Syrus Marcus Ware

Syrus Marcus Ware is a visual artist, community activist, researcher and educator. He has an MA in Sociology and Equity Studies at OISE, University of Toronto. His MA research considered trans policy and trans studies curriculum development in post-secondary schools in North America. Syrus is a founding member of the Transparent-cy Working Group at The 519 Community Centre. He helped to initiate the Trans-Fathers 2B course- the first course for trans men considering parenting in North America. This course ran for the first time in Toronto, Ontario in 2007. Syrus contributed a chapter in Who’s Your Daddy?: And Other Writings on Queer Parenting (Sumach Press, 2008) entitled “Going Boldly Where Few Men Have Gone Before: One Trans Man’s Experience of Fertility Clinics”. He is the author of the study “Assessing the HIV/AIDS Service Needs of Trans Communities in Toronto”, published by the AIDS Committee of Toronto in 2004. Syrus is also a member of the Gay/Bi Trans Men’s HIV Prevention Working Group for the Ontario AIDS Bureau and one of the creators of “Primed: A Back Pocket Guide for Trans Guys and the Guys Who Dig ‘Em”. He is the co-principle investigator on the Trans MSM Sexual Health Study, which begins in the fall of 2012. As a visual artist, Syrus works within the mediums of painting, installation and performance to challenge systemic oppression by suggesting a different view of the world in which he lives. Syrus’ work explores the spaces between and around identities; acting as provocations to our understandings of gender, sexuality and race. His work has been exhibited at ASpace Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, The Hangman Gallery, SPIN Gallery and other galleries across the city. His work has been reproduced in Fuse Magazine, The Globe and Mail, THIS Magazine, Blackness and Sexualities amongst others. His work has also been included in several academic journals including Small Axe and Women and Environment International. Syrus is also the Program Coordinator of the Teens Behind the Scenes program at the Art Gallery of Ontario. He recently co-edited the winter 2009 issue of the Journal of Museum Education entitled “Building Diversity in Museums” (Left Coast Press, 2009) For the past 7 years, Syrus has worked with Blackness Yes to produce Blockorama (the black queer and trans stage at Pride), and other related events throughout the year. Syrus is also a founding member of the Prison Justice Action Committee of Toronto. Syrus is a program committee member for Mayworks Festival, and is a past board member of the FUSE magazine. For the past 14 years, Syrus has hosted the weekly radio segment, “Resistance on the Sound Dial” heard each Saturday on CIUT 89.5FM.