Shops + Studios Team

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts: Major in Painting, Minor in Art History

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I value my art + design education and how it has enriched both my life and my ability to contribute meaningfully back to society even when being disruptive.

Describe your professional practice.
Constantly working to understand differently, to listen and grow through the process of collaboration and collegiality.

Describe your personal practice.
I want to do everything all the time. Drawing has always been central and recurring, though I maintain interest in the built world and dysfunctional objects.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Applied Arts: Film and Photography

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
My role has been to guide students in turning their conceptual ideas into tangible outcomes. Students share their ideas, and together we conceive of a suitable pathway to fabricate a project. Developing the student's shop skills to support that pathway is an extremely rewarding process. The students are always coming up with ideas that challenge us to find solutions together.

Describe your professional practice.
Shop technologies educator. Though I have been freelancing wood-based projects for the last 30 years, I have primarily been anchored in an educational shop setting since 2001.

Describe your personal practice.
My personal practice includes furniture design and fabrication, making wooden home utensils including bowl turning and wooden cutlery and building playground and garden structures. Other areas of practice and interest include: paper making, wood harvesting, the productive utilizations of wood off-cuts which often appears as hoarding and photography (but that was a long time ago).

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts: Major in Printmaking | Queen's University
Master of Fine Arts: Major in Printmaking | University of Alberta

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts: Major in Media Arts | NSCAD University

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I identify with artistic and creative sensibilities and appreciate supporting the cultural sector.

Describe your professional practice.
I aspire to a high degree of competency, professionalism and respect while maintaining humour and goodwill within the workplace.

Describe your personal practice.
I engage different disciplines following my interests, such as writing, drawing and sound making. I gravitate towards the ordinary and mundane, the overlooked and insignificant infused with some absurdism and the ridiculous. I'm fond of practicing doing nothing at all.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Media Arts
Master of Media Arts

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I really love making. I realized many years ago that I like to help put together amazing things, whether they are comprised of my own ideas, others' dreams or a collaboration of both.

Describe your professional practice.
In my professional practice I seek to uplift and support the voices and ideas of individuals or groups to create amazing and compelling art work.

Describe your personal practice.
My personal practice consists of daily ritual and meditation, skateboarding and eating delicious food. We have one body while here on this earth and I believe in caring for and enjoying it.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Applied Arts | Plymouth College of Art and Design

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Whilst I studied for my degree I got a lot of help from the studio technicians and also learned a great deal from them. After spending some years developing my skills in my own business I am very happy to be working in this field so that I can share my knowledge with the next generation of designers and makers. I also enjoy seeing great design so where better to be than where it all starts for most people!

Describe your personal practice.
I enjoy working with both wood and steel, so my personal practice often involves using both of these materials in combination. I design and build furniture with a refined approach, and by bringing these two materials together I am able to make functional, aesthetically pleasing objects for the home.

Educational background?

Journeyman Red Seal Ticket: Carpentry
Bachelor of Fine Arts: Major in Theatre, Minor in Education

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I like working in a culture of creative, critical thinkers. I value the process of art making as a way of seeing and understanding oneself and the complex/contradictory relationship to one's environment.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts: Ceramics | Alberta University of the Arts

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I love the community that exists within Emily Carr. I find it inspiring working with staff and faculty who have personal art practices, and I love working with students to help them realize their ideas.

Describe your professional practice.
I am an interdisciplinary technician who supports Model Booking and the Ceramics Department.

Describe your personal practice.
I make hand-built and wheel-thrown functional ceramics.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Fostering the development of student's creative skills provides considerable personal satisfaction.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts: Major in Critical and Cultural Practices, Minor in Art and Text
Library and Information Technology Diploma

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Education, at its best, is empowering. Art school gives me hope that education can, more often than not, be at its best.

Describe your personal practice.
I have a studio focus in printmaking and consider reading, writing and drawing the pillars of my practice. I practice as a way to seek somatic care.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Media Arts: 2D Animation Focus

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I like to share resources with people to encourage collaboration and experimentation. I want to encourage animators to be versatile in a variety of mediums and to explore beyond the bounds of animation into sound, design, architecture, etc.

Describe your professional practice.
I animate, illustrate, create print media and make music.

Describe your personal practice.
I do all the things described above but for no money.

Educational background?
Computer Programming Diploma (2 Year) | Loyalist College
Furniture Design and Making Diploma (3 Year) | Sheridan College
Bachelor of Fine Arts (2/3 Complete) | Emily Carr University of Art + Design

Educational background?
Textile Arts Diploma | Capilano University

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
The only thing I like more than learning new skills, the process of making and figuring out how things work is stewarding and witnessing others in discovering their joy in the same.

Describe your professional practice.
My previous work in the custom fabrication and model-making industry, corporate gift design and production, and textiles education all influence my work in many areas of Emily Carr: in the Soft Shop with pattern-making, sewing and textiles; with the laser cutters in the Digital Fabrication Lab; in the TARP research lab with the digital loom; as a textile and digital design skills instructor in Continuing Studies.

Describe your personal practice.
A collection of textile and technological learning and connections, spanning thousands of years. Currently spinning and weaving with hand and computer-controlled tools.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I enjoy the work and the challenges that come with it.

Describe your professional practice.
I'm the first point of contact and support for students working in studios and on-site installations. I also provide wood shop support for students in drawing, painting, illustration and graduate studies.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Design: Visual Communication Design
Bachelor of Arts (Honours): History of Art, Design and Visual Culture

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I find it very rewarding to help students build skills and explore design. The school setting allows for unconventional and experimental projects as well as traditional ones, and the students are always bringing in fresh ideas and perspectives, so our studio is a fun and fascinating place to work

Describe your professional practice.
I'm a graphic designer with a particular interest in information design, type, lettering, illustration, print and DIY publications...and, as a technician, I use that background to both help students build their own technical skills, and help make sure the COMD studio space and materials are well designed to encourage and facilitate their creative work.

Describe your personal practice.
My practice outside of school is that I make comics! I see it as a medium that has a huge overlap with my design background: it's a visual language that's all about sequential storytelling, and communicating through a combination of image and text.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts: Painting and Drawing
Diploma of Interior Design: Interior Design and Photography
Diploma of Vocational Studies: Cabinet Making

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
That spark of curiosity. Questioning. Willingness to take risks, learn and grow creatively. It’s in this environment all around me and is inspiring to witness. Playing a small part in helping to facilitate this growth is what keeps me here and engaged.

Describe your professional practice.
Contributing to the university by providing an environment that is inclusive and supportive whether in my role as technician support to students and faculty, or to my colleagues as a whole. And overall encompassing view - to never stop learning or become complacent with my skill set.

Describe your personal practice.
I’m always questioning, always exploring whether it’s ideas or tangible outputs. My practice is a multidisciplinary intersection of visual art, spatial design and traditional craft processes - with the recent addition of digital technologies being added to the mix. I’m ultimately interested in dualities and the exchange between audience and artifact no matter the form it takes.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Science: Engineering Physics | University of British Columbia

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I have a deep understanding of electronic medias and I enjoy helping students learn how to DIY.

Describe your professional practice.
I work translating between technical and artistic languages in order to enable learning and production of design items and arts ephemera.

Describe your personal practice.
I am an electronic media artist - I work with video, sound, projection, radio and electronics to create interactive installations and performances.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts: Photography | Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Master of Fine Arts: Photography | Concordia University

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Art has given me a way to examine and share the complexities of the world we live in and I want to enable future generations to be able to challenge our understanding of society and culture.

Describe your professional practice.
I aim to foster a culture of exploration and creativity within the photo department, while sharing my knowledge and curiosity of the medium of photography.

Describe your personal practice.
I am an artist, photographer, curator and educator living and working in Vancouver, BC, the ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. My art practice has largely been in dialogue with the histories surrounding the Cold War conflict, with a focus on the remnants of militarized sites. Having completed projects that reflect on the legacy of authoritarian regimes, and the rise of nuclear powers, I am currently interested in how individual freedoms and democracy can be eroded through technologies, and our post-911 surveillance culture. Through my work, I hope to point to these issues and offer my own propositions for resistance and subversion.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Arts
PhD: Humanities

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Next to my passion for woodworking is my joy in sharing the experience.

Describe your professional practice.
Designing and fabricating (partial) solutions to modern day problems.

Describe your personal practice.
Finding and creating problems to find solutions for.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Education: Specialty in Technology Education

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I've always had a maker's mind; a curiosity for understanding the world, a passion for creative problem solving and a desire to have that translate into supporting the education of our next generation of makers.

Describe your professional practice.
Helping creative minds explore and achieve their design goals though safe and effective practice.

Describe your personal practice.
Metal, wood, textiles, ceramic, glass and light - a mixture of it all in the pursuit of beauty and function.

Educational background?
Emily Carr University of Art + Design
College of the Sequoias (California)
Tama Art University (Tokyo)

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Love the art.

Describe your professional practice.
Printmaking and bookmaking.

Describe your personal practice.
Printmaking and bookmaking.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Industrial Design

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
My role at ECU allows me to share creative knowledge with others and explore new ways of thinking through materials and emergent technology. I have immense gratitude for the educators and mentors who challenged and inspired me throughout my education.

Describe your professional practice.
At the Digital Fabrication Lab I work with individuals to help them refine and articulate skills in various methods of digital and physical prototyping. I continually develop demonstrative prototypes and models that present new ways of working with the tools in our lab.

Describe your personal practice.
My personal practice has continued to become more and more analog. I enjoy working on and restoring bikes, camping, exploring outside with friends and taking photos of peculiar shadows and reflections along the way.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts | Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Visual Arts Diploma (4 Year) | Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Studio Art Diploma (2 Year) | Capilano University

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I enjoy the diversity, and possibilities.

Describe your professional practice.
An ongoing exploration of diverse media, materials, techniques and problem solving.

Describe your personal practice.
Self-indulgent.

Educational background?
Major in Psychology | University of British Columbia
Fine Arts Diploma (Honours): Ceramics | Langara College
Artist Residencies | Medalta, Alberta and Jingdezhen, China
Ceramics Workshops: Various

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
With my background in psychology I have a special interest in creative processes. My experience in ceramics has led me to a keen interest in research into the processes of making functional ceramics, formulating glazes and firing processes.

Describe your professional practice.
In my professional practice I make porcelain tableware and enjoy experimenting with a wide variety of decorating and forming techniques. While working in a studio gallery for many years I was able to develop work for the market in earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. I also designed work for several restaurants. I include in my professional practice teaching a throwing class in porcelain (Shadbolt Centre for the Arts) and providing technical curriculum support at ECU.

Describe your personal practice.
With my many years of experience in my professional practice, my continuous research into ceramic processes and the inspiration I receive from working with students, I am drawn to a future of writing and documenting for the ceramics profession. I have in the works a book on porcelain.

Educational background?
Structural Drafting Certificate
Journeyman Red Seal Ticket: Joinery
Provincial Instructor Diploma

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Design has always been an important element in every job I have ever had, from drawing large scale structures on the drawing board to creating functional pieces of furniture in the wood shop. It wasn't until a chance meeting with a former woodworking instructor in 2015 that I became interested in being an educator and then began to think about how to marry my existing passion for design with a newfound interest in education. Working with young people to help them bring their vision to life is incredibly rewarding.

Describe your professional practice.
Learning and growing.

Describe your personal practice.
Building fine furniture and art pieces made from reclaimed and responsibly sourced material.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts: Major in Sculpture, Minor in Printmaking | University of Guelph
Fine Woodworking Diploma | Selkirk College
Red Seal Trades Certificate: Joinery | British Columbia Institute of Technology

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
All three of these are my passions in life. Creativity and educating others fuels my purpose in life. I am a lifelong learner, eager to problem solve and analyze. I love a community immersed in art and design, where multiple minds can share common goals. I value a wood shop dialed in so well that it’s intuitive, always clean, and user-friendly.

Describe your professional practice.
Empowered to share my skills and creativity with others, reminded that every project brings new growth. I am forever seeking new skills and tools. Leave no rock unturned. Work as a team.

Describe your personal practice.
A custom furniture background, eager to maximize the functionality of furniture by building unique solid wood pieces. Taking all the time needed to hone in a great design, and build to the highest standard. I always have making on my mind, in so much of my surroundings. I love to sew, I love colour, I love creating.

Describe your professional practice.
I am a motion capture specialist with a background in animation, visual effects and film.

Describe your personal practice.
I like to experiment with different storytelling mediums from 3D sound to virtual environments.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Motion Picture Arts

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I want to empower people to use the art of filmmaking to express themselves and to connect with audiences.

Describe your professional practice.
I've worked as a lamp operator/rigging electric on a variety of different productions.

Describe your personal practice.
I’ve worked as a screenwriter, director and producer on several of my own projects. I’m constantly working on new story ideas, both in short and feature-length form.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Arts: Major in English, Minor in Fine Arts | University of Guelph
Bachelor of Education | University of British Columbia
Publishing Diploma | Langara College

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Art + design have played an important role in both my professional and personal paths. Being able to support the development of these skills in others brings me a whole lot of satisfaction!

Describe your professional practice.
I support the Shops + Studios team through design. From developing signage to documenting the production processes that unfold in our spaces, my work looks different every day. I love creative collaboration and weaving design and content ideas together - the results are often delightfully unexpected.

Describe your personal practice.
My personal practice is a bit all over the place and I dabble in different creative pursuits. I spend a lot of time outside, like to move and easily get wrapped up in small details. These tendencies usually emerge in the things that I make!

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours)
Master of Fine Arts (Distinction): Sculpture Theory and Practice

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Developing and expanding student endeavours beyond their expectations.

Describe your personal practice.
Sculpture.

Educational background?
Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Pottery Apprenticeship (Saltspring Island)
Woodworking | Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking
Welding Certificate | British Columbia Institute of Technology
Workshops: Variety of Disciplines

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Because I love to learn and to learn with others.

Describe your professional practice.
My work as at Emily Carr as an interdisciplinary technician essentially means that I know a little about a lot (of disciplines) and a lot about a little (have specialties). I also have my own ceramics practice; I've been a potter for 25 years, focusing on functional wares with screen-printed surfaces.

Describe your personal practice.
In addition to ceramics I have illustrated two books and dabble in other mediums. My hobby is restoring vintage motorcycles.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Visual Communication Design: Major in Exhibition Design

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Technology can be a boogey-man for a lot of people as they're just starting into creative practice. I value the chance to help ease that tension and encourage new exploration, while having a chance to explore new methods myself.

Describe your professional practice.
I’m a hybrid designer that speaks the language of both design and tech, and moves fluidly between them. Currently focused on taming wild technology in XR, machine learning and physical computing to build real-time, interactive, generative and immersive experiences, on and off screen.

Describe your personal practice.
I'm always researching and experimenting with emerging workflows and techniques. Sharing those experiments either as visual output or directly as open source/ learning resources, ends up being the basis of many of my professional projects. Experimentation is key. Fail early and fail often.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts: Major in Visual Arts

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Where else am I going to find a community engaged in such vital and generative work? This field literally teaches how to take ideas, consider their impact, and make them happen. To me, this is practical, real world stuff, and incredibly energizing to be around.

Describe your professional practice.
I spend half my time in the Soft Shop, our textiles studio, where I work with students across disciplines to support their sewing and textile-based projects, and the other half working for Continuing Studies, where I prepare supplies and equipment for our non-degree classes. I love the variety and the need to be nimble. I love that I get to use my organizational skills and listen and work with people to problem solve material questions and share hands-on, applied skills.

Describe your personal practice.
Making things by hand embodies my understanding of what it means to be human. It's how I process my thoughts, my feelings, and ideas big and small. Mostly, I cut things up and put them back together again, as a way of seeing patterns and opening up new spaces for personal and social change, and as a way to consider acts of labour. I work mostly with secondhand fabric, found materials, paper, ink, paint. Lately I've been making objects that bring comfort - quilts, toys - and considering the role textiles play in grief. I make my own clothing. I spend a lot of time exploring outside, and the natural world figures often in my work.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Arts (Honours): Major in Fine Arts

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Art schools are unique environments where people have a chance to be around constant creation, invention and imagination. It's inspiring to see how students and colleagues go about making work, especially when they explore pushing the limits of what we know to be possible within a particular process, or find a neat workaround. Also, a lot of process-based practice needs passing down to keep it alive and keeping those analogue processes going is a big deal to me.

Describe your professional practice.
Continuous learning and knowledge exchanges.

Describe your personal practice.
I have an interdisciplinary practice, working with drawing, printmaking, photography and installation. I often work at a small scale but with scope to expand to occupy larger spaces. I make work that looks at the everyday as well as highlighting things that I find wonderful in the world around me.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Music
Master of Music: Major in Voice Performance

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Every day, I learn from faculty, students and fellow staff members. Working at ECU is like an ongoing education that enables me to continue my own practice.

Describe your professional practice.
My work centers on the creation of sound and music; for moving or static image, for performance, or installation. [Trying to] keep up with the students' ideas constantly sharpens my craft and keeps it fresh.

Describe your personal practice.
In my studio, I like to create new sound works, experiment with prototyping electronics and scratch my itches to perform with my music group "Together Mutiny."

Educational background?
Self-taught.

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
To help others expand their horizon in sound and media.

Describe your professional practice.
I'm the studio technician for the New Media + Sound Art program. I host workshops and support practices involving sound synthesis, field recording, multichannel installation, post-production and many other advanced media techniques. I also maintain the NMSA sound and media labs.

Describe your personal practice.
I'm involved in many facets of sound. I've worked as a recording and mastering engineer, in post-production, for independent record labels, and helping artists with sound and media installations. I've been involved in underground experimental music since the early 1990s. I make music as well as video art and perform under the name magneticring.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Media Arts: Animation

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
To support others in their art-making journey as well as learn and grow myself from the community here.

Describe your professional practice.
I create animated films, analogue video art, interactive installations and live visual performances. I have a solid understanding of the technical aspects of animation that I share with students so that they may focus on their creative endeavours rather than being swamped in technical details. I am also a member of Flavourcel, an animation collective that seeks to escape the dichotomy of industrial studio animation and solo auteurship. Our values of collaboration, collective decision-making, community and individuality are ones that I try and pass on to students.

Describe your personal practice.
My work focuses on the exploration and experimentation of abstract forms and textures that arise from pushing the bounds of technology. I try and elicit an emotional or bodily response from the audience without using any kind of figurative or narrative forms.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts: Major in Photography
Diploma of Visual Arts

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
Working in the field of art + design is my fuel to create things that help me convey the dichotomy of our existence and it also gives me a sense of freedom from the mundane. One of my main takeaways in this environment is to engage with purposeful work and not be involved in a rat race.

Describe your professional practice.
Working with students helps keep me on my toes as each one brings their own unique set of challenges, perspective and understanding of their own artistic endeavours. This juxtaposes well with my own creativity and I am able to navigate my support according to their needs.

Describe your personal practice.
I work mainly with an historical process called wet plate collodion ("photography's antique technology"), where I mix my own chemistry to make images on either aluminium or glass plates (as negatives). The versatility of this process gives me a real sense of creation as it is based strongly in the craft and chemical reactions of the materiality. The hands-on aspect of it also gives me an artistic touch over the final outcome; this process translates reality into something new to the viewer.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Fine Arts: Major in Photography

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I love making.

Describe your professional practice.
Facilitating emerging artists by teaching them how to physically create and build what their minds come up with.

Describe your personal practice.
I am a silversmith that works to decolonize the jewelry field with reclaiming my indigeneity through wearable art.

Educational background?
Bachelor of Studio Arts | University of British Columbia

Why do you work in the field of art + design education?
I am a lifelong learner. I enjoy working with students, staff and faculty. I love learning about other people and how they approach problem solving.

Describe your professional practice.
Working in Continuing Studies, I have working knowledge of various materials and mediums. I work with students of various ages as young as preteens to senior citizens. I am a trained letterpress printer and have assisted students with typesetting and printing.

Describe your personal practice.
I have an active practice. I regularly exhibit book works, comics and illustrations. I enjoy collaborating with organizations, collectives and other artists within the community. I draw on a regular basis. It is very accessible; you only need pencil and paper. I try not to get hung up on mistakes because that is what the eraser is for, right?