Exploring Art and Activism With 2LGBTQ+ Atlantic Canadian Youth During COVID-19

• In Event: Advancing the Methodological Possibilities of Arts-Based Educational Research

Abstract

Drawing on a mail-based social distance art and activism project with 50 2LGBTQ+ youth from across Atlantic Canada—Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI—we highlight how we shifted our project’s methods while maintaining the original objectives in the context of COVID-19. Through engaging 2LGBTQ+ identities amidst the Pandemic, we explore the importance of creating art (e.g. drawings, mobile films, stencils, embroidery) and creating new communities across space. This presentation highlights the development of a participatory approach to exhibiting and archiving 2LGBTQ+ youth-produced visual research materials. Seeking to share our findings about 2LGBTQ+ social experiences with larger audiences, we suggest that youth-focused archiving and dissemination practices within our research offers insight into asset-informed approaches within arts-based research.

Authors

• Casey Megan Burkholder, University of New Brunswick

• April R. Mandrona, NSCAD University

• Katie MacEntee, University of Toronto

• Amelia Thorpe, University of New Brunswick