Making With Place

Youth Public Art Experiments

Authors

  • Charlotte Lombardo Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6054-2579
  • Phyllis Novak Sketch Working Arts and Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change, York University
  • Sarah Flicker Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6202-5519
  • Making With Place Artists SKETCH Working Arts

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29702

Keywords:

community arts, artist-researcher, young people, place, public art

Abstract

Making With Place explores expressions and desires of queer, Indigenous, and racialized young artists on place, community, and culture. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (from spring 2020 to fall 2021) community-based researchers engaged in participatory arts processes with young artists, culminating in public art installations theorising evolving inquiries and ideas into place. In this paper, we showcase six artworks to exemplify three conceptions of place that emerged from this collective work: (a) place holds histories; (b) place is relational; and (c) place as a verb. We consider how learnings from this project can help to more equitably reclaim public space through (re)mapping and (re)visioning as living processes of place-making. Community arts, in public space, can inform how we create, investigate, and make place through the arts. Who does this inviting, and who is ultimately assembled, is of vital importance. Place is where we encounter each other. 

Author Biographies

Charlotte Lombardo, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University

Charlotte Lombardo is a community-engaged scholar, educator, and facilitator with core interests and experiences in youth engagement, community arts, participatory action, and health promotion. She is currently a PhD candidate. This manuscript was prepared as part of her doctoral dissertation.  

Phyllis Novak, Sketch Working Arts and Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change, York University

Phyllis Novak (aka Nowakowski) is an artist-researcher and educator, and the founding artistic director of SKETCH Working Arts. Her work centres culture-making as a primary way to build equitable and vibrant communities, and social change, which is the focus of her current doctoral studies.

Sarah Flicker, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University

Sarah Flicker is the York Research Chair in Community-Based Participatory Research. She is a widely recognized expert in participatory and community-engaged research, working collaboratively with communities on equity-oriented agendas. Her research has informed policy at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels. Her teams have won a number of awards for youth engagement in research. 

Making With Place Artists, SKETCH Working Arts

Making With Place is a collective of diverse artists engaged in public art and place-making experiments with SKETCH Working Arts. This article discusses works by T. J. Banate, Jess DeVitt (aka DeVittoris), Em Dial, Nigel Edwards, Lilah Hillman, Jasbina Justice, Maddie Lycheck, Zephyr McKenna, Susie Mensah, Jahmal Nugent, Billy Parrell, Lisa Petrunia, Destiny Pitters, Pogi (the Artist), Emmet Reed (aka Emmerson Outlaw), Pree Rehal, Amelia R-N, Ty Sloan, Ammarah Syed, Ayrah Taerb, Olympia Trypis, Ry King, and Bert Whitecrow. The projects were realised with creative leads Sue Cohen, Lisa Myers and Naty Tremblay.  

An abstract painting on raw canvas. Bright crimson originating in bottom right hand corner extends upward and sideways. Muddied spots of black ink, and grey, mustard, and teal paint overlay the crimson. A series of curved black lines extend horizontally across the centre of the painting, intersecting, and weaving. Smudged grey and black ink spots dot the canvas.

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Published

2023-08-25

How to Cite

Lombardo, C., Novak, P., Flicker, S., & Making With Place Artists. (2023). Making With Place : Youth Public Art Experiments. Art/Research/International:/A/Transdisciplinary/Journal, 8(1), 142–172. https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29702

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2023): Art/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal

Section

Art/Research In Action

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Charlotte Lombardo, Phyllis Novak, Sarah Flicker, Making With Place Artists

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