Hello JICS Families,
We are writing to introduce our Artist-in-Residence this year, Kelly Jazvac, artist and professor. The Artist-in-Residence Program at JICS is funded through the Patrick Harvie Arts Fund (PHA fund). This fund was established in 1999 by the Harvie family in memory of their son Patrick, a JICS alumni, to enhance the arts education and arts experiences for the students of the Lab School by involving professionals from the arts community. The fund is operated by the Jackman ICS Parents' Association, a registered charity.
Below is a note from Kelly about the work she will be doing with our students:
Dear JICS Families,
My name is Kelly Jazvac and I am delighted to be JICS’s Artist-in-Residence this year, visiting throughout the month of November. During this time, I will work with JICS students to develop a large-scale art exhibition made from the sum of their individual art projects.
My own art practice has an environmental focus: I work with salvaged plastic to make artworks that consider the longevity of disposable materials and the interconnectedness of these materials with humans, animals and the planet. I am based in London, Ontario, where I am also a professor at Western University in Visual Arts.
In keeping with my environmental interests, I have developed an art assignment that asks students to consider their own desire for certain products, and in turn, their power and agency to transform these products when they’ve lost their initial appeal.
To get started, I have some homework for the students that they will need your help with: I am asking each student to bring in an object that they once really wanted, but now don’t care about. It could be a piece of clothing, a toy, a game, a poster, sports equipment, etc. Anything that they (and you) wouldn’t mind turning into an experimental art project. They need to bring this object to school by Friday November 3rd.
Working with the students, we will talk about that initial desire and what happened that made them less interested in it (Did it break? Did it get boring? Did you outgrow it? Was it not what you hoped it would be?). From there we will talk about playful and creative ways to make the object cool again, using their imagination and a range of art supplies I will provide them with. For context, we will look at other contemporary artists who have taken on this challenge as well.
The final project will be a ‘before’ and ‘after’ photo of the object that the student started with, and where it ended up after they altered it. Older children will also be involved in the photography process, and they will learn about techniques to make an object look more desirable. In doing so, they can explore and consider what happens behind the scenes when advertisers market a product.
Thanks for your help in getting your child prepared for this art project! I greatly look forward to working with them and the conversations that it will inspire.
All the best,
Kelly Jazvac
