Workshops & Education
Schooling the Institution
Lesson Plan
August 20–
April 30, 2023
Convened by: Denise Ryner
Participants in Schooling the Institution have created a publication, Lesson Plan which combines their reflections on the program as well as suggestions and offerings. Schooling the Institution participants hope that Lesson Plan will be read, contemplated, and used by those considering the power dynamics of art institutions that they are involved with, as well as by those who seek to build alternative spaces and ways of relating. Please read, print, share, and circulate this resource. It can be accessed here. Lesson Plan was put together by Saliema Maki and Remas Elradi with support from Cecily Nicholson and Sadie Couture.
Participants in this program are members of Daily Dose of Blackness, a media production workers co-op of Black youth, and The Black Arts Centre, a space based in Surrey, BC that is dedicated to supporting multidisciplinary art created by Black youth.
Lesson Plan (29.22 MB)
Participants: Saliema Maki, Arshi Chadha, Remas Elradi, Manar Abrre, Hafiz Akinlusi, Vanessa Fajemisen, Fatuma Maki, Vanessa Wilson, and Moroti Soji-George
For over a year, Black youth with different levels of artistic knowledge gathered once a month to discuss art institutions. They were brought together to criticize and shift institutional procedures while having the opportunity to work closely with BIPOC artists and curators. This work brought them to an understanding of how the format of a gallery can negatively affect racialized youth, and how they have valuable knowledge and experiences which can be used to critique art institutions. They explored concepts of what constitutes art from different perspectives and frameworks. In addition to these conversations, the group visited art galleries that made the youth feel more wanted by providing free entry, having less staff or security, and displaying artwork made by BIPOC artists. They realized that they had expertise that could help change these institutions for the better, and wanted to express what they knew in order to improve them. They named the project Schooling the Institution.
