Congratulations to Professor Logan MacDonald on being awarded funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF), for his Longhouse Labs project, which will foster innovative, interdisciplinary research opportunities that explicitly promote Indigenous leadership in studio arts practices and education.
About Longhouse Labs
The Longhouse Labs (LLabs) is a creative-research lab created for the purposes of implementing long term engagement with Indigenous artists, curators, conservators, and researchers through the creation of yearly residencies-referred to as the Fellowship Program – within the Fine Arts Department. The Fellowship Program is timely and urgent, hosting an intersectional, intergenerational cohort of three Indigenous artists annually at the University of Waterloo, where they will focus on their creative practices while committing to greater public engagement including with students and faculty across campus, and in regional community outreach.
The LLabs is designed to accommodate broad and intersecting studio practices by offering: a cluster of studios; new media supports; archival infrastructure; collaborative-research spaces; and land-based research areas. The CFI-JELF funds will support critical infrastructure for the LLabs to accommodate this dynamic new research area.
Led by MacDonald, who is mixed-European/Mi’kmaw of the Qalipu First Nation, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Art, the LLabs meaningfully fosters innovative, interdisciplinary research opportunities that explicitly promote Indigenous leadership in studio arts practices as part of core learning experiences in the Fine Arts, and across the greater Waterloo region.
“I’m delighted about the results of this competition," said Ana Ferrer, Associate Dean, Research. "The Faculty of Arts is extremely keen on this project and proud to see Professor Logan MacDonald and the Longhouse Labs project achieve Waterloo’s highest CFI-JELF grant in this round. These funds support the creation of a space of cultural significance, contributing to Waterloo’s commitment to Indigenous communities.”
CFI-JELF helps universities more competitively recruit and retain outstanding researchers and artists through aquisition of state-of-the-art labs, equipment and facilities to support creation and discovery.
Read more about Longhouse Labs and reconcilation through art.