York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) Summer Institute 2012 is hosting a one-day event – Reclaiming Culture: Art, Equity and Environmental Education – through the Community Arts Practice (CAP) program designed to explore everything from oral history and performance to ‘zines, drawing and painting.
This Academic Innovation Fund project will take place on Thursday, Aug. 23, from 8:30am (registration) to 4:30pm at 0001 TEL Building, Keele campus. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event, but participants are asked to contribute to a celebratory lunch by either bringing a potluck contribution or a Pay What You Can donation ($5 to $10 suggested). Advance registration is also necessary as the Summer Institute is almost full. To register, click here.
The opening panel with artists and educators Charmaine Lurch, Damian Adjohda and York FES Professor Sarah Flicker will discuss how art-making p
rocesses strengthen identity, connect community members and fuel resistance.
Left: Participants create art together at least year’s Summer Institute
The morning workshops will run from 10:30am to 12:30pm with afternoon workshops from 2 to 4pm. The following is the list of workshops:
Exploring Ecology and the More-Than-Human World through ceremony and Indigenous story-telling with Tanya Chung Tiam Fook will teach participants about Indigenous ways of being present with and knowing the land, non-human beings and sacred ecology through environmental ethics, story-telling, human-animal relationships and shamanistic traditions in South America.
The Wonder of the Book looking at art, equity and environmental education through ’zine-making, with storyteller, puppeteer and bookbinder Chris Cavanagh, will be a hands-on workshop on how to make ’zines.
Hands and Eyes and Marks on Paper: An Introductory Practical Workshop on Drawing and Painting Nature (Note: Part II of this workshop continues in the afternoon) will be led by FES Professor Peter Timmerman. No previous art training is required for this full-day workshop.
In Audio Landscapes: Exploring Podcasting and Pedagogy with CoHearence, FES PhD students Amanda diBattista and Andrew Mark, coordinators of CoHearance, a podcast series that explores the intersections of culture, history and the environment (see YFile, Feb. 8), will discuss the potential for podcasting to engage students and communities in environmental conversations.
SonicWalk with Camille Turner, a Toronto-based media/performance artist and curator and founder of the performance company Outerregion, will have participants visiting familiar places for the first time and embracing the strange and wonderful worlds hiding in plain view.
Talking and Testifying: Writing History, Rocking Boats with performer, poet and FES Professor Honor Ford-Smith will offer participants hands-on ways to gather testimonies, edit and share them.
Telling Food and Eating Stories: Digital Storytelling for Food Justice with York Professor Deborah Barndt will focus on storytelling around food and food justice. After viewing some digital stories, participants will have the opportunity to create a story with one photograph that speaks to their experiences.
The collaborative Summer Institute brings together teachers, educators, community members, and artists to explore ways of teaching and learning, giving attention to the inter-relationships of art, environmental education and equitable social change.
For more information, visit the CAP website or email Maggie Hutcheson, Summer Institute coordinator, at reclaimingculture2012@gmail.com.