ryerson indigenous art

Ryerson is making a small but significant change to its university campus in Toronto

Ryerson University will announce this week that a new Indigenous public art installation is coming to campus. 

The school says the art piece is the result of a multi-year project  worked on by the university's Truth and Reconciliation Strategic Working Group and members of the school's Indigenous community. 

An Instagram account ran by Indigenous students called "@wreckonciliation_x_university" posted a photo late last week of what looks like the installation being brought to campus. 

The photo shows a structure that seems to resemble an Indigenous medicine wheel, along with a sign that says "a change is coming".

The school didn't confirm whether the medicine wheel is connected to the new installation, though they did confirm that the "change is coming" sign is not related to a public art structure being installed. 

The new art comes after months of the school being under fire for its ties to Egerton Ryerson, a 19th-century educator and minister who contributed to the creation of the residential school system. 

This summer, the 215 bodies of Indigenous children found in B.C. at an old residential school, sparked a series of events at the university to reject its links to Ryerson. 

This includes, the toppling over of the Egerton Ryerson statue in June, numerous protests and mounting pressure to change the university's name. 

The school was being referred by students and teachers as "X University" before the university announced they would change it's name in late August. 

Ryerson told blogTO that the new installation was planned to go up before the statue of Egerton came down, and therefore will not be replacing the statue. 

The school said it will be making an official announcement about the installation on Wednesday. 

Lead photo by

Ryerson University


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