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OCAD University

OCAD U teams up with Regent Park Sewing Studio

December 10, 2018
l-r: Dr. Dori Tunstall, Dean, Faculty of Design, Lisa Yi. Photo courtesy: Dayna Konopelny.
l-r: Dr. Dori Tunstall, Dean, Faculty of Design, Lisa Yi. Photo courtesy: Dayna Konopelny.

OCAD University teamed up with Toronto Centre for Community Learning and Development (TCCL&D) to pilot an innovative, hands-on design course. Over a period of three months, a group of second-year industrial design students worked with members of the Regent Park Sewing Studio to design and create ‘made-to-order’ textile goods. The finished products (soft goods like hats, bags and other wearables) were displayed and sold at the Re:Location exhibition at Daniels Spectrum, at Regent Park, on December 6.

Ranee Lee, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Design, OCAD U, has led the Design for Social Change project in Regent Park for the last four years. Participants learned and taught each other, making it a truly participatory design experience. “Only by approaching community differently, can we expect to achieve different results,” said Lee.

The Sewing Studio, a social enterprise incubation program at TCCL&D, includes a group of women from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Iran.

An exhibit featuring Re:Location works will be on display during Toronto Design Week on January 22, 2019 at OCAD U (100 McCaul St., Great Hall), along with a Design for Health exhibit featuring the work of third-year students, organized by Ranee Lee.

OCAD U participants. Photo courtesy: Dayna Konopelny.