Future Building: A Symposium on Indigenous Art and Placemaking

Presented by the Doris McCarthy Gallery in partnership with the Office of Indigenous Initiatives, U of T Scarborough

Katherine Takpannie, Suputi #1, 2021. Archival pigment ink print. Collection of the Doris McCarthy Gallery, University of Toronto Scarborough. Acquired with generous support from BMO.

Future Building: A Symposium on Indigenous Art and Placemaking

Tuesday, October 20, 2026 | 9am – 6pm
Indigenous House, U of T Scarborough
Registration required

Art in Indigenous House: Public Reception and Celebration
Tuesday, October 20, 2026 | 6 – 8pm
Indigenous House, U of T Scarborough
Drop-in, all welcome

This one-day symposium is inspired by the acquisition and installation of works by Indigenous artists in the newly opened Indigenous House at U of T Scarborough. Bringing together artists, curators, scholars, and community members, the program holds space for a conversation around Indigenous art and placemaking.

Presenting artists and curators include Lori Blondeau, Catherine Blackburn, Renée Condo, Jim Oskineegish, Katherine Takpannie, Nico Williams, Jaida Grey Eagle, Lisa Myers, and Connor Taylor, who will participate in discussions, performances, and workshops about their processes and artwork.

This national program will bring a remarkable array of Inuit, Anishinaabe, Mi’gmaw, Cree/Salteaux/Métis, Oglala Lakota, and Dene perspectives and will provide important contexts to the artworks installed in Indigenous House.

Free, open to the public. Space limited, waitlist available when registration has reached capacity.

Symposium registration includes:

• Keynote lecture by Lori Blondeau
• Conversation with Catherine Blackburn and Katherine Takpannie, moderated by Jaida Grey Eagle
• Conversation with Renée Condo and Nico Williams, moderated by Lisa Myers
• Hands-on artmaking workshop: choose between a cyanotype workshop with Jaida Grey Eagle or Woodland painting workshop with Jim Oskineegish
• Catered lunch

Elder Duke Redbird will open and close the symposium.

Registrants are also invited to join for an evening dinner hosted by the Office of Indigenous Initiatives, U of T Scarborough.

Images (left to right) Catherine Blackburn, Setsuné, 2023. Light box. Collection of the Doris McCarthy Gallery, University of Toronto Scarborough, 2026. Acquired with generous support from BMO. / Nico Williams, Breeze 03, 2024. Glass beads, metal jingles on mounted on stretched wool. Collection of the Doris McCarthy Gallery, University of Toronto Scarborough, 2026. Acquired with generous support from Charles W. Brown. / Lori Blondeau, Pakwâci Wâpisk, 2017. Digital print on archival paper mounted on dibond. Collection of the Doris McCarthy Gallery, University of Toronto Scarborough, 2023. Photos by Toni Hafkenscheid.

The symposium will conclude with a public reception, open to the community. Celebrating artists Lori Blondeau, Catherine Blackburn, Renée Condo, Jim Oskineegish, Katherine Takpannie, and Nico Williams, whose works are on view throughout the building, this public reception offers the opportunity to see the artworks and engage with the artists in attendance.

The reception will include a poetry reading by Connor Taylor (an alumnus of the Doris McCarthy Gallery’s Indigenous Youth Artist-in-Residence program) and will feature a music playlist curated by Nadya Kwandibens, supported by Native Women in the Arts (NWIA).

Free, open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Registration is not required to attend the reception.

Future Building is supported by the Pedagogies of Inclusive Excellence Fund; Experiential Learning Fund; I.D.E.A.S; and the Office of Indigenous Initiatives, University of Toronto.

Doris McCarthy Gallery
University of Toronto Scarborough
1265 Military Trail
Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4
416.287.7007
dmg.utsc@utoronto.ca
dorismccarthygallery.utoronto.ca
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This program will take place at Indigenous House, located at 1053 Military Trail, on the U of T Scarborough campus. The building is wheelchair accessible. The symposium is a seated program; the reception is standing but offers opportunity for seating/rest.

Image Descriptions:
1. A photograph of dark green grass and white suputi, or arctic cottongrass, on a tundra landscape. The white seed heads are blurred, in motion from the blowing wind.
2. Three images of artwork in Indigenous House. The first is a lightbox featuring a beaded portrait of the artist’s grandmother, the middle one is a framed beadwork piece, and the final one shows two large-scale photo portraits of a woman in a red robe.