Commemoration & Scholarship to Honour Gerald Ferguson

As a follow-up to the sad news of Gerald Ferguson's death last month, NSCAD has announced that friends, colleagues and family are establishing a scholarship in his name to honour his long artistic and teaching career. Donations can be sent to NSCAD University via the Ferguson Scholarship page that the college has set up.

On a related note, I just wanted to give a shout-out to the Globe's Sarah Milroy for her obit of Ferguson, which was published after my obit roundup. Milroy does a good job of capturing what Ferguson meant to many people--and also is one of the few media to confirm that Ferguson took his own life.

It is really, really sad to consider Ferguson's final act, but I'm glad it's been noted--though I'm not sure what Ferguson's particular situation was, I do know that depression and anxiety take too many lives, both in the arts and elsewhere. Gerry would cringe (and probably curse, loudly!) at the thought of becoming a poster boy for any particular "cause" or "issue"--I don't want that to happen either. But cause of death here still resounds very powerfully and sadly, at least for me.

Image of Gerald Ferguson's 600 Metres of Hose from CBC.ca