Matthew Ryan Smith, PhD, is a curator, writer, and editor mainly of Scottish and Ukrainian descent. He is the Curator & Head of Collections of Glenhyrst Art Gallery in Brantford, Ontario, the literary editor of First American Art Magazine, and an editorial board member for the Yearbook of Moving Image Studies. He grew up in Scarborough and Pickering, Ontario.

Matthew holds a BFA in Visual Art from York University (2007), an MA in Art History from the University of Toronto (2008), and a PhD in Art & Visual Culture from Western University (2012). His dissertation, “Relational Viewing: Art, Trauma, and the Viewer,” focuses on the ethics of spectatorship.

Matthew has taught courses and seminars on art history, curatorial studies, design theory, and media studies at the University of Toronto (Mississauga), Western University, OCAD University, and the Haliburton School of Art (Fleming College).

His academic research focuses on a breadth of subjects, from the aesthetics of indentureship and aerosol muralism to autobiographical culture and Wabanaki canoes. His studies have been published in several academic journals and books including Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, Journal of Curatorial Studies, The Senses and Society, Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism, Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, Canadian Journal of Native Studies, Canadian Film Journal, and Intersections: Canadian Journal of Music, among others.

Matthew has also published critical essays, exhibition reviews, and interviews in publications including Canadian Art, Border Crossings, C Magazine, PREFIX Photo, ESSE arts + opinions, Blackflash Magazine, Studio Magazine, and more.

In 2022, Matthew served as the editor for Eli Baxter’s book Aki-wayn-zih: A Person as Worthy as the Earth, which details the author’s Anishinaabay worldview and residential school experience. The book received the 2022 Governor General’s Award for English-language nonfiction.

Matthew lives in London, Ontario.