Gordon Adaskin (1931-2001) was born in Toronto. He graduated from the Vancouver School of Art (now known as Emily Carr University) with an Honours Diploma in Drawing and Painting in 1952. He taught in the Vancouver school system, at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary, the Banff School of Fine Arts and at the University of Manitoba in the Faculty of Architecture until his retirement in 1993. He was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1976.