Judy Caron, Manager of Graduate Studies for the Department of Chemical Engineering, had the inspiration to reach out to the Fine Arts Department in the spirit of cross-collaboration and fostering connection to our wider University of Waterloo eco-system.
While on the surface this may seem like an unconventional pairing, however, the affiliation is in line with President Vivek Goel’s Waterloo at 100 Strategic Vision of valuing collaborative connections with the University community.
“The whole idea was to bring some art to the walls of the concrete environment in E6. Right beside us is the Fine Arts Department, people would never know it houses artwork,” said Caron. “Art promotes conversation and when the artwork is described it helps people to understand the art and it opens dialogue. With approval from our Department Chair Professor Mario Ioannidis, I invited them to spread the art through the hallways and stairwells of E6. Art makes people think, whether it’s positive or negative thoughts, it does evoke a response.”
The exhibit entitled “Takin’ it to the Streets” a shout-out to the 1976 Doobie Brothers’ song, embraces art’s potential as a call to action, or as the song says “take this message to my brother” [or my sister].
Second-year Fine Arts students created a wealth of imagery to convey their messages from visual storytelling to mural design using a variety of strategies including silk screen printing, pochoir, digital printing, and/or vinyl cutting.
The project outline used a Public Service Announcement format, encouraging students to create unique art identifying something that they care passionately about and as the song says, take it to the streets—from protest posters to poetic commentary and political cartoons to philosophical wordplay.
“I had developed a new online version of Observational Drawing during the pandemic, and it would translate well to an in-person context. But as I mulled over my choices, I realized I wanted to offer a course that felt closer to my heart, namely my love for print media and my recent interest in public art,” said Fine Arts Professor Tara Cooper who developed the course which produced the exhibit. “I also thought about the current climate: the need for in-person community and habits of care following years of online learning, as well as the need for activism as we face the challenges of many big issues from de-colonization, to dismantling systemic racism, to the climate crisis, all of which are embedded in Takin’ It To The Streets.”
The subject matter of the art ranges from sexism, and gender identity, to mental health and self-care within the pressures of university life. Some fine arts students used this as an opportunity to offer support to engineering students.
Instead of disciplines operating in separate silos, the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Fine Arts has generated an unconventional intersection where artistic expression and engineering problem-solving and creativity meet.
The exhibit, which has several new installations, will be on until April 28th.