Gordon Smith studied at the Vancouver School of Art for one year in 1935 before enrolling at the Winnipeg School of Art from 1937 to 1940. After serving overseas during the Second World War, he returned to Vancouver and completed his diploma at the Vancouver School of Art in 1944. He went on to teach at the school from 1945 to 1954, before joining the faculty at the University of British Columbia. Smith played a central role in shaping Vancouver’s postwar art scene, both as an influential teacher and as a practicing artist who helped introduce modernist ideas to a younger generation. His work in abstraction and landscape contributed to the development of a distinctly West Coast modernism, and his long teaching career fostered a community of artists who would go on to define the city’s reputation as a centre of contemporary art.

The Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts (VSDAA) opened on October 1, 1925, marking the beginning of formalized art education in the city. Founded through the efforts of the British Columbia Society of Fine Arts, the school was a response to Vancouver’s rapid growth and the need for cultural institutions. Under its first director, Charles H. Scott, and with prominent faculty including Jock Macdonald and Fred Varley, the VSDAA quickly became a centre of artistic activity. A vibrant social and intellectual community grew around the school, supported by figures such as John Vanderpant and Harold Mortimer Lamb. In 1933 the school was renamed the Vancouver School of Art, and over the decades it continued to expand, eventually becoming Emily Carr University of Art + Design. In 2025 the institution celebrates its centenary, a testament to its enduring role in shaping the cultural landscape of Vancouver and beyond.