The Creative School Internal Award Recipients 2025
The Creative School provides a variety of internal research grants and award opportunities annually to support faculty members in a wide range of scholarly, research and creative activities, congratulations to all successful recipients for 2025.
For more information about The Creative School internal awards, please visit our faculty resources page.
General SEED Grant
Eternity Martis
Reporting in Black Communities
Reporting in Black Communities will be the first guidebook and resource in Canada to combine perspectives from Black news consumers, Black journalists, and non-Black journalists and leaders. The Reporting in Black Communities project seeks to equip journalists, journalism educators, and journalism students with the resources they need to understand and comprehensively cover Black communities with accuracy, dignity, and equity.
Yukari Seko
Life Ending Work: A Game-Based Intervention to Foster End-of-Life Dialogues among Japanese Immigrant Seniors in Canada
Older immigrants in Canada tend to face barriers to end-of-life (EOL) communication, due to linguistic, cultural, and emotional challenges. These obstacles can prevent them from expressing wishes and preferences for EOL care, resulting in care misaligned with their cultural values and exacerbating health disparities. Addressing these issues, this project evaluates the effectiveness of “Life-Ending Work” (LEW), a game-based educational intervention, in fostering meaningful EOL discussions among first-generation Japanese-speaking immigrant seniors in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
David Colangelo
No Fixed Address: Art for Programmatic Digital Out of Home Advertising Screens
Programmatic Digital Out-of-Home advertising (pDOOH) uses contextual data and algorithms to automate the buying, selling, and display of uniquely targeted ads on digital advertising screens. This project will investigate the technical, operational, and aesthetic possibilities of pDOOH platforms and programs by developing and deploying a model for exhibiting art made for pDOOH screens. The project will also assess the potential benefits of pDOOH art for artists, communities, and industry.
New Collaborations Grant
Lorella Di Cintio
housed…[un]housed...[re]housed
housed...[un]housed...[re]housed builds on recent discourse about affordable housing, homelessness, the rental market, evictions and renoviction policies, and accessibility and safety. In a 6-day symposium, the participants will utilize a unique and multilayered discipline lens of discourse to expand and explore the relevance by listening to leading presenters, watching noted films, visiting exhibitions and participating in workshops.
Viola Ago
Remote Sensing Technology in Post-War Sites
Current research and data on the mass graves that exist throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Kosovo (KOS) are inaccessible to the public, amplifying the issue of erasure of the atrocities that took place during the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia from 1991-1999. Urgent intervention is needed to digitally and publicly memorialize these sites of conflict as a means for combatting erasure and advancing remote sensing and geo-surveying technology. This grant provides the necessary resources to conduct preliminary research for future fieldwork. Though still in an early phase, this project is positioned to inspire interdisciplinary research by illuminating the facts of war through innovative geo surveys at post-war sites.
Justice, Equity, and Community Initiatives (JECI) Grant
Charlie Wall-Andrews
Two-Eyed Theory of Vulnerability and Resilience: Investigating the Role of Professional Networks in the Creative Careers of Indigenous Artist-Storytellers
The Indigenous Song Camp serves as a unique crucible for understanding the intersections of vulnerability and resilience in the professional journeys of indigenous artist-storytellers. Historically, indigenous communities worldwide have demonstrated remarkable resilience in the face of multifaceted threats to their identities, both as individuals and as part of collective cultural narratives. However, the nuanced implications of these experiences on the trajectories of indigenous artist-storytellers within professional contexts have remained under-explored. This research seeks to develop a 'two-eyed theory', a methodological lens which synergistically combines indigenous ways of knowing with contemporary research paradigms, to delve into the dynamics of vulnerability and resilience in these creative careers.
Publications Support Grant
Andrew Furman
Glideology
With years as a design activist and hobbyist cyclist, this book came about following decades of writing about and studying urban form and design, particularly the way design of public space affects how we interact with one another. As a multi-modal urban traveler – a walker, cyclist, driver or transit-taker – I felt the need to share these ideas with audiences, including youth, to encourage an optimistic outlook on cycling and active transportation, and how it can transform the urban realm. This project highlights its timeliness and relevance with current discourses on how a street is shared in Ontario and elsewhere.
Richard Lachman
Digital Wisdom
Digital Wisdom aims to facilitate a nuanced and informed dialogue with our technologically-mediated future. Through a critical examination of current technological Trends – including artificial intelligence, privacy, and social media – this work seeks to highlight the discrepancies between prevailing assumptions and the actual impact of these technologies on society. The text is designed to be accessible to a broad audience, offering both clarity and practical strategies for navigating the evolving digital landscape. It will also address how to reshape the innovation process to mitigate the reactive ‘hype-cycle’ nature of technology marketing, with proposed interventions in education, government, and industry.
Design + Technology Lab Grant
Lee Eldridge
Democratizing Digital Fabrication: Unlocking New Possibilities in Cultural Heritage Preservation and Commercial Applications through Advanced 3D Printing Technologies
This exciting new research project explores how affordable liquid-resin (mSLA) based 3D printing technologies can be used in powerful new ways. Utilizing low-cost, “prosumer” level devices, the project seeks to make advanced digital fabrication techniques more accessible for a diversity of organizations focused on practical applications of these widely available - but sometimes intimidating - technologies. The project will explore how this technology can (1) support the preservation and replication of culturally significant artifacts, and (2) offer a faster, more agile alternative to traditional production methods in domestic manufacturing settings. These case studies will help demonstrate the potential of resin-based 3D print manufacturing to transform how we approach both heritage conservation and everyday industrial production challenges. By bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and practical, real-world use, this project is helping to shape a more inclusive, accessible and innovative future for digital fabrication.
Annie MacDonell
Container Technologies
This grant will be used to create a series of robots that are part of a larger gallery installation work with the working title “Container Technologies.” The robots will be fashioned out of repurposed backpacks, purses, shopping bags, and small luggage. This installation also includes a major sculptural structure, photographs, and videos. The robots, as well as the larger installation project, propose a re-examination of domestic space and technologies in the context of today's increasingly precarious social, economic, and political landscape.
Chrysalis SEED Grant
Louis Laberge-Cote
The Art of Degeneration
This grant will be used to support the remount, adaptation, production, dissemination, and documentation of The Art of Degeneration, a full-length, award-nominated interdisciplinary dance-based work mixing dance; acting; costume, sound, lighting, and multimedia designs; operatic singing; and scriptwriting. A residency at the Chrysalis will allow the entire team to explore the scenic elements collaboratively, gather feedback from invited audience members, and consider how the work should be developed to reflect a 2025 perspective.