Kathy Moscou

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Design

• Visual Arts
• Public Health
• Design for Health

Kathy Moscou’s background is eclectic and unique, merging visual arts and health. Her lived experience, born as an African American, informs her art, focus on Black cultural aesthetics, contemporary design for social justice, commitment to the Black community and choice of research – which focuses on equity and empowerment of Black and Indigenous youth in Canada, the United States, and across the African diaspora.

Kathy’s experience contributing to the education of post-secondary students and exhibition history span more than 20 years. Her Ph.D research of pharmacogovernance and comparative health policy addresses equity in drug safety and governance to foster healthy communities. The representative stories in her art, deeply rooted in Black cultural traditions, explore contemporary issues of racism and identity by challenging viewers to see and think beyond contemporary stereotypes, the framing they put on the world and which the world places on them. She uses design, color, form, and symbols to communicate concepts of Kujichuglia (self-determination), Black cultural pride, resilience, agency and empowerment. Her work has been exhibited in Art Gallery of Southwest Manitoba, Brandon, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, M. Rosetta Hunter Gallery, Seattle and the Bellevue Art Museum. Kathy embraces a human-centered philosophy of design that empowers individuals or communities seeking to address specific issues to contribute to or collaborate with the designer/design team in designing solutions.