Visual Artists in Greater Sudbury
Directed by Dr. Kathy Browning,
School of Education,
Laurentian University
Project Summary
Brief Background: This project interviewed 14 Aboriginal, Métis, Francophone and Anglophone artists in Greater Sudbury and Manitoulin Island about their art to support the new Ontario Ministry of Education: The Arts Guidelines, particularly Visual Arts. Artists were interviewed and videotaped in partnership with the Director of the Laurentian University Film Studio Dr. Hoi Cheu. Ten videos received funding from the Ontario Ministry of Education through the Knowledge Network for Applied Education Research (KNAER) with the University of Toronto and four videos from Laurentian University Research Fund (LURF). These fourteen videos will be distributed to locations and available on-line for knowledge mobilization and information access. Research Context: In the new Ontario Ministry of Education: The Arts Guidelines for Visual Arts, critical thinking is encouraged and while many questions are suggested that teachers can ask, there are no websites or texts suggested or descriptions of the artists’ work.
It is imperative that teachers and students in schools identify with artists in their own area. One way is through digital videos that will be available through libraries or on-line through streaming at Laurentian University with links and information available at KNAER, Ontario Ministry of Education, Canadian Society for Education through Art (CSEA), Ontario Art Education Association (OAEA), Indspire, and teaching federations: Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), as well as artists’ web sites. Knowledge Mobilization Activities: Knowledge mobilization is inherent to this project, as it involves the creation and distribution of a needed resource.
Copies of each of the 14 videos can be streamed from the Laurentian University web site or accessed through links. The URL is http://www3.laurentian.ca/visual_artists/ The DVDs of artists’ work will also be available through the Curriculum Resource Centre in the School of Education and the Desmarais Library, Laurentian University, the OISE/UT Library, and Watmedia for future teachers of Visual Arts and other subject disciplines in pre-service B.Ed. degrees as well as other faculty, staff, and students at universities and colleges and elementary and secondary schools, and the public in general.
These videos are the start of a much larger and rich project. Outcomes: Through this project, students will be able “to interpret the works of others either individually or in a group” (Arts Guidelines, 2010a, p. 29) by having access to these 14 videos of Canadian artists in more remote areas like Northern Ontario where there is very little information available