Working alongside my colleagues, we all strive to create magical learning opportunities and contribute to current shifts found in interior design pedagogy. To critically debate past interior design practices and to support lifelong learning.
The key here is to build an equitable, diverse, inclusive, accessible and safe environment for all participants in the design process – students, educators, clients, and the community – to work towards a common goal of establishing a respectful understanding, to add to the ongoing discourse and to inspire shared-creation.
As a strong advocate of crossing disciplinary boundaries, I have demonstrated this belief throughout my teaching and scholarly, research, creative practice.
Evidence of my Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Access teaching practice is in my specific topic-led studios – working with community organizations, pro bono work, performance artists, museum archives and interiors:
Working with community organizations:
Guatemala: working with Indigenous community members’ lived experiences (Mayan, Tz’utujil and Kaqchikel), interiors, educational facilities,
Mexico: working with Indigenous community members’ lived experiences (Otomi), food security, income generating mobile carts and cultural institutions,
Golden Lake and Bonnechere River, Ontario: working with Indigenous community members’ lived experiences (Algonquin of Pikwakanagan First Nation), performance stage, cultural institutions,
Toronto: Low-income and foodbank users, The Stop Community Food Centre, mobile food carts, handcrafted utensils,
New York – Toronto: Adaptive Design Association, affordable furniture for children and adults with disabilities,
Toronto: Kaha: wi Dance Theatre, Kaha: wi (Ga-HA-Wee) means “to carry” in the Kanienʼkéha (Mohawk), body and space-making studio,
Toyko-New York-Detroit-Toronto: Toyko Space Dance, Japanese Butoh, body and space-making studio.
Working with museum archives and interiors:
Malcove Collection, University of Toronto Art Centre: Object-focussed experiential education (in person)
Sigmund Freud Museum and Freud Museum London (online)
