FALL 2023
VS200: EXPANDED FIELD- LOCAL MATERIALS
5-WEEK INTENSIVE COURSE

Led by Jackie Olson and Aubyn O’GradY

Wednesday evenings (6:00 pm - 8:30 pm) and Saturdays (11:00 am - 3:30 pm) in September and October

First class: Wednesday, September 13 (6:00 pm - 8:30 pm) 

Last class: Saturday, October 14 (11:00 am - 3:30 pm)

Tuition: $420 + YukonU part-time fees

Please note: course time will be split between the Expanded Field Studio at SOVA and field trips to gather and forage materials. Carpooling or walking to sites will be required.

Expanded Field is a project-driven, independent studio class at Yukon School of Visual Arts (SOVA). This course provides students with the opportunity to propose and develop a self-directed project with guidance from a practicing artist in a supportive, peer-based environment. 

The Expanded Field- Local Materials course circulates around artist Jackie Olson’s process-based practice, focusing on the many varieties of willow that grow abundantly on this territory and other natural or foraged materials (including waste). Students will harvest their own willow supply (along with fireweed and wild rhubarb, and other natural materials) and learn to break willow down to its most basic form; the long fibres held between the soft heart wood and the bark. These fibres will be processed to make a pulp, which will be used to make paper and pulp-based sculptural forms. 

This course will be divided between foraging field trips, hands-on workshops, the occasional lecture, and independent studio work. On field days, students can expect to spend time outside, no matter the weather, gathering course materials. Field trips will involve car-pooling to off-site locations.

Participating students will be supported by class critiques, student presentations, and one-on-one meetings with the instructors. 

Students are expected to bring their own practices and expertise into the studio class, and to be able to work independently to create a final work that incorporates willow, natural fibres, or other found and foraged local materials. Experiments with natural dyes, cordage, land-art and sculpture, eco-printing, will be supported and are encouraged. 

After completing the Expanded Field course there will be an option for students to continue working in the Expanded Field Studio and to participate in an exhibition in the SOVA Gallery in December. 

Prerequisites: Ability to work independently in an art studio environment. Approval from course instructor + SOVA based on submission of a short letter of introduction. Expanded Field is not available to current SOVA Foundation Year students. 

Applications are now closed.

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FALL 2022: EXPANDED FIELD-WILLOW

Led by Jackie Olson and Aubyn O’Grady in the fall of 2022, this process-based course focused mainly on using willow fibres. Students harvested their own willow supply (along with fireweed and wild rhubarb, among other natural materials) in the fall, and learned to break willow down to its most basic form; the long fibres held between the soft heart wood and the bark. These fibres were processed to make a pulp, which was used to make paper as well as sculptural forms. Projects were presented at the December Mid-Year Open House.