Anita Grants: 'Teaching is where I want to expend my energy'

Anita Grants recalls the exact moment that her passing interest in art history ignited into a full-blown passion. It happened, fittingly, in the Louvre.

She had just finished battling the crowds to catch a glimpse of da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” Unimpressed, she stepped into the main gallery to take a breather.

“I turned around, and I was within four or five feet of Eugène Delacroix’s ‘Liberty Leading the People.’ It just blew me away. I can still bring up goosebumps thinking about that,” she says.

But after leaving the museum, Grants felt troubled. Why had she had such a different reaction to the two paintings? “That question is responsible for me being here teaching art history many, many years later,” she says.

In 2005, Grants completed her PhD in Art History at Concordia, examining British art critic John Ruskin’s influence in Canada. It was her third degree from Concordia. She also earned a BA in political science and a master’s in art history, and has held different jobs at the university, including a stint as an employment officer in Human Resources.

“It’s been a really interesting experience,” she says of her 30 years at Concordia. “It’s been great to see the evolution, particularly in the art history department, and people’s commitment.”

Almost immediately after enrolling in the PhD program, Grants began teaching part-time. “It was something I’d always wanted to do,” she says. “I enjoy teaching; I think that’s what my strength is, and that's where I want to expend most of my energy.”

When asked about her approach, Grants says she’s motivated by a desire to nurture students’ appreciation of art, while also providing an understanding of its place in history.

“Some of my students have strong backgrounds in art, while others do not. Being able to put everything into a larger context helps people learn.”

Sparking students’ interest in art through the ages isn’t always easy, particularly when they’d rather be creating their own work than learning about the Pre-Raphaelites.

“I once had a student ask me, ‘Why do I have to study art history?’ I said, ‘Think of it in terms of your family tree. No, you’re not blood related, but you’re an artist. You’re related to Michelangelo, to the Renaissance, to the Greeks and the Romans. That’s all part of your family tree. That’s why I think it’s important for you.”

While Grants mostly teaches courses on 19th-century art, she has taught other subjects, including the history of sculpture, the Renaissance, and 20th-century art. She even taught a course in pop art through Concordia’s Centre for Continuing Education, in collaboration with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

The diversity keeps things interesting, Grants says, and provides her with more context for telling the greater story of art.

Looking back on that fateful day at the Louvre, Grants says that with all the knowledge she has gained, she has a better understanding of why each painting affected her differently. But it doesn’t matter as much now.

She prefers to leave the memory intact — to simply remember how it felt to be standing there in front of Delacroix’s larger-than-life image, wondering what was happening to her and why.

“The fact that there wasn't a reason. That’s what really lit the candle, the fire under me.”
 

Read about more part-time faculty members from the Faculty of Fine Arts.