Painter and conceptual artist Gerald Ferguson (1937 2009) played a central role in transforming Halifax Nova Scotia College of Art and Design into one of North America leading art schools in the 1970s. Skirting easy categorization. His work pursued a conflicted anti romantic tough school of high modernism one that directly challenged the historical context within which paintings had been made collected and discussed for centuries. Internationally exhibited and collected. Fergusons work won him the 1995 Molson Prize for distinguished contribution to Canadian culture Provided by publisher.