Site Stories Exhibition at NW Secondary School:
10th graders to share new art works inspired by stories of their school
NEW WESTMINSTER, BC - January 4, 2017
After 14 weeks of exploring the sites and stories of their school, sixty 10th graders from NWSS will share their original art works in a three day exhibition. The opening reception will take place on Wednesday, January 11 from 5:30-7:00pm, and the exhibition will be open during school hours on January 12 and 13. The show features new 2-D, 3-D, site-specific and time-based works conceived and completed by the students.
Since September 2016, artists Mark Cunningham and Julie Hammond have collaborated with classroom teachers Dragana Sacco, English, and Jenny Simpson, Art, to implement a program that paired expanded ideas of art making with explorations of the school building and location. Each week students learned about and used contemporary art practices—from scores to readymades to text and street art—as jumping-off points for making drawings, temporary sculptures, audio recordings, and carrying out a stencil bomb of the school hallways (sanctioned by school administration, of course). In-school activities were supplemented by research at the New Westminster Archives, a visit from Qayqayt Chief Rhonda Larabee, and field trip to Vancouver’s Contemporary Art Gallery.
“As the NWSS community wraps up our time in the current building, we were thrilled to dive deeply into exploring what this space is and has been,” said English teacher Jenny Simpson. “It’s been remarkable to see students use and develop art tools to question and investigate places they have previously taken for granted.”
“As artists, we can illuminate the past and imagine the future in unexpected ways,” adds artist Julie Hammond. “Through this project students have been given the freedom to explore what matters to them and how they want to share their ideas with the community.”
WHAT: Site Stories Exhibition and Opening
WHEN: Wednesday, January 11, 2017, 5:30-7pm
WHERE: New Westminster Secondary School Library, 835 8th St, New Westminster, BC
COST: Free
MORE INFO: www.nwsssitestories.blogspot.ca
The Site Stories project was made possible in part by an ArtStarts Artist in the Classroom Grant and the NWSS PAC, and takes place on the traditional and unceded territories of the Qayqayt First Nation.
###
4 comments:
Afterthoughts
During the gallery, I looked around and sat in the side lines. I saw people looking at all of the art, including mine, and admiring them. I saw the other art and read about them as well, and was pleasantly surprised at all of the ideas and the creativity of the people. I saw the more works I wasn’t aware of, although they were happening in the same class.
While looking around, I found an essay about the “Chair Sculptures” and how it was created by the class and talking about the sculpture for 15 minutes, instead of talking about the work we were supposed to be talking about. I remember contributing to the project and how humorous it was at the time, because we spent 15 minute on the chairs instead of actually working. Only after reading that, I saw the chair sculptures made for the purposes of the gallery. Before reading the essay, I did not pay attention, and dismissed the chairs as just being stacked. But, after reading the paper, I remembered the backstory of the chair art and appreciated them more.
Now focusing more on my own art, while attending the gallery, I noticed that kids liked the snowman more than the adults. I believe the adorable mini snowman that I made contributed to the popularity of the project. It was nice knowing my hard work was appreciated and seen because, I, initially thought it would not be popular, because after all, it was just a melting snowman. However, after the gallery, I am less ashamed of the flaws that my work had, like the hasty editing and the unstability of the video.
Now, the chairs has been taken down, and my video, along with the others has been removed from the computers, so people can use them. This makes me sad, even though I knew it was going to happen. But, as the famous writer Dr.Seuss once said, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happen.”
-Jaewon.Lee
Awesome reflection Jaewon; your project was exceptional and memorable. Even though the snow has melted and the project eventually fades from memory what you have learned from this process will remain...I'm so very proud of you!
I learned a lot of things during this project. I learned a new side to art that wasn’t just on a canvas. I had an amazing time learning and experiencing all the new art I was exposed to. I liked how the art we created didn’t have many barriers and allowed us to be very unique. Mark and Julie allowed us to learn things that many other classes would never see. The project where we put graffiti and the hallway brought life to an otherwise empty hallway. Many people stopped and talked about the graffiti and that’s what I think art should make you do. I used to think that art was only on a canvas and had to be drawn or painted. After this class I learned about all of the other forms of art and how it can be meaningful. Mark and Julie gave us a lot of inspiration for our projects. The exhibition turned out great due to everyone’s hard work and I am glad I was a part of it. The class was definitely not what I was expecting when I first heard about what we were going to be doing. In the end the class was worth it in my opinion and it was a great experience.
Really happy to know about great art work of these students. I too attended an amazing art exhibition that was arranged at one of Venues in San Francisco. Glad to see wonderful art work there. Great talent was shown by the students.
Post a Comment