Still Telling Stories

Students from Strathcona Elementary School and Britannia Secondary School visited Telling Stories: a visual art exhibition for a gallery tour led by Best B4 Collective Artists. After their visit to the On-Tak Cheung Gallery in the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum, artists visited classrooms to work with students and teachers to extend storytelling into writing, photography and ceramics projects. 






Students in Annie Simard's Grade 4/5 Class at Strathcona Elementary School returned to the gallery to interview Strathcona Elders
who in turn told them stories during group interviews. In their classroom, they worked with Alison Keenan and Phyllis Schwartz to write about elders and their observations about changes in Strathcona over the years. 


Students in Ariel Boulet's Ceramics class worked with Debra Sloan, Alison Keenan and Phyllis Schwartz to explore slip casting and experiment with sculptural forms. Edward Peck spoke about his Berlin graffiti project, and photography students explored the Strathcona and Commercial Drive Communities to find graffiti art as subject material for their digital photography. 



Student work is currently on display in the foyer at the Vancouver Schoolboard (1580 West Broadway) until the end of March.  These projects were partially funded by the City of Vancouver, the Best B4 Collective, the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver and Vancouver School Board District Fine Arts.  

School Tours Continue — Britannia Secondary Students Visit Telling Stories/a visual art exhibition

Britannia Secondary School students in Ariel Boulet's Ceramics and Photography classes visited Telling Stories/a visual art exhibition on Friday, 04 December. They were greeted by Alison Keenan and Phyllis Schwartz,  curators of the exhibition, who introduced to the idea of conflict as a central storytelling element in the exhibition. Edward Peck, Jim Friesen and Debra Sloan spoke to the specifics of their work on show.

Edward Peck explained the process of discovering layers of storytelling on the graffitied walls in Berlin. He quoted Dorthea Langer: "A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera," and illustrated the application of this quote in his work.

The development of his series was the focus of Jim Friesen's artist talk. He explained how he used both sequence and title to develop the concept of a mystery unfolding in his landscape photography. In his talk about The Swimmer, he spoke about both poetic and narrative elements in his imagery. 

Debra Sloan spoke about the sources of the stories found in her ceramic sculpture. She focussed on character and conflict. She further explained that the sculptural surface offered the opportunity to add narrative landscape elements. 

BestB4 Collective artists will continue to work with these students in their classes at Britannia Secondary School, and their work will be displayed in the foyer of the Vancouver School Board in February.                  

Sunday's Salon — two artists telling stories about their stories (Part 2)

Debra Sloan: Whisper Sweet Nothings

Join the BestB4 Collective Salon for a conversation with Daphne Harwood and Debra Sloan this Sunday, December 6 (2 - 4 pm) at the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum (555 Columbia Street at Keefer).

Debra Sloan: Maple Tree

Debra Sloan is a Vancouver-based ceramic sculptor and 2015 recipient of Mayor’s Design and Craft Award. Her slip cast dogs, horses and baby figures challenge and surprise the viewers’ assumptions and attitudes. Her work has been exhibited locally, across Canada and internationally and most recently awarded the Vancouver Mayor’s Art Award and biannual Hilde Gerson Award by the Craft Council of B.C. Debra Sloan has recently returned from a six-week residency at C.R.E.T.A. in Rome.

Sculptural work by Sloan in Telling Stories is from Horsing Around, a series that grew out of her experience as Artist in Residence at the Leach Potter in St. Ives. This series of horse and rider continued a solo exhibition at the Gallery of BC Ceramics(2015).

Debra Sloan: The Edge of Nowhere

Over time, says Debra Sloan,my figures have become what I call proto-human, neither male nor female, adult or baby. Landscapes and architectural references are about my environs and provide opportunity to add contextual layers. Placing my figures and images within metaphorical constructs, and outside of how we normally encounter them, is how I comment on our interaction with environments and society.

Debra Sloan: On the Merry-Go-Round

Debra Sloan: Riders to the Coast