Crit Night Allows ECU Graduates to Connect with Curators
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This year’s Crit Night offered graduating students an opportunity to meet curators and showcase their final projects.
As one of the most anticipated events of Grad Week, Crit Night keeps evolving in ways that Shannon McKinnon, Director of Career Development + Work Integrated Learning, values. She especially appreciates when it creates opportunities for curators to connect each other and for students receive meaningful feedback on their final projects.
Held on May 14 at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU), this year’s Crit Night featured 24 participating curators and local gallerists from the Vancouver Art Gallery, Richmond Art Gallery, Surrey Art Gallery, Bill Reid Gallery, Polygon Gallery, VIVO Media Arts Centre and more, who met with graduating students to learn more about their practices.
L-R: Tobin Gibson, Unit 17; Anna Luth, Vancouver Art Gallery; and Moroti George, Gallery Gachet view Nicole Bie's project "Red horses oscillating in the undercurrent (sediment clouds)"
L-R: Steven Tong, CSA Space; Zoë Chan, Richmond Art Gallery and Monica Reyes, Mónica Reyes Gallery view Dimos (Galatera) Kefala piece "Goblina and the Magic Ribbon, Sessions 0-4"
L-R: Kitt Peacock, Access Gallery; Godfrey Leung, Contemporary Art Gallery and Wil Aballe, Wil Aballe Gallery, view Claudia Goulet-Blais' piece "mere-fille: an archive of care"
C-R: Shane O'Brien, Gallery Jones; Kiel Torres, Western Front; Diana Freundl, Vancouver Art Gallery, view student work at Crit Night
L-R: Aliya Boubard, Bill Reid Gallery; Sarah Macaulay Macaulay + Co; Daina Warren, Executive Director of Indigenous Initiatives, chat with student Glory Munro at Crit Night
L-R: Benita Ceresney; Kitt Peacock, Wil Aballe, Godfrey Leung view Calla Soderholm’s piece "Swollen Corner"s
L-R: Shane O'Brien, Kiel Torres, and Diana Freundl chat about student work at Crit Night
“Every Crit Night is an opportunity for curators to reconnect with each other and engage directly with our students,” says Shannon. “The event also creates community-building between curators, students and the broader local arts scene. It brings everyone together, which is what our office is all about. It’s an established event now. Some curators have even said it’s their favourite event of the year, which means a lot.”
This year, Shannon worked with Annie Briard, alum and faculty member, to run a workshop on approaching Crit Night as a studio visit where students would learn about reciprocity in art world relationships, inviting curators into their artistic practice and mastering their elevator pitch about their artworks.
“I see Crit Night as something closer to a studio visit than a traditional in-class critique, and I wanted students to approach it with that mindset,” says Shannon. “We recorded Annie’s talk, and it’s now a permanent resource available on The Leeway for students to access anytime.”
As one of the premier galleries showcasing the work of emerging and established Indigenous artists, the Bill Reid Gallery has a long-running relationship with ECU. Aliya Boubard, a curator at the gallery, was back for the second time at Crit Night. She knows that events like these can be intimidating for Indigenous artists but encourages them to make that initial connection.
“I hope that students know that curators are as eager to work with artists as they are,” says Aliya. “Being able to have a conversation can make it less intimidating and creating connections with arts professionals can greatly help their careers.”
Led by Daina Warren, Executive Director of Indigenous Initiatives, Aliya and Sarah Macaulay, curator at Macaulay + Co, met with Indigenous students showcasing their final projects and were deeply impressed by the calibre of their presentations and stories.
“It's always impressive to see the dedication and skill they carry when it comes to their practice,” says Aliya. “Nearly every student I've had the pleasure of critiquing seemed to have a great understanding of their mediums, materials and subject matter.”
For newly graduated student Leanne Inuarak Dall, Crit Night was a chance to meet curators she hopes to work with. Her piece “Untitled (I’m still working on it)” uses red sealskin hide with thatched lattice-style beadwork and a caribou antler wrapped in colourful beads. Leanne won the Opus Art Supplies Graduation Award for this piece.
“Crit Night was a great opportunity for me to strengthen my professional connections during what can be a very daunting time, right after graduation, when I feel proud of the work I've accomplished but uncertain about what my future holds,” says Leanne. “It's incredibly valuable to spend time with people from the galleries I visit, allowing me to put a face to the name and to have them recognize my name now.”
Leanne encourages students to view Crit Night as a chance to affirm that they are on the right track with their work, particularly when receiving positive feedback from curators they may collaborate with in the future.
“It can be hard to tell if what you're creating will resonate with others when most of the feedback you've received so far was from your teachers and classmates. It's helpful to have an outside opinion from someone in the art world, someone who may think of you in the future for a project they're working on, pass your name along to someone else, or will be at the openings or other events you'll attend in the future.”
Shannon and her team are eager to nurture the rewarding relationship between students and curators through events like Crit Night and between students and industry during Creative Industry Day. These events enable graduating students to expand their connections with local industry and enhance their networking skills as they showcase their work to the world.
For more information about the Career Development and Work Integrated Learning Office and their programs, visit their website here.