Student Art and Placemaking Winner 2024

For artist Isabel Chen, art and play intersect in this year’s Student Art and Placemaking Fund project!

Supported by Professor Germaine Koh (AHVA), Chen organized a series of programming activations across campus, centred around play as a creative process of placemaking and co-creation. Using custom-built “playable objects” (such as a wearable basketball hoop), Chen and her fellow artists investigated the concept of play in their practice, transforming it into an interactive performance art set where spectators could join in.

According to the artist, “the central purpose of this project is to look at the dynamics of play, with a particular focus on the intersections of play/sport/games with creative processes.” The play activities and workshops were brought out into public realm spaces on campus, inviting spectators to become participants, and helping to cultivate a dynamic campus culture where spaces outside the classroom become a place for connection.

The Student Art and Placemaking Fund, a donor-driven initiative, provides opportunities for student artists and placemakers to help temporarily shape public realm spaces on campus with unique and creative projects that prompt thought, connection, and exploration through different artistic mediums.

Have an idea for a project of your own? Apply for this year’s fund!