Dr. Syrus Marcus Ware is a Vanier scholar, visual artist, activist, curator and educator. Using painting, installation and performance, Syrus explores social justice frameworks and black activist culture. His work has been shown widely across Canada in solo and group shows, and his performance works have been included in local and international festivals. Author of picture book Abolition is Love (Triangle Square, 2023), and illustrator of picture book I Promise (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2019), Syrus holds a PhD from York University in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, and is Assistant Professor at the School of the Arts at McMaster University.