Even during a pandemic, Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School in Burlington found a way to showcase impressive Grade 12 student artwork by projecting it through a school window for the outside world to see.
Called
Artpocalypse, art teacher Jordan Burton and his Grade 12 students came up with the idea of projecting the artwork through a front-facing window so passersby and the school community could enjoy recently in the evening. An
Instagram account was also created to create awareness of the event. The art show was a culmination of four years of students creating, generating feedback, and learning to present their own work, and the work of others, he says.
Burton explained that because of COVID-19, the school is unable to unveil the art in school for others to see. The idea of projecting the creations seemed like a safe and socially distanced way to highlight the art.
“The Grade 12 art class exhibits their artwork as part of their course and this usually looks like an evening in the school with art on display,” Burton says. “This year we were challenged to work around our creative constraints to come up with something different. It was a celebration of the students.”
An interesting part of this project, Burton says, is the class connected with the Art Gallery of Burlington. Artpocalypse received an experiential learning grant and students worked with program director Tara Bursey and curator Suzanne Carte .
“We ran workshops that explored post-secondary in the arts, careers in the arts, at galleries and what the career path of a curator might look like,” Burton says. “The collaboration with the
Art Gallery of Burlington was great.”
Grade 12 student Breanna Theriault submitted two pieces including a sculpture and portrait. She says she was challenged working in these mediums and was thankful for successfully working outside of her comfort zone.
“I think this is the most effective way we could have gone about showing our art during this time of uncertainty,” she says. “Being able to project it and post it on social media has been really helpful in showing our artwork to everyone the best way we can.”
Burton hopes that students, even during a pandemic, felt they could still celebrate their hard work and accomplishments.
“The greatest goal is to celebrate the work the students do; the art exhibition is a great tradition that works to create a real world outcome for the hard work they put into creating,” he says. “An art show with real deadlines is a great application of many of the skills that will serve them now and when they graduate, including collaboration, creative thinking and planning, entrepreneurship, and building community connections.”
Burton noted: “The social media elements have been a great showcase of students’ artwork, and the projected event was a wonderful way of sharing the work and respecting the public health measures in place during COVID-19.”