International Education Art Exhibition 2020
Written and Photos by Emily Chian
@emily.chian
Michealea Dickens, a graduating Classics and Anthropology student, stands beside two photos she submitted to the exhibition.
Photographs and artwork were on display in the Arts Common room from March 2 - 6, 2020. Students, faculty, and community members submitted pictures and artwork for Saint Mary’s University’s 2nd Annual International Education Art Exhibition. The work was about their international experience with study abroad programs and individual perspectives about living in Canada.
Organized by Career Services, a reception took place on March 3rd; a diverse body of participants submitted work and attended their event.
Fifteen submissions were on display and spoken word poets performed at the reception. The Journal’s Emily visited and interviewed artists and attendees.
Michaela Dickens, a graduating Classics and Anthropology student, submitted two pieces about her trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon last year.
Emily: Could you tell me about your work?
Michaela: These are two photos from the Shakespeare Texts and Theatre Field School. We [went] to Stratford-Upon-Avon and [got] to see a bunch of old heritage houses that are connected to Shakespeare. One of these [were] his gardens, and the other his mother’s house, which is a farm home from Stratford-Upon-Avon. I thought they were pretty.
Emily: What message did you want to convey when you chose these photos?
Michaela: Definitely to come to England. It was an absolutely amazing trip, and I’m going back again. That’s saying something.
The Garden photo - I love it because you kind of get to see one of the lines from Henry VI. It goes along with what we are studying because we were studying a lot of Shakespeare plays. It was really interesting to see how important it is and the life and culture there.
The other photo - when I took it, it kind of drew me in. I named it By the Light because everything kind of reflects out of this one focal point. It kind of draws you in and it feels like you are back to that time frame.
Emily: How do you feel now that everyone can come to see it?
Michaela: I wasn’t really sure if I was going to submit anything. It actually took me a while to go through everything and decide what I wanted to [submit], but now I am kind of glad I did because it looks really pretty. It was really an amazing opportunity to be able to do something like this.
Gabriel Desmarais, an Astrophysics and Engineering student, heard about the exhibition through family and came just out of curiosity.
He said that “all of them were great, especially the poems.” His favourite work on display was the work by Emily Nolan. Gabriel liked the image’s composition and how the trees stand in front of the villages.
Bronna Higginbothen, an English and Linguistics student, came to support Michaela, who is her roommate.
She says that she liked Michaela’s work and also enjoyed the spoken word pieces.
“I really like all of them but my personal favourite was the Benedict Cumberbatch one [by El Jones]. I just thought it was really funny and really creative…..I guess it was just like not something you would think about very often, but it was really played out in a relatable way.....everyone can understand what it meant.”
She says that overall “it was really good. I really enjoyed the exhibition.“
The interview was edited for clarity