Persona

McKay, Art F., 1926-

Painter and art professor Arthur McKay was born in Nipawin, Saskatchewan in 1926. He studied art at the Alberta Institute of Technology and Art in Calgary (1946-1948), the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris (1949-1950), and at Columbia University in New York and the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania (1956-1957). He also attended the Emma Lake Artists Workshops under Jack Shadbolt (1955), Joe Plaskett (1956), Will Barnet (1957), Barnett Newman (1959), and Jules Olitski (1964). In 1952 Art McKay was appointed Special Lecturer in Art at the School of Art, University of Saskatchewan, Regina College. He was Head of the School from 1964-1967, eventually retiring from the University of Regina as Associate Professor in 1987, whereupon he was named Professor Emeritus. During a leave from the University, McKay also taught at the Nova Scotia College of Art in Halifax, 1967-1969. Art McKay is a member of the famous 'Regina Five' abstract painters who received international attention when their work was featured in an exhibition entitled 'Five Painters from Regina' organized by the National Gallery of Canada in 1961. His work has been shown across Canada and internationally and is represented in many public and private collections. He currently lives in British Columbia.