The Vancouver Biennale is building a legacy of education by using art as a catalyst to learning across disciplines. Our Big Ideas program is designed to nurture active engagement and inquiry based learning experiences through the Vancouver Biennale’s many public art installations. Paired with an eclectic and talented array of art educators, students focus on critical thinking, knowledge and skills development through the process of experiential learning. Since the students have been working so hard over the past few months, we thought it was time to give you an update on what a few of them have been up to.

The kindergarten to Grade 7 students of Henry Hudson Elementary School and Grade 10 students of Kitsilano Secondary drew their inspiration from Yue Minjun’s “A-Maze-ing Laughter” at Morton Park in Vancouver’s West End. The goal? To share, reflect, and respond to the BIG IDEA of Mindful Expression. Working with art educators Donna Sheh, Brendan McLeod and Lorraine White-Wilkinson, the students explored the following questions: How can we mindfully express our feelings and ideas? How our verbal and non-verbal expressions impact on others? How can we raise awareness of personal roles and responsibilities?

In a dialogue session on May 2, the students presented their ideas through puppetry, song, dance, visual arts and spoken word in the gymnasium of Henry Hudson Elementary. The photos tell the story better than we can! Take a look.

There’s so much creativity and imagination in these students! Watch for a video from this project to be featured at the Dalai Lama Heart Mind Conference at UBC on May 10, and stay tuned for further updates from other participating schools around British Columbia.