Explore150 Showcase at Winterlude

Images created by youth and inspired by Canada were featured as part of the Explore150 Exhibit in Ottawa from January 30th to February 16th, 2015 as part of Winterlude 2015! The prominent location in Confederation Park attracted over 30,000 visitors who braved the elements throughout the three weeks.

On Monday February 10th, TakingITGlobal Executive Director facilitated a workshop with 50 high school students together with Yumi Webster from Canadian Heritage based at the Canada Council for the Arts.

The workshop first involved a visit of the exhibit outside followed by reflections on images submitted by youth to the National Digital Storytelling contest along with a series of interactive exercises and an arts-based activity.

Here is what some of the participants had to say: 

• "It was fun, we got to paint and talk about how different places in Canada impact our daily lives"
• "It is a great way to get more in touch with Canadian culture and each individual Canadian identity"
• "This is a good chance for students to talk about art and a place in Canada. I also made friends"

When asked to reflect upon what they had enjoyed the most, youth responded with: "learning from different cultures" and "Getting to reflect on my national identity".

Participants then created personalized artistic representations of places in Canada that have influenced their identity using a variety of materials including paints, pastels, markers and pencil crayons. A select number of these images will be included in the online Explore150 collection.

Interested in running an art workshop in your community? 

Get in touch with us at explore150 @ TakingITGlobal.org and we'll follow up with you!