Vale John Reid

Vale, John Colin Reid

 
The School of Art and Design notes with great sadness the passing of our Emeritus Fellow, John Reid.

As a nationally and internationally respected artist, researcher, educator and graphic designer, John Reid's work engaged with environmental, multidisciplinary, and ethically conscious practices. ​Educated at ANU (BA), UNSW (MFA) and AIDA, John Reid joined (the then) Canberra School of Art in 1978 and worked here until his retirement in 2013, whereupon he occupied the position of Emeritus Fellow and continued to engage as an artist, educator, researcher and beloved mentor. His long-term projects included the Collage of Australian Banknotes (from 1981); The Fishman of SE Australia (from 1988), Walking the Solar System (from 2000) and the National Environment Bank (from 2000). 

Informed by his deep commitment to ecological conditions and human rights, John implemented a field-based method of enquiry to inform his work, collaborating with a range of specialist perspectives (including scientific researchers, creative practitioners, activists, government/non-government agencies) and Indigenous communities. John fostered engagements with ecological and cultural landscapes and those tied to them (including the late philosopher and ecofeminist, Val Plumwood). Engagements with First Nations communities informed his graphic designs from the late 1960s and through the 1970s and brought visual art to the service of social justice and the argument for Treaty. Walking and working on Walbanga and Wandandian Country, John encouraged deep engagement with the past and present that was at once ethical and embodied.

His enduring contribution to the pedagogy of the ANU SoAD, lies in his establishment of the Environment Studio, and the Field Study Program, which he initiated in 1996. During his tenure at the School, John convened more than 30 field programs, enabling art students to engage with meaningful dialogue with public leaders and specialists, local, regional, and international creatives, and representatives from the various communities they encountered, around Canberra, interstate and internationally. As Chief Investigator of the ARC funded Engaging Visions Research Project (2007–10) John convened and oversaw the evaluation of participants in Field Study Programs, specific to river catchment communities in Australia’s Murray Darling Basin.

John Reid's legacy is the foundation stone for the ANU SoAD Environment Studio electives and outreach programs (2015 - present) which prioritise First Nations knowledges and on Country perspectives, within his model for field-based learning within creative communities. Artist, educator, mentor, loving partner to Marzena, beloved father and friend, John’s generous spirit and wry humour underpinned a formidable, innovative creative legacy that has touched the lives of many. He will be greatly missed.
 

Chaitanya Sambrani & Amanda Stuart