Jimmy Baptiste is a father, youth educator/facilitator, graphic artist, curator and muralist raised in Montreal, Quebec. His work is inspire by the imaginative world of tattoos, graffiti and typography, manga culture and comic books, which has helped him create his unique aesthetic style and compelling high quality illustration. The objective of his work is to create strong imageries and compelling vibrant visual composition using a mix of organic delicate lines and bold strokes using flat tones and/or flowing colourful palette.
Outreach Mural Project
Learning from creative workshops with youth and professionals
Last year as part of my residency (P. Lantz Initiative for Excellence in Education and the Arts) at the faculty of Education, I was approached to design a collaborative mural project for local artists and Montreal youth. Its objective was to build on existing connections between McGill and other educational sites, develop a learning experience for the participants involved, and create a more lively and colorful environment in the lobby of the education building (3700 McTavish).
The idea behind the visual was to create a work of art inspired by graffiti, street art and pop surrealism. We wanted to design a strong imagery and a compelling vibrant visual work using a mix of typography, organic delicate lines and an abstract arrangement mixed with bold strokes and a flowing colourful palette.
Under the creative supervision of myself and François Léandre, 7 talented artists committed themselves over a span of 6 weeks (twice a week) to the project: Ariella Racco, Galit Sandeav, Aquil Virani, Chloe Rowan, Michelle Harazny and Maria Ezcurra from McGill (D.I.S.E), Saphir Voyer from Vedun, Emmanuel Akintade from Dawson College,Tatiana Liz Rivera from John Abbott College, Kaiya Gulston from Vanguard School and Alexandre Cambron from le Programme Graffiti Lachine.
I am thankful for the artistic liberty that the McGill Department of Education and the P. Lantz Initiative for Excellence in Education and the Arts allowed for this project. I would also like to thank the Department of Integrated Studies in the Arts for helping with the logistics and details.
Art In-Community: Learning from Doing Pop-Up Art with Youth
Student teachers with McGill’s Faculty of Education learned about engaging youth in arts-based initiatives in local community centres through Dr. Fiona J. Benson’s hands-on special topics course EDEC 300: Art In-Community: Learning from Doing Pop-Up Art with Youth.
For this unique course the faculty’s Department of Integrated Studies partnered with five Montreal-area YMCAs, the Tyndale St-Georges Community Centre, and Maison-des-Jeunes L’Escalier de Lachine to offer workshops on a cornucopia of art approaches and methods for their youth participants ranging in age from 12 to 18.
At workshops that began in the autumn of 2015, the McGill student teachers engaged with Montreal-area youth in non-formal learning contexts, experimenting with various art forms and mediums. The department’s Artist-in-Residence Jimmy Baptiste added his creative expertise to the course, which culminated in a Pop-Up YouthART Event that was celebrated in the Education Library art-space on Thursday April 21st.
“I have learned that it is their journey as artists that I need to encourage, and not necessarily my own vision of what constitutes art,” recounted McGill student teacher Parvesh Chainani, who was leading workshops at the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce YMCA on Hampton Avenue. “When a teacher encourages free expression – the results can be uplifting.”
This image is just one example of one of the many outstanding works of art produced by the youth participants and comes from a workshop held at the Tyndale St-Georges Community Centre. The collage in question depicts legendary jazz pianist and composer Oliver Jones, a native of the Centre’s Little Burgundy neighbourhood. During the Pop-Up YouthART Event student teacher and workshop facilitator Galit Sandaev recounted how rewarding it was to observe the teamwork and concentration of the youthful artists as their collage was being constructed, – and to share in their pride of accomplishment. She went on to say, “I learned the importance of adapting to new environments and seeing high expectations in my ability to teach in a completely new light. I now understand that ‘informal’ teaching takes as much energy, creativity and expertise as any aspect of ‘formal’ classroom teaching.”
During the Pop-up YouthART celebration, Professor Benson talked about her pride in the accomplishments of the student teachers and the youth with whom they worked. “All of us took a huge leap of faith when we embarked on this journey together. Here today, surrounded by the rich display of artwork from the youth participants and listening to the words of the student teachers, we see what can come from trusting ourselves, from learning one from the other, from being open-minded and open-hearted, from creating environments where curiosity can flourish and from achieving all that and so much more through the medium of art”. My students have come to understand and blur the lines between what constitutes effective ‘formal’ and ‘non-formal’ teaching. I have every hope that they will carry this and other important insights into their future classrooms.”
It seems fitting to end with the words of Jane Ding, one of the student teachers, who says, “As teachers we can quickly get into our comfort zone which is like a bubble that limits us from being open and experiencing new things. Experiencing and moving through ‘discomfort’ and bursting that comfort bubble has helped me to grow enormously as a teacher. I am less fearful of the unfamiliar now and look forward to future challenges as a new teacher because I know I can succeed and help my students succeed.”