This blog is an archived post written by Marissa during her 3^rd year in the Environmental Management stream.

 

 

 

Joining the Faculty of Environmental Studies, I never imagine the opportunities I would get to experience. One of these was being featured in the Crossroads Art Gallery. In high school, I was never a visual art person; I mostly stuck to my limited musical abilities. In first year, I decided to pursue the CAP certificate, which blends together environmental education and art. One of the requirements was to take the course ENVS 3122: Community and Environmental Arts Workshop with Professor Andil Gosine. The class was structured on working around the topic of animality (Animal nature or character) and you could create any art piece in your chosen form. He made the class to be a workshop in the forte of each student, so he allowed us to work on our art in the form we do best. I came into this class not considering myself an artist at all. So, I was very intimidated by having to create my own art piece with no further knowledge.

I went into this certificate to challenge myself and that’s what I wanted from this class. So, I stepped up to the challenge and created a wonderful photography piece. My photo was staged and highlighted some social issues of animal and human relations. It was definitely a fun but hard process. I had to organize models, meeting times, and plan out the photograph. I also got some experience in Photoshop and used York’s digital photography printing room.

To complete the course, we hosted a gallery within the Crossroads Gallery on the second floor of the HNES building. This was an amazing experience because I got to see my artwork put on display. It was called Being(s) and was completely created by this class. It also was complied with all my peers work and we got experience in co-ordinating a show together.

All in all, I am so proud of myself for stepping up to this challenge and the experience of this course. Today I am so excited to develop more of my photography skills and use this in my certificate.