Mehdia Hassan with Zarina Kayoumi, Yousuf Ahmed, Muneer, G.S., and Rabaya Khan
Title: Showing Artful Inquiry: Fostering Mental Wellbeing in St. James Town Area Youth:
Explorations of Community Connectedness Through Painting Activities
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Title: Showing Artful Inquiry: Fostering Mental Wellbeing in St. James Town Area Youth:
Explorations of Community Connectedness Through Painting Activities
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Community Visual Arts Exhibition of completed paintings at the 2018 St. James Town Festival
|
ABSTRACT
The downtown Toronto community of St. James Town, one of Canada’s most densely-populated neighbourhoods (St. James Town Community Corner, 2019), is incredibly diverse, both culturally and linguistically. With this notion also comes multiple community challenges; many young people from visible minority groups often face social exclusion, as well as social and economic barriers that limit their access to arts programming in St. James Town. Community participation in visual arts activities promote the social inclusion of youth facing systemic social and health inequities (Robson & Ashbourne, 2016), while increasing feelings of artistic achievement and self-awareness (Victor et al., 2016; Argyle & Bolton, 2005). This research project uses the innovative and interdisciplinary Parallaxic Praxis model (Sameshima et al., 2019) to collaboratively explore how arts-integrated inquiry can foster mental wellbeing in five racialized St. James Town youth who experienced forms of marginalization. Feelings of belonging and self-esteem were two indicators of mental wellbeing explored through the interviews, paintings, and artist statements. The participants and researcher created original paintings during art-making sessions, responding to the question: “What is your favourite part of living in the St. James Town community?” Both the participants and researcher took part in the Catechization Process, using palimpsest, poiesis, and aporia to guide analyses and reflections (Sameshima et al., 2019). The completed paintings were showcased in a visual arts exhibition during the 2018 St. James Town Festival. The project findings reveal expressions of community connectedness and feelings of belonging in the youth’s experiences of living in St. James Town, in relation to their meaning-making around nature, revitalization, diversity, and unity. Notions of self-esteem were less supported in the data; therefore, more exploration of self-esteem is needed. While further Canadian research is needed, the unique insights and reflections uncovered from project findings suggest increased potential for the positive impacts of community-based visual arts programming on feelings of belonging. |
ARTIST
Mehdia Hassan is a youth arts educator, visual artist, and a graduate of Lakehead University’s Master of Arts in Social Justice Studies. Her interdisciplinary research interests include using visual-arts-integrated methods of inquiry within community-based health research to critically examine social and health inequities, as well as the lived experiences of at-risk youth. Mehdia is also interested in increasing knowledge mobilization between academic and public communities through the visual arts. The co-researchers in this project are youth residing in St. James Town who were active participants in the research and art production. Mehdia has co-authored an article about her Toronto neighbourhood of St. James Town, published in the academic journal Health Tomorrow. |
Barbara Benwell
Title: Birth Story #1
|
|
ABSTRACT
In the first phase of the Birthing Xchange research project, mothers from Northern Ontario with diverse backgrounds were interviewed to discuss their birth stories. Birth is something that is not widely discussed, analyzed or made for public consumption, aside for the very narrow lens in popular media. This lens perpetuates birth stereotypes and reinforces the notion that birth needs to be highly medicalized, private and unseen. Birth Stories #1is an examination of these ideas through the interviews.The wearble art work consists of paper, fabric, glass vials, cloches, lights and antiques copper piping. The cloches are used to transform the body from person to specimen as pregnant and birthing women become. The lights around the head and in the ‘belly’ is used to show the connection between mother and child. The copper piping is a representation of the sound birth makes, loud and beautiful. Inside each pipe is a paper, symbolic of each of the stories the women shared. The glass vials are dangling delicately filled with ‘blood.’ This speaks to the over medicalization of birth and the blood exposed what society wants to keep hidden. I make this art piece to challenge systemic norms and to draw attention to the limited options women are given when they prepare to birth. This is an attempt to make the private public and create dialogue around what needs to change. |
Title: Gaps in Access
|
ARTIST STATEMENT
This art piece is a response to the preliminary findings collected for the research project, “Gaps in Prenatal Education: Mothers' Perspectives." The larger project explores the perspectives of diverse women in Northwestern Ontario on barriers and facilitators to desired pre and perinatal care and education and this presentation reports on findings from interviews with mothers in Thunder Bay, Kenora, Sioux Lookout and districts. This piece speaks to the gaps in access, especially when looking at mothers from more rural locations. Pre-natal education, care and extra supports are far harder to come by for a multitude of reason. I use metal, fiber, wood, paint and found objects to construct this work. It represents the urban and the rural with a rusty bridge in between. Red fiber connects the two physical planes and shows the need for a better system to defy barriers. Some of these barriers are represented by dangling cages encasing needs for access. A large black and white cloak births the bridge and symbolizes the dark and the light of the birthing process. Tall platforms and the balancing of metal on one person embody the delicacy and restrictions present in walking the path of the women in this study. The goal of the research project is to help provide equitable access to prenatal knowledge, education and services women in Northwestern Ontario need and want to optimize their birthing experience and outcomes. Equity in access is extremely important. |
Holly Tsun Haggarty
Resisting Positivism: Unfolding the Epistemological Basis of Two Arts-Integrating Research Methodologies, Arts Based Research and A/r/tography (2015)
***Winner of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies Arts Researchers Teachers Society
Graduate Award for best Canadian Thesis
See Masters Thesis
ABSTRACT
How may an arts practice be considered a research methodology? This thesis examines two arts-integrating methodologies, arts based research and a/r/tography, to uncover their epistemological constructs and philosophical positions. The inquiry begins with inquiry, a re/cursive/search for an appropriate methodology to allow both critical and creative windows from which to gaze. Using a unique, hybridized design involving educational criticism (Eisner), the creative process of poetic inquiry (Hawkins, Prendergast), and heuristic inquiry (Moustakas), this thesis demonstrates that both arts based research and a/r/tography resist positivism – but for different reasons and to different effect. Arts based research is a methodology that looks structurally and constructively at the nondiscursive symbolic system of art, and offers tools for understanding the uncertain meaning in art. A/r/tography is a methodology that sees knowledge as rupture: it refuses to engage with positivist structures, actively disrupts them, and finds knowledge through disruption. Both methodologies prompt as many questions as
answers in regards to how art is a way of knowing
Resisting Positivism: Unfolding the Epistemological Basis of Two Arts-Integrating Research Methodologies, Arts Based Research and A/r/tography (2015)
***Winner of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies Arts Researchers Teachers Society
Graduate Award for best Canadian Thesis
See Masters Thesis
ABSTRACT
How may an arts practice be considered a research methodology? This thesis examines two arts-integrating methodologies, arts based research and a/r/tography, to uncover their epistemological constructs and philosophical positions. The inquiry begins with inquiry, a re/cursive/search for an appropriate methodology to allow both critical and creative windows from which to gaze. Using a unique, hybridized design involving educational criticism (Eisner), the creative process of poetic inquiry (Hawkins, Prendergast), and heuristic inquiry (Moustakas), this thesis demonstrates that both arts based research and a/r/tography resist positivism – but for different reasons and to different effect. Arts based research is a methodology that looks structurally and constructively at the nondiscursive symbolic system of art, and offers tools for understanding the uncertain meaning in art. A/r/tography is a methodology that sees knowledge as rupture: it refuses to engage with positivist structures, actively disrupts them, and finds knowledge through disruption. Both methodologies prompt as many questions as
answers in regards to how art is a way of knowing
Ledah McKellar
Stories of the Cystorhood Stories of the Cystorhood: Exploring Women’s Experiences With Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: Implications for Education, Self-perception, and Medicalization (2015)
See Masters Thesis
ABSTRACT
The overarching purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of women with PCOS in more detail to provide further knowledge of the syndrome, to educate others, and reduce stigma – for all women, with or without Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). PCOS occurs in five to 10 percent of women, yet the greater public is generally unaware of it. Biomedicine defines PCOS as an endocrine disorder caused by a hormonal imbalance in women, with symptoms including: irregular or complete lack of menstrual periods; reduced fertility; unwanted facial or body hair; and the potential for weight gain due to insulin resistance. This study explores the experiences of women from the following perspectives: self-perception, education, and medicalization. Using arts-informed inquiry, with the methods of painting, interviews, and life writing, these topics are explored with women with PCOS.
Ledah McKellar
Stories of the Cystorhood Stories of the Cystorhood: Exploring Women’s Experiences With Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: Implications for Education, Self-perception, and Medicalization (2015)
See Masters Thesis
ABSTRACT
The overarching purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of women with PCOS in more detail to provide further knowledge of the syndrome, to educate others, and reduce stigma – for all women, with or without Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). PCOS occurs in five to 10 percent of women, yet the greater public is generally unaware of it. Biomedicine defines PCOS as an endocrine disorder caused by a hormonal imbalance in women, with symptoms including: irregular or complete lack of menstrual periods; reduced fertility; unwanted facial or body hair; and the potential for weight gain due to insulin resistance. This study explores the experiences of women from the following perspectives: self-perception, education, and medicalization. Using arts-informed inquiry, with the methods of painting, interviews, and life writing, these topics are explored with women with PCOS.
Dayna Slingerland
Enriching Communities with Community-Based Arts Education (2015)
See Masters Thesis
ABSTRACT
This research aims to describe the value of community-based arts education. Community-based arts organizations focus on community concerns and issues as well as support individual development (Hoffman Davis, 2010), yet encounter challenges related to funding and support and are continuously asked to prove the value of their work. This research looks specifically at the arts education programming of three community-based organizations in the Thunder Bay area. This research uses narrative inquiry to interpret the stories of the leading figures in these organizations by looking specifically at their experiences working and participating in community-based arts education from an out-of-school context. This research describes how these organizations enrich this particular city and the communities within it by bringing mentorship, access to safe spaces and valuing care in arts education. Despite challenges with funding, space, and support, the leaders are driven and inspired by the people with whom they work, the collaboration possible, and the changes observed and experienced. This research examines the ways in which community-based art organizations respond to the need for an education that supports well-being by valuing “community consultation” (Kay, 2000). Concurrently, as a form of arts-informed indwelling of the data, the author presents a personal art series that visually represents the themes within this research. This research provides recognition to community arts and community-based arts education within the City of Thunder Bay. Furthermore, this research advocates for the continued positive impact of, and ongoing research on, community-based arts education.
This research aims to describe the value of community-based arts education. Community-based arts organizations focus on community concerns and issues as well as support individual development (Hoffman Davis, 2010), yet encounter challenges related to funding and support and are continuously asked to prove the value of their work. This research looks specifically at the arts education programming of three community-based organizations in the Thunder Bay area. This research uses narrative inquiry to interpret the stories of the leading figures in these organizations by looking specifically at their experiences working and participating in community-based arts education from an out-of-school context. This research describes how these organizations enrich this particular city and the communities within it by bringing mentorship, access to safe spaces and valuing care in arts education. Despite challenges with funding, space, and support, the leaders are driven and inspired by the people with whom they work, the collaboration possible, and the changes observed and experienced. This research examines the ways in which community-based art organizations respond to the need for an education that supports well-being by valuing “community consultation” (Kay, 2000). Concurrently, as a form of arts-informed indwelling of the data, the author presents a personal art series that visually represents the themes within this research. This research provides recognition to community arts and community-based arts education within the City of Thunder Bay. Furthermore, this research advocates for the continued positive impact of, and ongoing research on, community-based arts education.
Vivian Wood-Alexander
Explorations in the Practice of Eco-art:
A Phenomenological Arts-Informed Research Project (2014)
See Masters Thesis
ABSTRACT
This study investigated the genre of eco-art through a phenomenological arts-informed research project to augment current practices and inspire new art and art/science initiatives in schools and communities. Incorporating narrative inquiry and photography, the researcher engaged in an eco-art practice over a two-year period on a Lake Superior shoreline. The work produced took the form of ephemeral paintings done with clay on rocks, both materials found at the site. The intent of the project was twofold: to develop a practice consistent with particular environmental values and to inform eco-art pedagogy by critically considering the qualities of an eco-art practice and how they fit in an educational setting. What themes emerge for eco-art pedagogy from the study and experience of an eco-art practice? What themes emerge from the study of the work of contemporary eco-artists? Key findings were: 1) the potency of place; 2) being alone; 3) the outdoor studio; 4) a sense of adventure; 5) ephemeral qualities and other aesthetic considerations; and 6) the role of art in ecological restoration. The stories of artists in the eco-art field also emerged as an essential resource that guided and supported the research. The insights gained from the project may resonate with educators from both art and environmental science backgrounds as ways to incorporate art making as an engaging process that supports our journey towards sustainability and atonement.
This study investigated the genre of eco-art through a phenomenological arts-informed research project to augment current practices and inspire new art and art/science initiatives in schools and communities. Incorporating narrative inquiry and photography, the researcher engaged in an eco-art practice over a two-year period on a Lake Superior shoreline. The work produced took the form of ephemeral paintings done with clay on rocks, both materials found at the site. The intent of the project was twofold: to develop a practice consistent with particular environmental values and to inform eco-art pedagogy by critically considering the qualities of an eco-art practice and how they fit in an educational setting. What themes emerge for eco-art pedagogy from the study and experience of an eco-art practice? What themes emerge from the study of the work of contemporary eco-artists? Key findings were: 1) the potency of place; 2) being alone; 3) the outdoor studio; 4) a sense of adventure; 5) ephemeral qualities and other aesthetic considerations; and 6) the role of art in ecological restoration. The stories of artists in the eco-art field also emerged as an essential resource that guided and supported the research. The insights gained from the project may resonate with educators from both art and environmental science backgrounds as ways to incorporate art making as an engaging process that supports our journey towards sustainability and atonement.