news // no. 4 Artist creates artwork fuelled by medical diagnosis » Chronic pain ignites ceramic sculptures Atiba Nelson Staff Reporter uvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) isa medical condition that causes swelling in the joints of kids and teens. The joint inflammation is coupled with joint pain and can led to destructive changes in the joint spontaneously starting in early life. Since the disease starts in childhood, individuals diagnosed with the autoimmune condition experience chronic pain for many years—even with prescriptions of pain medications. Pain—once thought of as the fifth vital sign—is a difficult experience to quantify or relay to a health provider, as measures such as a numeric rating scale, which is a measurement of a patient’s pain from o (no pain) to 10 (the most pain ever felt), are subjective. Unlike blood pressure or heart rate, pain especially when numbers increase is often misunderstood. Chronic pain is even worse—imagine stubbing a toe but the pain never subsides. How would you handle that? Otto Kamensek channelled more than four decades of living with JIA and chronic pain into ceramic art that visually depicts his experiences. “IT want to give a deeper understanding of what it may be like to live with [a chronic disease and pain],” said Kamensek in a statement given to Douglas College. Jessica Berget Editor-in-Chief > Prof profile: re the Americans are » US professor Eve Preus interviews on why she teaches in Canada After retiring from work, Kamensek restarted an exploration of visual art, while also splitting his free time as a volunteer at the Arthritis Research Centre (ARC) of Canada. His volunteering gave him a greater understanding of his situation and allowed for the exploration of a new form of arthritis advocacy, according to the displayed Artist’s Statement. Kamensek’s work materialized into several ceramic sculptures that comprise the “Shards, Bone Deep’ exhibit now on display at the Amelia Douglas Gallery from March 5 to April 18. The exhibit features pieces intended to portray health experiences into art. For example, the most prominently display piece a sculpted left foot with the majority of the toes slanting to the right, and the second toe sitting on top of the big toe—a common feature of metatarsal joints affected by JIA. Kamensek spent a year as the artist- in-residence at the Port Moody Art Centre to explore his creativity, and most of the sculptures from that time are currently living in the Douglas Gallery. “We're honoured to be able to share this exhibit with our community. His work provides a glimpse into the physical agony experienced by someone with a chronic illness on a daily basis,” said Krista Graham, Performing Arts Assistant and Arts Events Officer at Douglas College. theotherpress.ca department faculty Eve Preus on her reasons for moving to the great Das College offers a representation of many different cultures and countries. One of the countries we often white north, and how she came to be in Canada in the first place. “IT came to Canada in 2006 for my master’s degree at UBC in the department of English Language forget about is the one just across the border: America. And to the surprise of some students, we have plenty of US citizens represented in our faculty within the college. There are many possible reasons for a US teacher come to Canada. Better pay, more job demand, or even just a change of scenery are a few hypotheticals. However, people also come to teach here for other personal reasons. To give some insight on this topic, we asked English and Poetry and Literatures,” she said in an interview with the Other Press. “Tt was definitely a choice [for] a few main reasons. UBC's English department is one of the few North American departments where you can specialize in language, as opposed to just literature. As a poet, I was interested in close- reading language itself, so this degree allowed me to take really interesting courses like pragmatic linguistics and cognitive poetics. These interests eventually led me coming to studying Shakespeare more rigorously, and J ended up pursuing a PhD in early modern theatre.” Besides schooling and degree reasons, Preus also cited the political climate of her home country and proximity to family to making the decision to move to Canada to teach. “I wanted to get out of the states for a bit. I was unhappy with my country politically and wanted to live elsewhere. I'd lived in the UK for a few months during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was alarmed upon my return at the increasing jingoism of America. I didn’t want to bean “ugly American,” and I felt that I needed to leave to get some perspective. My family all lives near Seattle, so Vancouver felt like a good spot to move to but still feel close to them.” She also discusses more personal reasons for her decision to come up North. “T remember always looking up to Canada, to be honest. I’d visited Victoria when I was 10 on a family vacation, and it all felt vaguely magical. I’m not sure why. Maybe my mother’s love of high tea and British masterpiece theatre made Canada feel like it was closer to her (and thus to me) than the states. Vancouver just felt like a good fit. [Also] beaches. I love the beaches in this city!” There are many different reasons people come to Canada, but for this professor the reasons are personal and educational. Photos by Billy Bui issue 22// vol 46 Insects, bugs, native plants, and urban garden sustainability >» Get to know more about the workshops happening at Douglas College Coquitlam’s Sol Garden EG Manilag Staff Writer So Garden is considered home for many insects, bugs, native plants, native bees, and even bats! There's a lot more to be discovered in the garden. So, want to know more about the garden? The Other Press has got you covered. We interviewed Dr. Robert McGregor, the coordinator of the Institute of Urban Ecology (IUE), to give you some highlights about the workshops. Other Press: What kind of workshops are hosted in the Sol Garden? What other workshops do you have planned? Dr. Robert McGregor: “The Sol Garden is the Sustainability Outreach and Learning Garden. It is meant to be a demonstration garden for the UNIBUG program (User Network for Insect Biology in the Urban Garden), although we are interested in broader issues of sustainability in urban gardens.” “Our workshops cover many topics related to gardens and urban ecology including making seed paper, building bat houses, making bee houses for native bees like mason bees, making herbal teas from your garden, learning about plants used by local aboriginal peoples, planting your garden to attract pollinators, and biological control of insect pests. So, the workshops are very diverse. The workshops are held at the Sol Garden (except in winter) and happen usually on the third Thursday of each month. The workshops are free of charge and anyone is welcome to attend—both the college community or the general public.” “Our next workshop on April 16 will involve participants building their own bee houses that they can take them home and install it in their gardens.” OP: Why do you think it's important to host these workshops? DRM: “Our mandate is to engage and educate the public about issues in urban ecology. Our focus for a few years has been on teaching people about beneficial insects in urban gardens. Some of those insects are predators and parasitoids that feed on garden pests. Those insects reduce the need to use chemical insecticides to control pest problems. We have also worked to help members of the public attract more native pollinators like mason bees and bumblebees into their gardens to increase pollination of crops. Increases in the populations of both of these groups of insects can contribute to sustainability in urban gardens.” OP: Is there anything about urban sustainability you wish more people knew? DRM: “I am fascinated by insects and how they provide ecosystem services like pest management and pollination. I wish more people were aware of the contributions that beneficial insects make to food production in urban gardens and also in commercial agriculture.” OP: Can students volunteer for these workshops? DRM: “Any students are welcome to attend our monthly workshops at the Sol Garden. We also welcome students and other members of the College community who want to volunteer to work in the Garden. There will be lots to do starting this spring. More information on volunteering is available at our workshops.’ Sol Garden is considered home for many insects, bugs, native plants, native bees, and even bats! There’s a lot more to be discovered in the garden. So, want to know more about the garden? The Other Press has got you covered. We interviewed Dr. Robert McGregor, the coordinator of the Institute of Urban Ecology (IUE), to give you some highlights about the workshops. Other Press: What kind of workshops are hosted in the Sol Garden? What other workshops do you have planned? Dr. Robert McGregor: “The Sol Garden is the Sustainability Outreach and Learning Garden. It is meant to be a demonstration garden for the UNIBUG program (User Network for Insect Biology in the Urban Garden), although we are interested in broader issues of sustainability in urban gardens.’ “Our workshops cover many topics related to gardens and urban ecology including making seed paper, building bat houses, making bee houses for native bees like mason bees, making herbal teas from your garden, learning about plants used by local aboriginal peoples, planting your garden to attract pollinators, and biological control of insect pests. So, the workshops are very diverse. The workshops are held at the Sol Garden (except in winter) and happen usually on the third Thursday of each month. The workshops are free of charge and anyone is welcome to attend— both the college community or the general public.” “Our next workshop on April 16 will involve participants building their own bee houses that they can take them home and install it in their gardens.” OP: Why do you think it's important to host these workshops? DRM: “Our mandate is to engage and educate the public about issues in urban ecology. Our focus for a few years has been on teaching people about beneficial insects in urban gardens. Some of those insects are predators and parasitoids that feed on garden pests. Those insects reduce the need to use chemical insecticides news // no. 5 to control pest problems. We have also worked to help members of the public attract more native pollinators like mason bees and bumblebees into their gardens to increase pollination of crops. Increases in the populations of both of these groups of insects can contribute to sustainability in urban gardens.” OP: Is there anything about urban sustainability you wish more people knew? DRM: “I am fascinated by insects and how they provide ecosystem services like pest management and pollination. I wish more people were aware of the contributions that beneficial insects make to food production in urban gardens and also in commercial agriculture.” OP: Can students volunteer for these workshops? DRM: “Any students are welcome to attend our monthly workshops at the Sol Garden. We also welcome students and other members of the College community who want to volunteer to work in the Garden. There will be lots to do starting this spring. More information on volunteering is available at our workshops.’ Illustration by Sonam Kaloti