for over 40 years and was the president of the university from 1967–1990. During his tenure, Kennedy launched the school into an internationally renowned art institution, connecting Halifax with larger artistic centres, including New York's contemporary art scene. After retiring from this position, Kennedy continued to work at NSCAD as a full time professor until 2005, and part-time until 2011, all the while maintaining his own art practice. In the mid-1970s, Kennedy created works that investigated the processes and materials of painting, and in the first decade of the 2000s, he expanded his practice to investigate art and its social, institutional, corporate and political frameworks.