David McGregor: Exploring Connections

David McGregor invites his students to pay attention. The Northwestern Polytechnic Visual Arts instructor is building his teaching and arts practice on the idea of noticing and reacting to the land we share.

“A lot of art is paying attention to what’s around you and responding,” David explains. 

His artwork explores the intersections between people, forests, and the changing land. Using a variety of artistic mediums, including photography, sculpture, printmaking and installation, David’s multidisciplinary work hinges on noticing and exploring the changing systems that surround us.

David’s practice has drawn attention on the national stage as well. The Rewilding Arts Prize, presented by the David Suzuki Foundation and Rewilding Magazine, selected David’s work as one of twenty finalists from more than 650 applicants. Selected for “artistic strength, ecological depth and unmistakable creative spark,” David’s work embodies the prize’s theme of reconnecting with nature and seeding discussion.

“It was exciting news – it felt like it was a long shot,” says David. But an exploration of his work makes clear that David’s practice exemplifies the themes of the prize. One ongoing project sees David carving water bowls into tree stumps, filling them with water, and documenting wildlife response during extreme heat events. Also in progress is Fire Lines, a project that translates wildfire perimeter maps into steel and acrylic models, prints, photography, and video. 

“I’m thinking about wildfires as an expression on the land, like a drawing,” says David. 

“Wildfires are related to both human activity and natural systems. It helps us think about being part of a complex web that impacts us as we impact it.” Fire Lines will tour northwestern Alberta as part of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts’ TREX program, which helps make the work of contemporary Alberta artists available throughout the province.

David is also a full-time instructor in NWP’s Fine Arts department, teaching courses such as video production and digital photography to visual arts and graphic design students. Lately, he’s excited about a new course called Visual Communication, an interdisciplinary offering for graphic design students. “Designers get a real grounding in visual media and building literacy in more than one discipline,” says David.

The graphic design and visual arts programs at NWP are both rigorous and practical, David notes. “They give you a way of thinking that’s helpful in creative work in general,” he says. “You can find your own way to be a creative problem-solver in both programs, which is a very transferable skill.” 

“There’s a collaborative spirit here,” says David of teaching at NWP. “The distance across disciplines isn’t as far as it is at some bigger institutions.” He appreciates that colleagues across the Polytechnic are interested in and supportive of each other’s work.

David’s eye for interconnection, on the land and in the classroom, is enhancing and enlarging the conversation at Northwestern Polytechnic and in our community. NWP is enriched by David’s perspectives and is proud to see his work recognized across Canada.