The City of Oshawa began collaborating with Durham College’s Community Collaborations Course in 2015. Over the past four years, student's work has been showcased in three murals located at Civic Square (located on Centre Street at City Hall), vinyl images affixed to the windows of the Arts Resource Centre, and in Alexandra Park adjacent to Lakeridge Health Oshawa as well as inside the hospital. For the 2019/2020 project, we will be choosing locations in our Community Centres and Oshawa Seniors Community Centres.
Examples of past projects
The City of Oshawa began collaborating with Durham College’s Community Collaborations Course in 2015. Over the past four years, student's work has been showcased in three murals located at Civic Square (located on Centre Street at City Hall), vinyl images affixed to the windows of the Arts Resource Centre, and in Alexandra Park adjacent to Lakeridge Health Oshawa as well as inside the hospital. For the 2019/2020 project, we will be choosing locations in our Community Centres and Oshawa Seniors Community Centres.
Examples of installations and individual artwork can be found below.
2018 a focus on human rights
Students from the 2017/18 academic year created artworks on the theme of human rights, which coincided with the approval of the City of Oshawa’s first Diversity and Inclusion Plan by Council in November 2017.
The collaborative focus of this project prioritized public input, providing the community the opportunity to guide the design process via a survey. With guidance from faculty and community partners, students from the Community Collaborations class reviewed survey feedback and responded through visual art. Samples of the artwork and installation are below.
This collaborative project presented the opportunity for students to focus on their own lived experiences and issues they care about in relation to human rights, informed by public input. This project engaged each student’s self-compassion and compassion for others. It gave them the opportunity to better understand their fundamental human rights. This collaboration opened up my classroom as a safe space for important conversations about community issues, needs and strategies to positively impact local areas of interest as a visual artist. This collaboration gave all participants the opportunity to express themselves comfortably and contribute directly to public art work where they can see their thoughts and experiences represented. The public had the opportunity to inspire art work that will create a welcoming and positive space for story sharing, a starting point for learning, relating and understanding successes, hopes, and challenges associated with human rights. Please see below for samples of art from this project.
2019 a focus on youth mental health
Students from the 2018/19 academic year took part in a collaboration with Lakeridge Health Oshawa’s Child, Youth and Family Program (CYFP). An anonymous survey was used to collect stories from patients, staff, caregivers, and supportive members of the community. With guidance from faculty and community partners, students from the Community Collaborations class selected a story to respond to through visual art. Quotes from the stories that inspired each piece can be found beside or below the artwork. Samples of the artwork and installations are below.
This collaborative project presented the opportunity to digest and interpret stories written by participants from the CYFP engaged each student’s compassion, related to their personal experiences and support of those experiencing mental health. It required their local community involvement and called upon their ability to conceptualize art for a purpose outside of themselves, for an audience broader than many of them have had the opportunity to reach. This collaboration opened up our classroom as a safe space for important conversations about community issues, needs and strategies to positively impact local areas of interest as a visual artist. This collaboration gave all participants the opportunity to express themselves comfortably and contribute directly to public art work where they can see their experiences represented. They had the opportunity to inspire art work that will create a welcoming and positive space for story sharing, a starting point for learning, relating and understanding the goals and challenges associated with the experiences of staff, caregivers and patients of the CYFP and beyond. Please see below for samples of art from this project.
2020 a focus on the 55+ community
For the 2019/20 academic year, students from the Journalism and Personal Support Worker (PSW) programs at Durham College conducted interviews with a selection of older adults who are members of the OSCC55+ or living in residences in Oshawa. With guidance from faculty and community partners, students from the Community Collaborations class selected an interview to respond to through visual art. Quotes from the stories that inspired each piece can be found beside or below the artwork in one of the installations. Samples of the artwork and installations are below.
This collaborative project presented the opportunity to digest and interpret stories recorded by participants from Wynfield LTC, Hillsdale Terraces & the Oshawa Senior Community Centre. This project engaged each student’s compassion, challenged their perceptions of the 55+ community, and required their local community involvement. It called upon their ability to conceptualize art for a purpose outside of themselves, for an audience broader than many of them have had the opportunity to reach. This collaboration opened up our classroom as a safe space for important conversations about community issues, needs and strategies to positively impact local areas of interest as a visual artist. This collaboration gave all participants the opportunity to express themselves comfortably and contribute directly to public art work where they can see their experiences represented. They had the opportunity to inspire art work that will create a welcoming and positive space for story sharing, a starting point for learning, relating and understanding the joys and challenges associated with the experiences of our local 55+ community. Please see below for samples of art from this project.
2020 a focus on hopes and fears
For the 2020/2021 students worked in collaboration with Wunderlit Magazine. This issue of Wunderlit is
dedicated to celebrating and promoting the visual work of the Durham College, Community Collaborative
Service Learning, Fine Art students of 2021.
These artists were given a lot of freedom for this project. These artists created their work under the pressure
created by a pandemic, virtual learning, and a quickly changing world. The focus of each piece ranges from a
representation of fears of the present and the past to positive visions of the future; a change in the world
these artists want to see, community engagement, community care, social and emotional wellbeing. Even
though this is a print magazine, we did not want to limit the media through which these artists could express
themselves. Some artists created a traditional drawing or painting. Some created digital art. We have artists in
this group who focus on 3D work. Some are photographers. Some base their work heavily on their creative
writing practice. Others love to express themselves through narrated, animated videos. This magazine is
inclusive of each artist’s preferred means of creative expression. The work was also inspired by conversations
with The LivingRoom Community Art Studio. The LivingRoom has been working in partnership with Durham
College, Community Collaborative Service Learning students for the past 5 years, during their fall semester of
this course. We hope that you enjoy the work in this magazine and that you consider following the work of
these artists through their preferred channels. Please see below for samples of art from this publication.
