Royal Canadian Academy of Arts exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, 1900
—The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is the oldest national body of professional Canadian artists. The RCA was founded in 1880 by Canada’s Governor General, John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll in conjunction with the establishment of the National Gallery of Canada.
Our earliest members include painter Lucius R. O’Brien, first President of the RCA, and architect/painter Napoléon Bourassa, first Vice-President. Distinguished Academicians have since included painters Marcel Barbeau, Ghitta Caiserman-Roth, Marcelle Ferron, Clarence Gagnon, Yves Gaucher, Betty Goodwin, Lawren P. Harris, Gershon Iskovitz, Garry Neill Kennedy, Daphne Odjig, Mary Pratt, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté and Frederick Varley; filmmakers Paul Almond, Evelyn Lambart, Norman McLaren and Michael Snow; architects Charles P. Baillargé, Guy Desbarats, Jack Diamond, Arthur Erickson, John C. Parkin and Claude Provencher; landscape architects Claude Cormier and Cornelia Hahn Oberlander; photographers Lynne Cohen, Samuel Tata and Yousuf Karsh; printmakers Kenojuak Ashevak and Pitseolak Ashoona; sculptor Kiugak Ashoona; silversmith Lois Etherington Betteridge; ceramicist Erica Deichman Gregg; and performance artist Colette Urban.
Today’s RCA is committed to assuring a diversity of members and artistic disciplines. Our over 650 established visual art, design and fine craft professionals include architects, landscape architects, painters, printmakers, photographers, book artists, graphic designers, industrial designers, interior designers, fashion designers, textile artists, ceramicists, sculptors, performance artists, installation artists, filmmakers, videographers, animators, type designers, metalsmiths, media artists and more.
2019 student scholarship winners at the RCA Awards Ceremony, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University. From left: James Knapton, Department of Interior Design, School of Media and Design, Algonquin College; Ali Dixon, Department of Film and Media Studies, Queen’s University; Reda Berrada, Peter Guo-Hua Fu School of Architecture, McGill University; Jaudat Adnan, School of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Dalhousie University; and Kirstin Poulsen, Department of Fine Arts, Queen’s University
Brochure for inaugural Passages symposium, 2018
Adrian Göllner, RCA
The left hand of George Gershwin playing Rhapsody in Blue, pt. 1, 2011
The RCA has a strong contingent of linguistic minority and Indigenous members, and actively seeks new members on an annual basis. In recent years, we have developed a Diversity Statement as a means of signalling our program of inclusive values.
We celebrate, through advocacy, awards, scholarships, donations, mentorships, publications, exhibitions, and symposia, the achievements of Canada’s most accomplished cultural producers.