My name is Andrew Lochhead and I’m currently a PhD Student at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Creative School. I’ve been an artist and museum professional for nearly twenty years. In both these practices, and now in an academic environment, my focus has been on bringing people together to learn in new and creative ways that emphasise collaboration, interaction, and curiosity about the world.
Broadly speaking I’m interested in questions about people and places and using art as a way to investigate the stories we tell ourselves about who “we” are, and “where” we live. Specifically, my research and creative practice explores issues of commemoration, public memory, urban space and landscape through community-engaged and collaborative art projects. What I learn from these projects, I use to inform new ideas about how museums, heritage organisations, and other memory institutions can better serve a diverse range of publics, tell and equally inclusive array of stories, and create exciting and impactful learning experiences.
I also host a pub quiz at the Old York Bar in Toronto, which in addition to being fun is also a constant source of inspiration for new ideas about pedagogy, praxis, and thinking about how educators might work directly with and in communities to inspire and to promote continued engagement with new ideas and knowledge sources.