UCalgary students offer contemporary art experience to Kerby Centre members

Students from the Department of Art and Art History’s Art 491, Community Based Art Experiences class administered an art program for Kerby Centre members in partnership with Contemporary Calgary and the YYC/LRT. It was the first program for YYC/LRT, a community-based art studio (part of the Future of Stephen Avenue project with artist Bryan Faubert) that offers workshops and arts-centred events to bring people in the Downtown West together for exploration, art, dialogue and connection. The students worked with 10 participants from the Kerby Centre.

“One of the greatest successes of the Kerby Project, along with the laughter and warmth that students and seniors shared, was that participants became excited about all that the Downtown West has to offer them, that they hadn’t realized before,” says Dr. Jennifer Eiserman, PhD, an associate professor of art education in the Department of Art and Art History.

Inspired by Ordinary People (Like Me), an exhibition by the Department of Art and Art History professor Dr. Donna Schwartz, PhD, the program engaged participants in reflective and creative processes through photography, drawing, sound, and other contemporary art approaches. Within six sessions, program participants were introduced to a profound understanding of contemporary art and connected meaningfully with themselves, their art, and those around them.

Participants experienced the process of setting up a small art exhibit, had the opportunity to explain the art they have created, and collaborated with others to create the event.

Here We Are Now: A collaborative community arts project between the students of ART 491, University of Calgary, with the Kerby Centre, Contemporary Calgary and YYC/LRT will be at Contemporary Calgary until May 31.