Camosun first opened its doors to students on September 16, 1971. As part of the 50-year anniversary celebrations happening now, the college has launched the 50th Anniversary Student Creativity Contest.
There are three categories—2D/3D art, written word, and audio art—in the contest, and the winner of each category will receive a $1,000 prize. The prize money comes from the college and the Camosun College Student Society.
Camosun executive director of communications and marketing Rodney Porter stresses that the contest is open to anyone who has been registered at Camosun since the winter 2019 semester, regardless of program.
“The creativity, for Camosun, emerges from across many different programs,” says Porter. “The creativity in the trades program, for example, is immense.”
The college is deliberately trying to not be too prescriptive with contest guidelines, says Porter, so that students can focus on their own creativity. There is lots of freedom, regardless of if students are creating from home or if they want to do something outdoors. The theme to draw upon for the contest is “honouring the past, inspiring the future.” As far as what that means to him, Porter says that throughout the history of the college, giving access to education is key.
“We’ve always taken great pride in breaking down obstacles and opening doors as a community,” says Porter. “Whatever incarnation of Camosun—whether you’re doing a transfer program, whether you’re doing an upgrading program, or whether you’re doing a post-degree diploma, it speaks to the passion and the commitment and the resilience. Students have been overcoming obstacles and boundaries for years and we’ve been helping them. Now’s no different.”
Porter acknowledges that creativity can be a really important tool in helping students to find an outlet during hard times. And these are hard times, with maybe more to come, but whatever life looks like after COVID-19, it’s important to be able to ask questions, he says.
“What have we learned?” says Porter.
That’s one of the topics that could be tackled through the art students create for the contest, as well as making sure the art adheres to the college’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.
“That was deliberately referenced in the criteria,” says Porter.
Inclusion of students is important to the contest, and to the college.
“Students have so many talents. We want a touch of every aspect of people’s talent,” says Porter. “And that’s why there are three [categories]. We want students… to consider how they can express their passion, their creativity.”
The contest submission deadline is end of day on Friday, March 12; multiple submissions can be made for each category. See 50.camosun.ca/contest for full contest details.
hi,
Unfortunately i regret i wont be participating in the creativity contest.
its too bad the college considers this as a means to inspire students as i feel it does the opposite. I participated in the innovation challenge and was very disappointed in the way it was managed, evaluated and having little professionalism. I felt disregarded through out, there were inequities in the process with little accountability. When issues arose i brought them to the attention of the manager who stated i could fill out a survey at the end. Other groups were able to replace members that quit but my group did not get replacements. I proceeded on my own and if it wasn’t challenging enough my presentation was the only one interfered with and i was interrupted in the middle of my presentation. The manager was sitting as far away from the stage as possible and was yelling he couldn’t hear me even though there were several rows of empty seats in front of the stage. A hand held microphone was held in front of my face where holding it caused me stress. I was using cue cards and without three hands caused unnecessary stress, causing adrenalin in my body making it hard to talk and present with body shakes.
Even the form that the organizers gave out was not used to evaluate the process, they arbitrarily disregarded their form allowing them again to be unaccountable for the results and the decision.
It is bizarre the college thinks that a competition is breaking down barriers and opening doors. My innovation idea was to create a network of artistic projects that students could engage in cultural diverse options designed to align students and their interests. How can the college be so disregarding to me and my idea and now present themselves as being supporters of creativity.
It seems like a situation where the college wants to exploit artists for the benefit of the college not the participants. If it was for the artists it wouldn’t have to be a competition, it would be ongoing support and acknowledgement that creativity and creative thinking is the most valuable asset we have today. furthermore, based on past experiences i don’t think the college has the awareness or credibility to judge art, especially since it seems there are other reasons behind this contest.
Unfortunately the college operates too much like the government most of the time where the burocracy is the most important thing not accountability.