It’s a simple concept that is proving extremely transformative.
Let Thames Valley District high school students offer input and then put into action initiatives to add a new dynamic to downtown St. Thomas.
The collaboration, Students Build Cities, is the brainchild of Andrew Gunn who has orchestrated numerous undertakings in the city, many funded through the estate of Donna Vera Evans Bushell.
The latest project, an outdoor art gallery, was unveiled earlier this month at the Ignite Youth Centre.
It began with the mural by Oshawa artist Meaghan Claire Kehoe, with Phase 2 incorporating brightly painted picnic tables, the largest painted by Toronto-based artist Mediah, explains Gunn.
The Students Build Cities is a partnership with the Thames Valley District School Board to give students a sense of ownership in what they create, notes TVDSB Innovation Coordinator Laura Briscoe.
In addition to the expansive mural and painted picnic tables there are planter boxes crafted by students in the construction program taught by Joe Simon at Arthur Voaden Secondary School. And the area is bordered off by black fencing built and installed by Farmview Welding.
Gunn explains the rear exterior wall of the centre serves as an art backdrop. The goal is to rotate new works into the space once or twice a year to spotlight additional student artists.
Gunn says he and Maddie King, a journalist with the Students Build Cities team, worked with the student artists, the TVDSB and the Ignite Centre to design the outdoor space.
The goal is to have young people use the space for small outdoor events like open mic nights, arts shows, markets or to just hang out.
Written by Ian McCallum
