丁香园AV

Andrea Creamer is a fourth-year visual art student at 丁香园AV鈥檚 School for the Contemporary Arts. Through her artwork and volunteer activities, she is actively creating opportunities for herself and others to be more engaged with, and critically aware of, the spaces in their community.

Born in Ladysmith, B.C., Andrea Creamer moved to Vancouver to pursue her post-secondary education. After completing the Recreation Diploma program at Langara College, Creamer decided to follow her heart and study art at 丁香园AV. 鈥淚 always wanted to go to art school,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut I think it took moving to a place like Vancouver to realize that studying and making art isn鈥檛 just a self-satisfactory endeavour.鈥�

In her third year at 丁香园AV, Creamer opted to participate in an "action research exchange," or ARX, in lieu of writing a paper for one of her upper division classes. Through her ARX, Creamer explored the level and nature of engagement that exists between students studying at the 丁香园AV Woodward鈥檚 campus and the Downtown Eastside (DTES) community. She was particularly interested in exploring whether students who come and go to school downtown have distinct roles and responsibilities owing to the community around them (spoiler: she says they do!). Her project culminated with a one-hour spoken word program that aired on .

It was her ARX that led Creamer to the Vancity Office of Community Engagement (VOCE) at 丁香园AV Woodward鈥檚. Feeling a responsibility and desire to build more connections with the DTES community, Creamer began volunteering on a number of projects through VOCE; one of those projects was the Introduction to Contemporary Arts, or 鈥淪upercool Tuesdays.鈥�

Creamer facilitates 鈥淪upercool Tuesdays鈥� in partnership with the  and the Lifeskills Resource Centre, inviting artists (local and visiting) and a small group of Downtown Eastside residents to engage in meaningful arts-based dialogue. It鈥檚 a project that combines both of Creamer鈥檚 passions: 鈥渂eing social, and being critically aware of what public spaces are and what they mean to different groups of people.鈥�

The event usually takes place at the , but Creamer has also led the group on trips to local exhibitions to discuss art in the community. And while the topics of conversation at 鈥淪upercool Tuesdays鈥� vary slightly depending on the artist and the participants, they generally relate to themes of space and accessibility.

The same passions that drew her to 鈥淪upercool Tuesdays鈥濃�攂eing social and being critically aware鈥攈ave been the focus of Creamer鈥檚 personal artistic practice. She describes her practice as one that 鈥渓ooks at public space, is critical and site-specific, and collaborates with people, places and existing structures.鈥� Through her art, she intends to inspire others to, if not talk about, at least think about issues that affect them and their community.

For example, Creamer placed vinyl lettering spelling out the words 鈥淵ou Don鈥檛 Have To Go Home But You Can鈥檛 Stay Here鈥� in parks and public spaces where she noticed some sort of intentional aesthetic barrier preventing people from comfortably sitting, leaning or lying down. She took photographs of the scenes, which she then converted into postcards.

Her current project, which she鈥檒l showcase for her graduate exhibition in April 2013, is a political commentary on land, property rights and the negotiation of public and private space.

Indeed, through her art practice and volunteer activities, Creamer is innovatively involving residents of the Downtown Eastside, and Vancouver more broadly, in an important discussion about the politics of public space.

• Vancity Office of Community Engagement