The walls were lined with students’ artworks and crafts as Carleton University’s architecture building converted into an art market on Jan. 17.
The CU Landscape Lab, a student-led club focused on landscape design theory and practice, organized the market, bringing creators together across disciplines and mediums.
In an email to the Charlatan, CU Landscape Lab co-presidents Dylan Jozkow and Juan Francisco Ramirez said their vision for the market was to provide a place for architecture and industrial design students to display and promote their creative work.
With a warm and lively atmosphere, one of the first tables in the architecture building belonged to Kate Giles, a third-year architecture, conservation and sustainability student.
Giles said they were excited to display their artistry for the event, which included hand-carved linoleum prints inspired by nature and furniture.
“Events like this are really good for bringing what you’ve been making to a place where you know people in your program are going to be,” they said.
Giles emphasized the importance of selling art for what it’s worth, while maintaining accessibility for students.
“Having smaller stuff that can be affordable for other students is a great idea.”
The market extended beyond the realm of architecture. Student vendors displayed wearable art, prints, cottage-core crochet and 2D/3D designs.
Jozkow and Ramirez described the initiative as “focused on the exploration and promotion of landscape design theory and practice, and its intersections with architecture, ecology and environmental sustainability.”
The co-presidents also emphasized the strong sense of community between architecture students.
“[We’re] quite tightly woven, with students of all years helping each other creatively and academically.”
The camaraderie shone through as patrons appeared to support their friends’ art, hugging and chatting about their table displays.
“We thought if we brought together all these vendors into a centralized event it would help reinforce and grow our community,” Jozkow and Ramirez wrote.
They added that the market will also help financially support architecture students through an often expensive program due to printing, model making and construction costs.
All proceeds from the market went directly to the artists.
KOSMIC, an annual interactive event for Carleton creatives in architecture, also had a display at the market. Connor Jermyn set up a screen-printing lab to hand-print each reclaimed vintage shirt in his living room.
He said the designs are derived from a collection of cave paintings, depicting abstract figures dancing in a circle.
“It entirely embodies what we want to do with KOSMIC,” he said.
The team discussed their plans to resurrect KOSMIC on campus for the first time in almost 20 years and used the market to talk to students and promote their vision. KOSMIC is set to take place in early February.
The energy was high in the architecture building as students browsed and chatted. The Landscape Lab put mediums into motion on campus as a testament to artistry within the student body.
Featured image by Sierra McLean/the Charlatan.
