Graduate school has traditionally been a place of academic and professional growth. As graduate students fully immerse themselves in their research, their world gradually narrows to the scope of their research environment. Students may become disconnected with artistic hobbies and talents that were once practised on a regular basis as they progress through their graduate student life. With their immersed experiences in graduate studies, the stress that accompanies also increases. This project focuses on bringing art back in the graduate student’s perspective and gives students the opportunity to reawaken with their artistic side.
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The undertone of last year’s Gallery of Graduate Arts was community engagement and art for mental wellness. The event was hosted at Mulberry Coffeehouse, a dynamic hub in downtown Hamilton rich with feelings of community and inclusion.
The opening night for the Gallery was on September 14, during SuperCrawl, a street festival that attracts thousands of people over the period of a few days to celebrate art, music, food, etc. The Gallery opening night party was attended by all the submitting artists and many interested local community members. We want to continue this avenue of connecting graduate students with art and the community by hosting another pop-up gallery again this year.
This year, we are going to reconnect with graduate artists at McMaster by continuing the tradition of the Gallery of Graduate Arts. The purpose of the gallery, which is the prodigy of the Amateur Art Exhibition (established in 2014 by Irena Radisevic) is to encourage graduate students to pursue their artistic talents alongside their graduate careers. In order to achieve this, we plan to carry out the following objective:
Organize a space and atmosphere to facilitate an art gallery in the Hamilton Community that is open to graduate students, faculty, staff and the general public.
We have partnered with Collective Arts Brewery, who have generously agreed to host us for this year’s gallery. The gallery will be a one-night pop-up gallery on November 29, 2019, from 5 to 9 p.m.
McMaster students and postdocs will have the opportunity to exhibit and, if they wish, sell their work at a pop-up gallery held at Collective Arts Brewing Beer Garden in a collaboration with this fantastic venue. This event aims to highlight complementary creative practices, by motivating students to communicate their artistic side while pursuing their graduate studies. Sketched, painted, crafted, or written, all forms of artwork are welcome! Please invite your friends and family, for a night of celebrating creativity in our graduate and post-doctoral community.
Co-director: Anastasiya Slyepchenko, Health Sciences – neuroscience, November 2019
Co-director: JeeSu Suh, Health Sciences – neuroscience, August 2022
Co-director: Herry Patel, Health Sciences – neuroscience, August 2023
We believe that this event will lead to an increased sense of community between graduate students on a creative and professional level. We expect graduate students to gain a better sense of confidence in their artistic abilities and ultimately, the Gallery of Graduate Arts will motivate them to pursue their arts and talents whether it is as a hobby or in supplement to their research, without feeling that they are stepping away from their academic or research path. We also think this is a great opportunity for students from different disciplines to interact with one another and exchange ideas. We are now in a world where everything is interdisciplinary; therefore we think the possibilities are endless.
November 8, 2019
Deadline for Submissions
November 29, 2019
Gallery