NSCAD’s exciting new student employment program: The Summer Studio & Campus Renewal Project kicked off just before Canada Day. Under the direction of our Studio Services Manager John Deal, students have been hired to undertake painting, minor repairs, organize storage, improve signage, and restore furniture in the historic Fountain Campus.
Funded through donations from NSCAD alumni, through the Head, Heart, and Hand Fund, the project delivers:
- Paid, skill‑building summer employment for students
- Renewed studio spaces that better serve teaching and creative practice
- A culture of shared care for NSCAD’s historic campuses
Donations are directly supporting student salaries, as well as the supplies and equipment needed for painting, repairs, and improvements to studios and shared spaces. Thanks to this grassroots project, Students, faculty, and staff will return in September to refreshed, well-organized creative spaces that better support learning and making.
The team kicked off the summer with introductions, and initial training. The students were able to have a tour of Fountain campus with Drawing and Painting Studio Technician, Takashi Hilferink (MFA 2022). He is helping guide the group by identifying areas where work is most needed and can be carried out without disturbing summer activities.
Deal says the team of students has started work in room D-103, the small, semi-private studio near the Student Common area.
“That space has been well-loved over the years and is perfect evidence of the dedication that our students put into their work and their education. We love that they make a mess, it means they’re working. But just like with gardening, each new season, each new crop, we need to till the soil and prepare our fields, our studios for what’s next. We’re picking up after our past successes and making room for new growth. It’s a really lovely group.”
If you’d like to support the Summer Studio & Campus Renewal Project, please donate here: www.nscad.ca/head-heart-hand