“You wish you had more time,” says Hélène Day Fraser, associate professor and co-founder of Emily Carr University of Art + Design’s Material Matters lab.
We’re chatting on the phone, and from where I’m sitting there’s a current of reflection funneling down the phone line between us. I’m curled in a chair northwest of Calgary, and she’s contemplating the end of the school year from her perch in Vancouver. Together, we’re both taking a look back at our recent collaboration, With Wool: The Art of the Possible.
Read Tara’s introduction to this program and her work with the students here.
The partnership, which saw me fly to the university in mid-February with a load of commercial sheep fleeces in tow and present to third-year industrial design students, was initially conceived as an exploration and discussion of wool in all its forms between our farm, Providence Lane Homestead in Alberta, and the Industrial Design program at Emily Carr. It was a rewarding and invigorating experience. There were challenging questions about not just wool but also the potential of regenerative agriculture and the reality of animal welfare in Canada. With their arms full of wool and visions in their heads, the students left me that day with a promise they’d be back in a few weeks with concepts and ideas.
All photos by Tara Klager
