14
Annual Report 2017 – 2018
Pillar 2: Extraordinary Learning
INSPIRING CREATIVITY
Artist-in-Residence Program – the inaugural year
Reflecting on her year as Crofton
House School ’s first Artist-in-
Residence, Tsēma Igharas, considers
the relationship between art and
innovation. “You can take what you
learn from the arts and apply it to
science, or any other field. When
creative thinking comes in, it benefits
society. The students can see that on
a daily basis here.”
Natasha Bathgate, Senior School
Creative Arts and Applied Skills
Program Coordinator, and Kerry
Harding, Grade 6 -7 Program
Coordinator, supported Tsēma as
the inaugural Artist-in-Residence for
many reasons. She is contemporary,
interdisciplinary, experienced in
art education for youth, and able to
bring Indigenous forms, methods and
perspectives into the curriculum.
During Tsēma’s time at Crofton House,
the Artist-in-Residence program was
integrated into curriculum using
different approaches for the Junior
and Senior School. Younger students
experienced more organized sessions
and activities. While in the Senior
School, mentorship and collaboration
allowed students and teachers to
engage with Tsēma organically,
drawing on her expertise to develop
ideas and learn techniques.
As a result, Natasha says that students
have “learnt from Tsēma that art is not
just about the aesthetics of making
something look beautiful, it’s a
language. It’s a way of communicating.
It’s about deeper thinking.”
Natasha and Kerry have also felt the
influence of Tsēma’s perspective on
their own teaching, as she encouraged
a slower, process-driven rather than
outcomes-based approach. Tsēma
considers how the experience of
working with children has made her
practice more playful, and how having
to simplify for a younger audience
has impacted her art. “That process
of trying to simmer big concepts or
ideas down into these little moments
of understanding has really helped me
to make the artwork more palatable.”
Tsēma made working with different
materials and practices possible
for students, incorporating metals,
ceramics, carving, illustration, graphic
design and photography tools in new
ways. As she developed her own pieces
in her on-campus studio, students
gained insight into how a professional
artist works. “She’s so talented and
has so much great work; it’s really
cool to see the process behind being
an artist as a career. She’s given us a
lot of guidance on how to make our
artwork more professional,” says
Emily Wang, ’18.