Student Art Exhibition

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We are pleased to announce that on June 8, 2023, the DDSB will be opening our next Student Art Gallery - a district-wide art collection housed in the Education Centre, displaying artworks created and curated by students with staff support. 

The Opportunity - 2023

The theme of this year’s gallery is Cultivating a Connected Community. Students in Grades 7 - 12 are encouraged to use their creativity to showcase their own unique perspectives about connection and community.  

Timelines 

  • Digital representations of completed (or nearly completed) artworks should be submitted through this form. The deadline for submission is April 18, 2023.   
  • Selections will be made by the committee in May.   
  • Successful artists will be contacted in May, and arrangements will be made for completed artwork drop-off at the Education Centre (400 Taunton Road East Whitby).   
  • The Gallery opening will take place June 8, 2023. 
  • A digital gallery hosted on the DDSB website will allow equitable access to these artworks. These artworks will be available after the exhibition opens.  
  • Artworks will be on display for approximately 11 months, with an opportunity for the artist to retrieve their artwork following the display period. Artwork unclaimed by the artist will be displayed and/or stored elsewhere within the DDSB system for a period of two (2) years. 

Selection Committee 

The Selection Committee will receive digital copies of artwork and any accompanying stories that the artist would like to submit for consideration and will deliberate to select the artworks to be displayed. 

The Committee will be composed of DDSB students and staff and will include people representing each of DDSB’s geographic zones (north Durham - Uxbridge, Scugog and Brock, Ajax, Pickering, Whitby, Oshawa).  

Creative Brief 

Theme: Cultivating a Connected Community 

Artworks should incorporate the theme of a Cultivating a Connected Community, focusing on student aspirations or inspiration regarding connection, communities, human rights, equity, and belonging - issues, goals, identities, etc. Artists are encouraged to think about this from a lens that includes DDSB values around human rights, equity, inclusion, diversity. 

Artists should consider the following five questions:  

  1. What does the word community mean to you?  
  2. What communities do you belong to?  
  3. What communities make up the DDSB? 
  4. How can we cultivate or nurture a community? 
  5. What would you like to say about human rights, equity, belonging and/or connection? 
  • Artworks need to be designed for display on a hanging track - maximum weight of 4 kg. 
  • Artworks will have eye hooks and hanger wire pre-installed by the artist. 
  • Medium for artworks is at the artist’s discretion (pastel, charcoal, pencil, pen and ink, watercolour, acrylic, oil, photograph, mixed media, digital design, 3D art, printmaking, other) 
  • Artworks composed of dry media (i.e. charcoal, chalk pastel, pencil) will be framed behind glass or sprayed with a fixative.  
  • Maximum size of the framed artwork 18” by 24”. 
  • Artwork may be presented in landscape or portrait orientation. 

How to Submit: Only pieces submitted through this form will be considered. Please follow the link and submit your work on the form. If you have any questions, please contact student.art@ddsb.ca 

Disclaimer: when submitting artwork for consideration to the Selection Committee, the artist acknowledges that the works may be represented, in whole or in part, in future DDSB promotions and/or curriculum activities at the discretion of the DDSB, credited to the artist.  

Process for Selection 

 

The Selection Committee will collectively review each work submitted.  

Based on criteria including overall impression of the art, interpretation and clarity of the theme to the viewer, creativity and originality of the depicted theme, and quality of artistic composition and overall design based on the theme, each selection committee member will select a minimum of 20 works they nominate for display, with the final selection deliberated as a group.  

A minimum of one work from each DDSB geographic zone will be displayed: Ajax, Whitby, Pickering, Oshawa, and the North. 

The selection process may be subject to change based on the number of submissions received. 

If you have any questions, please contact student.art@ddsb.ca