2021 Highlights

What an amazing and inspiring year this has been in Craft and Design. Despite the struggles to prepare for the fall semester, our technologists Jason Cornish, Janelle Guthrie, Sean McCormack, Hugh Douglas Murray and Christina Pupo, and our faculty managed to get us up and running in fine form for September, having only gained access to the studios in mid-August of 2020. At that time, the studios felt like Pompeii when first excavated; tools were sitting where they were put down five months earlier, projects sat unfinished, and student belongings had to be carefully packed away until they were able to retrieve them. 

Plans had to be made for each room we would occupy, to allow for teaching while social distancing. New study spaces had to be made from the gallery and unused rooms in the Annie Smith building. PPE had to be sourced and distributed. Cleaning stations had to be made, signage installed, protocols written. Negotiations had to occur with security, health and safety, and administration with regard to facilities access by students and faculty. And all this was done on top of the normal organization of the studios which usually would have started in May. But we did it, and we waited for students to arrive.

And when they did arrive, what a great feeling it was, to see the studios alive with activity. Despite our faces obscured with every type and colour of mask, we began to recognize each familiar or new face from above the nose, and by the unique movement of our bodies working in our practice. Throughout the year, we remained safe, and productive, and thankful for the ability to continue designing and making.

Furniture Technologist Christina Pupo lends a hand with Cait Kalb’s Capstone Project.

Soda Firing in the Ceramics Studio

INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECT
Winterstations – Refuge

Rendering of Winterstations - Embrace

Each fall, students in 2nd and 3rd year across all five Craft and Design studios participate in an intensive collaborative design course called Interdisciplinary Project. Students are divided into 20 teams; each team is comprised of members from a mix of studios and a mix of years, and each team collaborates over the course of one intensive week on a project responding to a design brief outlining an annually selected theme.

This year, we were fortunate to be invited for a second time to link our Interdisciplinary Project to the Winter Stations design competition.

Grace Im and Brayden Popke working on Winter Stations

Winter Stations is an international design competition held annually in Toronto, which activates the area around the iconic red lifeguard towers on Woodbine Beach in the winter months.  Artists and designers imagine site specific works that incorporate one of these towers while responding to a theme that changes annually; this year’s theme, fittingly, was “Refuge”.

Each of the 20 teams participating in the Interdisciplinary Project created a professional submission to the Winter Stations design competition, with one of these projects chosen to be fabricated full scale and installed along with 4 other international submissions.

Throughout this one-week intensive project, all hands were working together: faculty, students, and technologists, as the groups strove to complete all of the deliverables for the project. They even took time for backyard Yoga with Laura Kukkee, studio head of Ceramics.  On Friday afternoon final presentations and critiques were held over zoom ending with an online reception and party.

The submissions were juried by faculty members along with Michel De Broin who had also delivered the keynote address that launched the project at the beginning of the week. The winning project titled Embrace was designed by students Grace Im, Colin Laplante, Ziyu Li, Brayden Popke, Nicole Ruiz, and Reem Yunis. During the winter months, this group (with major assistance by furniture student Vance Bauman) worked together to fabricate their winning submission using the studios at Sheridan College.

Embrace Winter Stations Project near completion.

COLLABORATIONS & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROJECTS
Thunder Bay Library Indigenous Knowledge Centre

Isabel Catalli and Jordan Porier work on tables for the Thunder Bay Project.

Detail of Stool by Brad Payne for Thunder Bay Project

Graduating Furniture students completed a significant project, designing and making furniture for the Thunder Bay Library Indigenous Knowledge Centre. The project was initiated in January 2020 (see Highlights 2020) but its completion was delayed when the Sheridan campus was locked down in March 2020. Students completed the fabrication of the furniture as an extra-curricular project during the Fall Semester of 2020 and over the midwinter break. The project was generously funded by the Metcalf Foundation, Sheridan College, and the Thunder Bay Library. The work will be shipped to Thunder Bay in May 2021.

Vesper Phillips sits on the Scadding Court Table

Scadding Court Community Centre

In 2021, third year Furniture students designed and fabricated furniture for the lobby of the Scadding Court Community Centre at Bathurst and Dundas Streets in Toronto, as part of a comprehensive community engagement process that was entirely online, a first for the Furniture program!

CREATIVE MATTERS 

Students in Textiles worked in groups on projects led by faculty Amanda McCavour in collaboration with Creative Matters Inc. a Toronto based floor and wall covering design house founded in 1988. Students were provided input and support from Ali Mcmurter and Anna Panosyan – both integral figures at Creative Matters. Students took inspiration from rugs designed by Creative Matters and developed a series of designs incorporating a combination of print (digital or screen printing), dying, felting, embroidery and fabric manipulation.

Page from concept design brief by students: Jamie Lo, Mikaela Dong, Xianxing Wang, and Nicole Ruiz

BLOWN AWAY

The second season of Blown Away, a Canadian reality glassblowing competition television series that streams on Netflix was released on January 22, 2021. Koen Vanderstukken, studio head in Glass, is the series consultant. Sheridan College is a sponsor of this series.

Student Robin Ritter assists on the set of Blown Away

Students, alumni, Jason Cornish (glass studio Technologist) and Koen were heavily involved in building the largest glassblowing studio in North America, fabricating much of the equipment used for this competition.

Students and alumni work on the series to assist the glassblowing competitors. They work on camera and are highlighted in each episode. This experience is incredibly unique for our students. 3rd year student Robin Ritter and graduating student Paul van den Bijgaart were both part of season two.

The set of Blown Away

Building Equipment in Sheridan’s Glass studio for the Blow Away set.

3rd Year student Robin Ritter assists as Chief Judge Katherine Gray talks with a Blown Away Contestant.

SRCA RESEARCH PROJECT: Digital to Material (D2M)

In the summer of 2020 we successfully obtained funding from the Sheridan Research and Creative Activities fund (SRCA) to investigate the growing range of digital design and manufacturing processes available within the Bachelor of Craft and Design program in order to expand understanding of their creative potential and to make these tools more accessible to students through the accumulation of a library of samples and instructional support resources.

SRCA funding enabled us to employ number of 3rd and 4th year students as researchers. Rosalind Wharton, Ira Zerrudo, Mimi He, Emily Iseman, Mickey Wang, Isabel Catalli, Neda Moshg, Sydni Weatherson, and Robin Ritter all worked on the project.

In the initial phase of research during the summer when he had no access to studios, researchers assembled and analyzed a large virtual reference collection of example objects, projects, and processes demonstrating a range of applications for the types of digital tools we use in the Craft and Design studios.

D2M Test Sample by Neda Moshg.

In the second phase – once we regained access to the studios – research focused on the exploration and production of material samples, recorded tutorials, and process description documents. These resources will be made available to future students through the Program’s Virtual Community site. We hope to continue this research as an ongoing project to add to the body of knowledge as new technologies develop.

GARDINER MUSEUM AND RBC SPONSORED WORKSHOPS

The Gardiner Museum, with financial support from RBC, continues to work with Sheridan ceramics as a community partner. This year, Museum staff and RBC representatives created a series of four online workshops geared to graduating and recently graduated students, offering helpful information and preparation for their professional careers. These practical and engaging workshops addressed essential topics such as:

• Packing and Shipping your Work (with the museum’s Collections Manager Christina Macdonald)

• Exhibition Planning and Installation (with Micah Donovan, Curatorial Installations Manager, and Sequoia Miller, Chief Curator)

• Marketing your Work (with Gardiner Shop Manager Adeline La)

• Investment and Financial Strategies for Emerging Artists (with Alyson Arbus, Vice President and Wealth Advisor, Arbus Wealth Management Group, RBC Wealth Management, and Jenna Pyle, Business Account Manager, RBC Royal Bank)

GLASS EDUCATION EXCHANGE

Poster for GEEX Artist talk with Tanya Aguiñiga

In lieu of the exciting in-person professional visiting artist demonstrations that we normally host, the glass studio actively supported the birth of a new international organisation and became an institutional member of GEEX – (Glass Education Exchange) a worldwide partnership between more than 20 university and college glass programs. Based in Madison, Wisconsin GEEX organises artist lectures and Q&A sessions as a replacement for in person visiting artists.

VISITING ARTISTS & GUEST PROFESSIONALS 

In spite of the constraints that covid protocols placed on ability to host in-studio workshops, presentations, and visitors this year, we were still thrilled to have many professionals visit our classrooms virtually to give talks, studio tours, act as guest critics, and to provide insight into what opportunities await our students after graduation.

Anne-Marie Groulx - Artist  
Arounna Khounnoraj - Co-Founder, Bookhou
Bahar Ghaemi - Director of Furniture Design at Yabu Pushelberg
Caroline Forde - Designer, Textile Dyer in film & television
Elycia SFA - Member Relations & Programs Manager Craft Ontario
Erin M. Riley - Artist
Ghazal Razavi - Design Director at FIGO Fabrics
Kate Austin - Designer, Kate Austin Designs
Kate Duncan - Furniture Designer/Maker
Katrina Tompkins - Woodshop Production Manager at The Woodshop on Fogo Island
Michelle Forsyth - Artist
Robert Diemert - Former Faculty Member
Robyn Wilcox - Curator, Craft Ontario and Head of Programming, DesignTO
Sarah Quinton - Curatorial Director, Textile Museum of Canada
Stephanie Fortin - Textile Artist
Melanie Egan - Director Craft and Design, Harbourfront Centre
Mariel Mading - Culture Programmer, Living Arts Centre Mississauga

Graduating Students from the Ceramics Studio might be discussing a recent lecture - or maybe they just finished final critique - either way they look super happy.

IDEAS+OBJECTS WEBSITE

The final highlight I would like to acknowledge is the appearance of this wonderful website that you are currently exploring. It wouldn’t have happened if not for the adversity that prevents us from celebrating our graduates in the way we have always done with an installed exhibition and live celebration at our annual Tulip Ceremony. Endless thanks go to faculty member Kate Jackson, who spearheaded and wrangled this whole thing into existence and to Sally McCubbin, amazing web-designer (also program alum and former faculty member). While we can’t replicate the tactile experience of seeing work in the round, we are delighted to celebrate with this website the remarkable achievement of all of our graduates as they navigate this new world with compassion and craft, creating new Ideas+Objects. 

Congrats on a great year! 

Gord Thompson,
Coordinator, Honours Bachelor of Craft and Design

Taylor Goldsborough making solitary work, a productive way to spend the day in the studio.