Completed artwork by Gillian Forde inspired by an archival photograph from the Archives of North Vancouver. Photo: Artists For Kids

By Amelia Epp, Artists For Kids and Gordon Smith Gallery

How does photography impact our relationship to place? This is a question that senior secondary students from the North Vancouver and West Vancouver school districts explored in November 2022 through a workshop with photo-based artist Karen Zalamea.

The workshop, hosted by Artists for Kids, took place over three school days and offered secondary students unique opportunities to develop technical photography skills, to explore digital and analogue processes for altering photographs, to carry out research at MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver (3203 Institute Road), and to publicly exhibit their artwork.

Reference Historian Daien Ide workshopping with students at the Archives of North Vancouver in November 2022. Photo: Artists For Kids

The students test out their cameras outside of the Archives of North Vancouver in Lynn Valley, November 2022. Photo: Artists For Kids

Research at the Archives of North Vancouver

With the North Vancouver waterfront as the central location of inquiry, students began this three-day workshop by engaging with the rich resources at the Archives of North Vancouver to inform their approaches to the site.

Students worked with historical photographs, maps, and plans from the archive, combining these with their own location-based photographs. The resulting artworks took on diverse forms, incorporating weaving, paper folding, hand stitching, and digital collage.

Photo-based artist Karen Zalamea (shown on right) working with students, November 2022. Photo: Artists For Kids

The finished student artworks were exhibited at the Gordon Smith Gallery lobby at 2121 Lonsdale Ave in December 2022, with a large closing reception attended by the proud student artists as well as friends, families, and educators.

In December 2022, the finished student artworks were exhibited at the Gordon Smith Gallery. Photo: Artists For Kids

Public Exhibition in The Shipyards

In March 2023, with the generous support of the City of North Vancouver, the student artworks were then printed on vinyl and mounted publicly on the mezzanine over-looking The Shipyards Commons.

Artist Karen Zalamea and several student artists led a walking tour of the public exhibition in April 2023, an event that was featured on the Capture Photography Festival website.

If you’re heading to The Shipyards this summer, be sure to check out these original artworks in person!

The student artworks were printed and mounted in the Shipyards Commons in March 2023. Photo: Artists For Kids

The Artists For Kids student project, supported by the City of North Vancouver, will be on view in The Shipyards during the summer of 2023.