What symbols or places from your culture represent belonging? First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students currently enrolled at UBC Vancouver or Okanagan are invited to submit their artwork proposals by Sunday, January 26, 2025 at 11:59 PM (PST).
Learn more about the how to apply, what’s involved, eligibility, and key due dates:
About the project
The Indigenous Symbols and Signifiers project invites Indigenous students from any program at UBC Vancouver and Okanagan campuses to submit artwork proposals that reflect their cultural stories. This opportunity is open to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students who self-identify as Indigenous to UBC. Artists can create graphic designs, photos, illustrations, paintings, carvings, and other creative works that explore the theme: What symbols or places from your culture represent belonging? In this context, the symbols and signifiers for the artwork are meant to be personal. This could include elements from nature, shapes, a landscape, or an object. For example, this could include skilled beading, crafting your own moccasins, collecting medicine, fire-keeping, participating in drumming groups, and the like.
Selected Indigenous artists will receive $400 to create their final pieces, which will be showcased on UBC’s Digital Signage System, accompanied by artist profiles and informative content about the artwork across various digital platforms.
The Call for Art Proposals will open on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, and close on Sunday, January 26, 2025, at 11:59 PM (PST). Collaboration between artists is encouraged, and all submissions will be reviewed in partnership with Indigenous faculty and/or staff adjudicators.
Indigenous students attending UBC come from diverse cultural backgrounds, both within Canada and globally. For this project, however, we are focusing on First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students. Our Call for Art Proposals and selection criteria aims to honour this diversity by reflecting the varied cultural backgrounds within Indigenous communities across Canada. We will also strive to include adjudicators within and beyond the Faculty of Arts and select proposals that respectfully represent the backgrounds of UBC’s Indigenous student body.
This project is a Faculty of Arts initiative in partnership with the First Nations House of Learning. Indigenous Symbols and Signifiers was made possible by the UBC Equity and Inclusion Office’s Strategic Equity and Anti-Racism (StEAR) Enhancement Fund, which provides funding for student, faculty- and/or staff-led initiatives that seek to advance UBC’s equity and anti-racism priorities.
Application
- Artwork proposal (150-300 words): Provide a detailed description of your planned submission, ensuring it reflects your connection to the provided prompt. Your proposal must include a description of the artwork, the materials required, and how you plan to achieve the final result.
- Short bio (250 words): Please describe your affiliation with your First Nations/Métis/Inuit community and with the University of British Columbia.
- Mood board and/or reference materials: This can include links to your website or previous work, or a collage of different images that shows the look and feel you’re aiming to achieve.
- Contact information: Include your student ID, preferred name, and pronouns
Compensation
$400 CAD per artist (plus up to $100 for art materials upon request)
Application opens
Wednesday, January 8, 2025 (PST)
Submission due date
Sunday, January 26, 2025 at 11:59 PM (PST)
