Call for Students – 2020 Summer Residency Program

Call for Students – 2020 Summer Residency Program
DESIS Lab and Shumka Centre for Creative Entrepreneurship

Satellite is a five month residency for Emily Carr project teams to develop major self-directed sustainability and social innovation projects through the DESIS Lab and Shumka Centre.

Residents will have access to studio space, mentorship, peer support and funding toward the goal of developing projects within a  real-world context, including developing products or services; initiating events, programs, initiatives or community partnerships; or starting studios, collectives, agencies or non-profits. Satellite will run from May – October 2020, beginning remotely until campus reopens.

Participants are expected to devote 20+ hours/week to project development through the summer, with 4 hours per week devoted to process documentation and peer/mentor meetings. In the fall, teams will prepare to present and disseminate projects through the DESIS network.

Participants will receive full time access to work space, mentorship and peer support, structured feedback and guidance, and funding of $2000 to support eligible project costs.

Online Information Session: Tuesday, April 7, 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Deadline to Apply: April 12, 2020

Projects best suited for the Satellite x DESIS program:

  • Create new relationships, or expand/enhance existing ones
  • Support community or seeks to create social equity
  • Expand relationships with the natural world/nature
  • Celebrate the small, slow and local
  • Reassemble existing assets rather than making new artefacts or media
  • Are shareable, with learning that is open to others
  • Do not create new hierarchies or systems which funnel wealth away from communities
  • Support designer agency, practicality, navigating a way forward
  • Establish designers’ participation in or creation of community
  • Help establish conditions for designers to financially support themselves through project lens, give financial sustainability to the project itself
  • Negotiate “how” alongside “what”

Eligibility
Applications are welcomed from individuals or small teams made up of 2-3 people, including recent grads and current undergraduate and graduate students. Participants must be actively engaged in developing applied projects or collaborations (as opposed to doing contract work) and must be able to commit adequate time and attention to fully benefit from this opportunity.

Please note that access to this program is competitive and limited to 5 projects in this cohort. Applications will be evaluated for depth of proposal, suitable match with the program intent (see FAQs below), feasibility, fit with spatial and programmatic requirements, and commitment to the proposed project.

How to Apply
Please submit a single PDF or link to shumka@ecuad.ca including:

  • A cover letter stating your interest in the program and DESIS
  • A proposal outlining your project, including potential collaborators, materials/equipment/other resources that you are looking to develop or that you anticipate requiring, and a brief timeline for a five month residency
  • A simple budget showing how funds would be used to support project development such as material expenses, fees or other costs
  • A portfolio of work samples and/or link to a portfolio site
  • Names and contact information of 2 references

For More Information: Attend and Online Information Session Tuesday, April 7, 12:00 – 1:00 pm or contact Laura Kozak, Research Associate: kozak@ecuad.ca

Deadline: April 12, 2020

About DESIS
The Emily Carr DESIS Lab supports research that advances design for social innovation towards sustainability. DESIS envisions a future that supports resilience, equity and diversity across human and ecological systems through social innovation, design and environmental justice.

Emily Carr’s lab joined the DESIS network, made up of 46 labs worldwide, in 2012 and is currently the only DESIS lab in Canada. The lab supports a range of projects and activities, including mentoring DESIS students, contributing to curriculum at Emily Carr, supporting academic and extra-curricular activity, and contributing to discourse and advocacy for sustainability and social matters.

desis.ecuad.ca

About the Shumka Centre
The Shumka Centre for Creative Entrepreneurship fosters the movement of artists and designers into systems and situations where their work can have the most impact. The Shumka Centre addresses the lack of support artists and designers face in actualizing projects by creating dynamic programming and tactical platforms.

Full Call and FAQs