GRAHAM LARKIN

Trained as an historian of art and architecture (PhD Harvard, 2003) I’ve taught the histories of landscape, books, maps, and art collecting at universities in the US and Canada. I’ve also taught classes in data visualization, I’ve lectured widely on the ‘media practice’ of Marshall McLuhan, and I’ve held a variety of research positions in the Canadian federal service.

I’ve worked for many years as a curator at museums large and small, including six years running the Department of European & American Art at the National Gallery of Canada. The most satisfying part of the Gallery job was reinstalling 20 galleries of art. I like creating environments where people are free to move around and discover beautiful things.

In recent years I’ve taken my love of complex problems and liberating environments to the streets. I run a number of advocacy organizations (Slow Ottawa, Vision Zero Canada, Love 30 Canada) devoted to safe and sustainable urban mobility. History and geography teach us that we do not have to live in a car-dependent environment, and that so-called ‘accidents’ are predictable and preventable. Through humane, evidence-based regulation and design we can make streets that are better for everyone, including drivers.

In plague year MMXX I moved from Ottawa to Los Angeles, where I’m still active with safe mobility campaigning, as well some California history projects.

Scroll down to explore some of the campaigns I’ve created, and drop me a line if you’d like to know more.