Call For Project Assistant

CALL FOR PROJECT ASSISTANT  
 

FROM OUR POINT OF VIEW: ENCOUNTERS WITH ARTISTS  
 

Max Dean, Robotic Chair, 1985-2006  

OCAD U’s Faculty of Art is pleased to announce an opportunity for a current OCAD U graduate student to be a Project Assistant for From Our Point of View: Encounters with Artists, a year-long visiting artist project running until Spring 2026.   

 From Our Point of View: Encounters with artists is a project where a group of 12 students will work as a team, under the mentorship of Governor General’s Award-winning artist Max Dean, to host 3 established senior Canadian guest artists across the year. The students will be assigned the task of researching the guest artists and their work: resulting in public events where the student participants present the guest artist's work and interview them in front of an audience. It is a rethinking of the conventional artist talk in a structure that centres student inquiry.  

We are seeking a Project Assistant who will assist Max Dean in coordinating the project. We are looking for someone to assist the participants with their research; to facilitate and book group communications (using Microsoft Teams and other platforms); to assist in formulating interview questions and organizing presentation materials; to coordinate publicity on campus; to help host the guest artists during their visits; and other tasks related to coordination of this program. 

This is an extracurricular project that involves weekly group meetings, individual research/support, and 3 in-person events scheduled at intervals between October 2025 and April 2026. The in-person meetings and events will be scheduled on Wednesdays at times between 4pm and 8pm (and Thursdays between 10:30am and 1:30pm for the 3 presentation weeks), so having availability during this time window will be necessary.    

This opportunity is open to current graduate students. The Project Assistant will receive $3000 ( 50% paid end January, 50% paid upon completion of the project in April)  

Qualifications  

• Be a current Graduate OCAD U student (any discipline, or program of study)  

• Be organized, curious, hard-working  

• Strong communication skills (both verbal and written)  

• Be both self-directed and willing to work as a group leader   

• Be detail oriented, and able to manage a project to completion  

• Expect to make themselves available for around 36 hours of in-person work during the project’s run (October to March), plus approx. 18 hours of administration/coordination/communication   

- Be available for weekly scheduled meetings and the public presentations on Wednesdays between 4pm-8pm (and Thursdays 10:30 to 1:30pm during the 3x interview weeks) generally the meetings will be 1-2 hours, and the public events will require 2 hours 

Max Dean, on the project:  

“The participating students will host the invited artists at OCADU. An interview format will allow the participants to ask questions which they feel are relevant and of the moment.  We’re looking for inquisitive individuals who can articulate or write about ideas and thoughts for a small group of fellow participants and are prepared to act in a variety of capacities on the project. We’re looking for students who have some research skills or a willingness to learn how do to research. The participants will be able to attend weekly meetings, to discuss approaches to researching the guest, and complete research on assigned topics. The tasks of researching, crafting questions and public presentation will be shared across the group.  

The interview will be a public event. It will begin with a short introduction that is researched, written and presented by the participants. This is then followed by a 90 minute interview with questions developed by the participants. The focus being to enable the students to ask questions they feel are important and relevant to their generation. The interview will be followed by a Q&A from the audience.”  

Applications are due Monday, September 29th, noon  

Please complete the application form at the following QR link: 

 https://forms.office.com/r/UU7BXg79MF 

This program is supported through the generous support of Lady Elizabeth (Pixie) Mudge Massey Shaw.