VCC jewellery & design program year-end student exhibition
Vancouver Community College
may 18 – june 11, 2020
ccbc shop & gallery
The 27 students of VCC’s jewellery program are preparing their year-end exhibition, creating extraordinary jewellery even without access to a traditional jewellery workshop. The group exhibition will be shown at the Craft Council of BC’s Window Gallery (1386 Cartwright St., Granville Island), opening May 28 and running through June 11, 2020. The work can also be viewed online (Facebook) starting May 28.
When BC announced its first round of Covid 19 restrictions in March, Jewellery students were about to begin a 5-week period working to create their year-end projects. Usually this involves using the College’s fully-equipped jewellery workshops and working in traditional jewellery media such as silver and gemstones. However, this year, with VCC’s campuses closed, students have responded by creating innovative designs using the limited materials and tools they have access to at home, from recycled plastics, to guitar strings and organic materials.
“Because this is the first time in the program’s 32-year history that the year-end exhibition needed to be created without access to the workshops, we were unsure what to expect,” says Department Head Karin Jones. “We used an online platform where faculty could post demo videos, and students could post weekly updates of their progress, so we could advise and support them remotely. It became clear quite quickly that students were rising to the challenge with some really stunning designs.”
about the VCC Jewellery & Design Program
VCC’s Jewellery Art & Design program was founded in 1988. The program replaced a traditional apprenticeship program, with the goal of serving the needs of a new generation of aspiring jewellers that were creative, independent, and interested in using jewellery as a form of self-expression. Since then, the program has produced 10-20 graduates a year, many of whom have established successful businesses, worked as goldsmiths in Vancouver’s top jewellery stores, and won international awards.
