AIRS STUDIO RESIDENCIES
Each year, the AIRS program offers studio residencies in multiple Vancouver elementary schools for local, professional or emerging artists. These residencies are situated at the intersection between arts education and community-engaged practice. Artists are invited to develop a residency that invites diverse communities of students into the art-making process. The program should consist of age-appropriate, process-based visual or interdisciplinary arts projects directed to the learning and well-being of students in and for diverse, inclusive, justice-oriented communities. The residency takes place one day a week in a dedicated 'studio' space in the school.
Projects can be conceived as individual or collaborative, permanent or ephemeral, whole school or class specific and can encompass a range of visual media depending on the expertise of the artist and the predetermined budgetary limits of the residency. The residency concludes with an exhibition, installation or performance that not only celebrates but also makes visible to the whole community the value of student art and expression for the school and the wider community. At the end of the school year, artists curate a selection of student work and documentation for an AIRS group exhibition at the Vancouver School Board to showcase the breadth of creative engagement and learning across the district through AIRS.
Artists have shared how the opportunity to work as a long-term artist in a school through AIRS has been transformative for their own practice and provided a relevant and meaningful context for art making.
AIRS Residency OPPORTUNITIES
Full or Partial Studio Residencies
For 2024/5 school year, AIRS is offering studio residencies in 15 public elementary schools in the Vancouver School District. These residencies are either full year (one day a week for up to 24 weeks over the course of a year) facilitated by one artist or a combination of several partial residencies (6-12 weeks) shared by 2 artists or more. . Artists are carefully matched with a school and work in consultation with teachers to design an overarching vision and program that invites students into an experience of art through individual and collaborative art making processes and concepts. The program is emergent in that it is an encounter between the artists' own practice and expertise, the space of the studio and the diverse needs and creative energies of the community. The full residency is typically divided into sub residencies of 6 week intervals, allowing the artist to work with 3 separate classes at a time to develop more focused and age appropriate project explorations. The residency includes a final exhibition, collaborative installation or performance for the students and wider school community that celebrates and makes visible the culmination of creative process and learning, and that values both the unique and collective voice of students.
"As an emerging artist invested in developing a community-engaged and collaborative practice, the opportunity to be an artist in residence at an elementary school for the year provided an immense learning opportunity. Ultimately, I grew a lot throughout my time as artist in residence with the AiRS Program. I grew a new-found respect for teachers and a deeper admiration for the artists committed to working in classrooms. I expanded my own artistic and material practice through the research and activities created for the students, and I now have a first-hand understanding of the benefits an arts-based program like this can have on students." Jaymie Johnson
Image below : Collaborative Weaving, Jaymie Johnson, Inaugural ECUAD AIRS Residency artist, 2019/20
AIRS Mentorship Program
The mentorship program is an incredible opportunity for artists to gain experience working in the context of a public elementary school. Successful applicants work with an experienced community-engaged teaching artist to develop and execute a 5 session project one day a week over five weeks, with 2-3 classes at the Art and Discovery Studio. The project includes a final exhibition/installation or performance on the last day. The residency includes an orientation session, multiple studio visits, and the chance to workshop their concept design with their mentor artist to fit an elementary school context. There are several mentorship opportunities available each year.
Previous mentee artists have included Sadie Couture, Jack Kenna, Alex Ramirez, Reed Jackson, Nura Ali, Yeonoo Parks, Nellie Gossen, Monica Cheema, Grace Yin, Nova Weipert, Aibhlin Fowlie, Shamina Senaratne and Fiana Kawane.
Selected mentee artists for 2024/25 are Kathy Adolpus-Schliedl, Allison Chow, Marzieh Mosavarzadeh, Han Pham and Erin Ross
"The mentorship residency was amazing and it felt so meaningful. A pivotal moment for me was realizing I could bring my art practice into the space rather than an artificial program manufactured for students. Working with the students clarified the importance of community based engagement in my own work, situating my practice in a non-initiated space to expand the idea of what fashion is. " Nellie Gossen
Image: from Forest of Memories, Alex Ramirez, mentorship residency, 2020
KPU Sponsored Residency
This year we are happy to award a studio residency sponsored by Kwantlyn Polytechnic University to a distinguished alumni.
This year's recipient is Mishel Arrieta, a Kwantlyn graduate and founder of Arrieta Studios who is active in bringing art-making experiences to diverse community groups.
In Conversation: A VAG/AIRS Pilot Residency
AIRS program is embarking on a new partnership with the Vancouver Art Gallery to engage 3 intermediate classes at Cunningham Elementary school with the work of Firelei Baez, a contemporary artist featured at the VAG. This 8 week residency will relay between the VAG exhibition and the studio at the school, where AIRS artist Yunuen Perez Vertti will engage students ‘in conversation’ with Baez’s process and the issues and questions she explores through art creation. These works will be showcased and celebrated at the end of the residency in and exhibition at the VAG workshop.
Revealing our Histories
Revealing our HIstories is a whole school project sponsored by Heritage BC through their Hertiage Legacy Fund. This project explores the evolving heritage of the Victoria Fraserview neighbourhood on the unceded lands around historic Tecumseh Elementary. This project will create 12 silkscreened legacy banners that make visible the many layers of history told through images, stories, architectural designs, archival photographs and everyday ephemera.
Residencies for the 2024/5 school year
- Florence Nightingale Elementary with Alejandro Ruiz Ramirez
- Pierre Elliot Trudeau Elementary with Kelsie Grazier and Sholeh Mahlouji
- Mount Pleasant Elementary with Laura Cisneros and Maggie Milne Martens
- Admiral Seymour Elementary with Christine Mackenzie
- Queen Alexandra Elementary with Christine Mackenzie
- Thunderbird šxʷəxʷaʔəs Elementary with Tami Cline and Nova Red Buffalo Wiepert
- John Henderson Elementary with Tami Cline and Monica Cheema
- Lord Beaconsfield Elementary with Kathryn Wadel
- Sir Graham Bruce Elementary with Yasi Moussavi and Yunuen Perez Vertti;
- Tecumseh Elementary with Julie McIntyre
- Chief Maquinna Elementary with Fanny Kearse and Mishel Arrieta
- Walter Moberly Elementary with Rebecca Heyl
- Sir James Douglas Elementary with Sholeh Mahlouji, Grace Zhouhan Yin and Aihblin Fowlie
- Wək̓ʷan̓əs tə syaqʷəm Elementary with Rebecca Heyl, and Liz Oakley
- Waverly Elementary with Nellie Gossen and Shamina Seneratne
- Cunningham Elementary - VAG Pilot Residency with Yunuen Perez-Vertti
- Renfrew Elementary - AIRS Pilot Reisdency with Alysha Seriani