Co-Op Opportunities at the Varley

Are you a high school student interested in art, culture, history, social sciences, design, media, and showcasing your creativity? Do you thrive when working independently on a project suited to your own interests? If so follow this link to the exciting opportunities happening at the Varley Art Gallery starting this February…

The Varley Art Gallery is looking for 2-3 co-op students, for the Winter-Spring 2010 school term (commencing in February) who are passionate about the arts, culture, design, media studies, history and/or social sciences. Using inspiration from the upcoming exhibition “Homage to the Heart”, students will develop and create a work which will then be on display at the Varley during the exhibition.

About the exhibition

 Opening on March 25^th, 2010 and running until May 2^nd, 2010, the gallery will be hosting an exhibition by Brenda Joy Lem, Homage to the Heart, which uses photography, silk screening, and video to depict the paternal family history of Lem’s family. Lem is a third generation Chinese-Canadian artist, whose father’s family owned and operated one of the first Chinese Laundromats in Oshawa, Ontario.  Homage to the Heart deals with themes such as memory, storytelling, ritual, ancestry, racism, prejudice and generational identification.

The Intergenerational Project

 The starting point to your project will be an interview with a senior in your life, for example, a grandparent, family member, or neighbour. The questions you ask in your interview can focus on a special event in the senior’s life, stories of immigration to Canada, how seniors record their own history (ie. photo albums and letters) versus how you record your own history (ie. blogs and emails).

Using inspiration from the interview you will develop and create a work with the themes from Homage to the Heart and the interview you did with a senior. Your project could take on a variety of different formats, for example audio recording, video, mixed-media, drawing, letters, website, etc… The chosen medium is your opportunity to be creative and the ways which you decide to display your work is entirely up to you.

You will work with the Project Co-ordinator over the duration of the project to discuss the progress of your work, as well as address any questions or concerns that may arise. An initial meeting with the Project Co-ordinator will take place, where you can establish an outline for your project so it can be as self-guided as possible.

Along with your own project, you will also be involved in the installation of other projects which coincide with Homage to the Heart that the Varley is working on, such as our family themed photography exhibition, “Family Is…”, which will be on display at the Mckay Art Centre in April.

 

The co-op experience your friends will envy!

This co-op placement allows you to gain experience in a field that you are interested in, while giving you the opportunity to be creative. Apart from the rewarding experience you will again, you will also have a creative component to add to your portfolio or resume. In this day in age everyone needs “an edge” over the competition; this opportunity will set you apart from your peers!

  

This opportunity will allow you to:

• Gain experience by participating in the assembly and creation of this self-motivated project
•  The opportunity to express your creativity, which will be beneficial to future resumes, university/college applications, art portfolios and multi-media portfolios.
• Refine your time management and project management skills
• A certificate of participation will be awarded at the completion of the project, in addition to having your work publicly displayed at the gallery. 
• Gain your required cooperative education credits

 Interested? Next step to an awesome co-op term…

 Students who are self-motivated, organized, and with an interest in the topics described above, should apply to for this awesome opportunity!

If you think that this placement is right for you, please fill out the questionnaire, by Clicking here and email back to us at intergenprogect@gmail.com.

If chosen for an interview you will be contacted by email, or through your school’s co-op department. Students should come to the interview with a short project proposal and be prepared to discuss their expectations and goals for the semester. If the student has any supplementary material, such as a portfolio, past written work or creative projects it would also be beneficial to bring them to the interview.

If you require further details please contact Monica at intergenproject@gmail.com or 905-477-9511