Derek Michael Besant

Derek Michael Besant (born 1950 in Alberta) is a Canadian artist living in Calgary, Alberta.

Besant studied at University of Calgary, where he received a BFA Honours in 1973 and continued with Graduate Studies in 1974. He was Exhibitions Designer for The Glenbow Museum between 1973 -1977. He designed exhibitions throughout the art gallery and museum spaces, along with catalogues and travelling exhibitions. The Alberta College of Art and Design invited him to teach in the Drawing / Fine Arts Department in 1977. He has taught there ever since for the past thirty years. He was the Head of the Drawing Department between 1979 – 1991.

He won the Alberta Governor General Award in Art 1980, the World Culture Prize in Research Arts & Letters from Milan Italy in 1983, a Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999 from University of Calgary and The Smithsonian Museum of the Americas Portfolio Award in Boston in 2005.

Some of his public commissions include: The Flatiron Mural in 1980 behind Toronto’s landmark Gooderham flatiron building on Front Street, Waterfall at 15 storeys high inside the atrium of Scotia Plaza at King & Bay in 1989, and two murals for Worldwide Centre at 58th and 8th Manhattan Cineplex New York City in 1989.

Besant's exhibitions have included: Representing Canada in the Sharjah Biennial in 2003, United Arab Emirates, University of London Goldsmiths College, Tokyo Media-Art Festival, Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Japan, the 2004 Siggraph International Conference on Computer Imaging + Interactive Technologies, Los Angeles in 2004.

Honours

• Royal Canadian Academy of Arts

External links

• Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
• Curtain Wall Mural in Toronto
• University of Alberta
• University of Manitoba
• Alberta Foundation for the Arts