Students and alumni from York University’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design (AMPD) will be showcasing their artistic talents at this year’s Nuit Blanche.
Taking place October 5th, from 7 pm to 7 am, Nuit Blanche is a free all-night celebration of contemporary art that transforms Toronto’s public spaces into extraordinary landscapes. This year’s theme, Bridging Distances, invites audiences to explore ways in which they experience and perceive distance.
One standout piece at this year’s festival comes from Shannon Garden-Smith, a current student in AMPD’s Visual Arts PhD program. Her captivating installation, Snail Work (for the lake), is made of unfixed, vibrantly dyed sand, recreating historical marbling patterns at an immersive scale. Audiences are invited to move through the work as a snail might, gently interacting with the pattern – disrupting, unmaking and remaking it in the process.
Through her installation, she weaves together personal, environmental and colonial narratives, dedicating this piece to Lake Ontario and its surrounding ecosystem.
Garden-Smith credits AMPD with providing her with the essential resources and facilities to bring "Snail Work (for the lake)" to life. “There’s a really great community of PhD students here at AMPD – it’s important to have those people there to challenge you in the right kinds of ways,” says Garden-Smith. She also acknowledges Professor Brandon Vickerd, Chair of the Visual Art & Art History department, whose support allowed her to work in the school's facilities.
Also featured at this year’s Nuit Blanche exhibitions are other talented AMPD alumni and students. Their diverse projects span various artistic installations, showcasing the depth of talent emerging from the School. Learn more about them below:
- Gary Barwin (BFA ’86) – Bird Fiction
- Nathan Bruce (BFA ’21) – Love Across Distance
- Meghan Cheng (MA ’17) - Lumen:Air at Humber Polytechnic
- Elham Fatapour (MFA ’21)- Bodies of water, Bodies of rocks at Humber Polytechnic | Echoes of a Garden: Blossom and Bridges at Humber Polytechnic
- Winta Hagos (BA ’21) – It’s Ok* Studios – TIZITA – Coded Whisper
- Roxanne Ignatius (BFA ’05) – The Bright Web
- Niloo Inalouei (MFA ’21) - Traversing Orbits at Humber Polytechnic
- Vladimir Kanic (second-year MFA student) – Living Algae Cyborg
- Mishann Lau (BFA ’96)- What are you Saying? - Harbour Square Park Look-out
- Germaine Lui (MA ’11) – Sing Sing (Starfield)
- Andrea Nann (BFA ’88) – MABELLEarts – MOVING IN!
- Bee Pallomina (MFA ’13)- MABELLEarts – MOVING IN!
- Michelle Peraza (MFA ’22) - Traversing Orbits at Humber Polytechnic
Learn more about Nuit Blanche on the City of Toronto website.