Social Work & Art
Examples of how I incorporated art into my social work practice
Participatory Action Heros
In the first year of the MSW program, I worked together with three other students to develop a storyline for a graphic novel, which focused on participatory action research. We chose the medium of graphic novel as our preferred method of communication due to its increased accessibility and anticipated appeal to the general public.
Click here to view the full graphic novel.
Click here to view the method rationale.
Spoken word poem addressing violence against women
In my second year of the MSW program, I was asked to create a media campaign with three other students addressing a social justice issue of our choice. The topic that we chose was violence against women and the medium that we chose was a website. For the website, I wrote a spoken word poem which speaks to the issue of gendered violence. Together, my classmates and I, performed this poem on video and then posted it on YouTube and our website in order to raise public awareness regarding this issue.
Click here for the written version of the poem.
Social Justice Art Program
During my final practicum in Saint Lucia, I was provided with the opportunity to design, develop, deliver, and evaluate a five-week preventative art program for youth, which was similar to my previous work experience with Children of the Street Society (COS).
Without the support of COS and the Holy Family Children's Home, this opportunity would not have been possible. Harold Pliszka was also a valuable part of this endeavour and together he and I co-created and co-facilitated the Social Justice Art Program (referred to as PEACE in the report below).
Electronic Portfolio
In my final project, the electronic portfolio, I created all of the drawings featured on this website.
I do not claim to be an artist, but I truly believe that art is for everyone and that art can be used as a powerful tool for social justice and social change.