Toronto, November 13, 2025 — The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) has elected Dr. Zainub Verjee, C.M., as one of its newest members, recognizing her extraordinary contributions to the visual and media arts in Canada and internationally.
The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts is the oldest national body of professional Canadian artists, founded in 1880 by Canada’s Governor General, John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, in conjunction with the establishment of the National Gallery of Canada. For nearly a century and a half, the Academy has represented the highest peer recognition for artistic excellence, honouring those whose work has shaped Canada’s cultural and intellectual life.
Modeled after the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts serves as the nation’s pre-eminent body recognizing excellence in the visual, media, and design arts. Founded under vice-regal patronage alongside the creation of the National Gallery of Canada, the RCA has played a role in Canada comparable to that of the Royal Academy of Arts in the United Kingdom and the National Academy of Design in the United States—institutions
that both honour and shape the artistic life of their nations.
Dr. Verjee joins a distinguished lineage of Academicians that includes painters Lawren P. Harris, Betty Goodwin, Marcelle Ferron, Daphne Odjig, and Mary Pratt; media artists Sara Diamond, Gordon Monahan, and Luc Courchesne; visual artist Ian Baxter&; filmmakers Norman McLaren and Michael Snow; architects Arthur Erickson and Jack Diamond; photographers Yousuf Karsh, Suzy Lake, and Marian Penner Bancroft; and Inuit artists Kenojuak Ashevak, and Pitseolak
Ashoona.
A Member of the Order of Canada and laureate of the Governor General’s Award for Visual and Media Arts, Dr. Verjee’s election to the RCA underscores her artistic excellence, intellectual leadership, and commitment to advancing art as a catalyst for social transformation. Her work has been exhibited internationally at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; the Venice Biennale of Visual Arts; the Asian Triennale of Manchester; the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art; and in major exhibitions across France, Mexico, and India.
In addition to her artistic practice, Dr. Verjee has played a defining role in shaping cultural policy and cultural institutions in Canada. She serves as a Senior Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto, and a McLaughlin College Fellow at York University, and sits on the Board of Directors at the Aga Khan Museum.
“Election to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts is among the highest honours an artist can receive from their peers,” said Dr. Verjee. “It is deeply affirming to have one’s work and ideas
recognized within a community that believes in art’s moral and civic possibilities.”
Dr. Verjee’s election to the RCA consolidates her legacy as one of Canada’s influential cultural figures, an artist, thinker, and advocate whose work continues to shape conversations across the arts, public policy, and global cultural thought. She is currently the Executive Director of Galeries Ontario/Ontario Galleries.
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