Alumni Digest / U of T / Ideas /
Yan Wu brings art into everyday spaces
The Markham curator and Daniels doctoral student helped bring a 43-minute sound installation to a cancer centre in Barrie.
Yan Wu, public art curator and Daniels PhD student.Photo: Mark Bennett
The context
Where the work begins
Yan Wu's route to public art included a computer science degree and five years working in that field. She sees a connection between software processes and conceptual art. After earning her Master of Visual Studies in 2015, she worked in Shanghai and at U of T's Art Museum; she is now Markham's public art curator and a Daniels PhD student.
The takeaway
What follows
A breast cancer diagnosis in 2023 prompted her to imagine art in hospital spaces. With fellow patients Kara Hamilton and Patricia Ritacca, Wu formed the collective CMBT. They brought Scott Rogers's soundscape Between Leaf & Light to Barrie's Hudson Regional Cancer Centre, exploring how art might change patients' experience of care.
Source reporting
Yan Wu brings art into everyday spaces
Original summary by Alumni Digest, based on public source reporting. This independent publication is not affiliated with or endorsed by the University of Toronto. Source image retained for editorial review; rights clearance is still required before any broader reuse.
