An early Christmas gift for students in the arts

TORONTO:

Yasmine Brown had dreams of becoming a basketball player, but eventually pivoted to focus on her mental health. That’s when she realised that she had all this time and energy to create things: she started drawing, learned how to paint, sew, and photograph as well.

Kallai Thomas, graduate of Woodbridge College High School in Ontario, wants to be an animator or own an animation studio in the future.

Visaree Bradshaw-Coore notes that there is a lack of representation of Caribbean or black students in the technician field and she wants to highlight Caribbean stories.

During this season of giving, they are among seven recipients of Arts and Culture Jamaica scholarships presented in early December at the Consulate General of Jamaica in Toronto. Each student received CAD$1,000.

Brown is in her second year of the Set and Costume Design programme at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal; Thomas is in his first year in the Experimental Animation programme at OCAD University in Toronto; and Bradshaw-Coore is a fourth-year student in Performance: Design and Production, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).

For 30 years, arts and culture Jamaica has been promoting the rich cultural and artistic heritage of Jamaica. In doing this, it also supports talented youths of Jamaican heritage who are pursuing tertiary studies in the arts with crucial financial assistance.

“Traditionally, we award at least one scholarship each year. Since this year marks our 30th anniversary, and we had already awarded 27 scholarships to date, we initially planned to present three scholarships, bringing us to a milestone of 30 scholarships in 30 years.

“However, this year we received the largest number of applications in our history, due in part to the tremendous efforts of the chair of our scholarship committee, Rose Spencer-Gibbs. The applicants were exceptionally talented, and instead of selecting only three recipients, we ultimately chose seven outstanding students,” said Carolyn Goulbourne, president of Arts and Culture Jamaica.

SCHOLARSHIP PROVIDES COMMUNITY, OPPORTUNITY

Born in Toronto, Yasmine Brown and her family moved to Switzerland when she was four years old.

“When I was there, I was big into sports. I wanted to be a basketball player – that was my goal, that was my entire life; it was school, basketball and church,” said Brown who decided to pursue fashion and applied to various schools.

She got into one in Milan, Italy where she studied fashion for a year, but soon recognised that there was a stark disconnection between the fashion industry and her morals. But she loved creating garments and decided to pursue making costumes for films.

During an internship in Vienna, Austria, assisting a play, she applied to schools to create for the stage. Being one of eight people accepted in the programme at the National Theatre School of Canada was confirmation that she was following the path she desired.

“It was such a good mix of everything I love to do, set and costumes, and theatre,” says Brown who applied for the scholarship to be connected to Arts and Culture Jamaica Inc. and Jamaican artists.

With a Jamaican father and a Swiss mother who spent most of her childhood in Jamaica, culture has been a big part of Brown’s upbringing, but she said being mixed meant she always felt as if she were between things.

She wants to add more of her Jamaican heritage into her art and to be surrounded by Jamaican artists. “I’ve been taught by Europeans how to create and I feel like I also want to learn this other part of me.”

The scholarship provides community and an opportunity for her to connect with artists who might share similar interest in projects.

Thomas feels good that he is being recognised for things he has done and he hopes the scholarship will help with what he wants to do in the future. Like Brown, he hopes to get to know fellow artists and their work.

He said the application process required him to look retrospectively at his old art pieces and to realise that he has developed in his art and as a person.

“It can help me to finish school and to go out into the workplace with a larger spotlight on myself, so I can meet people, network, create stories and help other people tell our stories,” said Bradshaw-Coore who wants to uplift people.

The Anancy stories and folk tales that her mother shared with her underpin her desire to become a prolific storyteller immersed in Caribbean culture.

The other four scholarship recipients are Kaiya Matthews, in her second year in the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance: Dance at Toronto Metropolitan University; Nydel Nelson, first year in Media Production, Toronto Metropolitan University; Kendra Spencer-Cole, Master of Information (Culture and Technology, Visual Studies, Women and Gender Studies), University of Toronto; and Daina Mckenzie, Architectural Technician and Graphic designer, Mohawk College.