While backstage at an iconic music festival and in the front row at New York Fashion Week, Cleah Fast couldn\u2019t help but feel a spark \u2014 or rather, flash \u2014 of creativity.<\/p>\n
The fourth-year Brock Visual Arts (VISA) student and multidisciplinary artist has channelled her recent experiences at high-profile New York City events into an exhibit, Through the Lens, <\/em>now on show at the University\u2019s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA).<\/p>\n The exhibition features Fast\u2019s large-scale photography, painting, sound installations and mixed media alongside video art created by Brock faculty, students and staff.<\/p>\n Fast\u2019s creative path was propelled forward when she received a 2024 Medland and Green Inspiring Artists Bursary, an award that assists students with a unique opportunity, including travel, training or masterclasses to support their final-year capstone project.<\/p>\n Through the support of the bursary, Fast travelled to NYC and collaborated with media company Never Come Home to photograph the Governor\u2019s Ball Music Festival, the biggest music festival on the east coast.<\/p>\n \u201cI was drawn in by the energy and bonds that take place during cultural events, where so many individual experiences take place and intertwine to create a bigger, collective experience,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Fast was inspired to explore these connections from the perspective of youth culture.<\/p>\n \u201cShooting the festival for four days with professionals was unlike anything I had ever done; I had never shot anything on that scale,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The partnership was so successful, and the media company so impressed with her skills, Never Come Home invited Fast back to shoot New York Fashion Week with them this past September.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout the bursary, this collaboration would not have been able to happen and flourish the way that it has,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Linda Carreiro, Associate Dean of Fine and Performing Arts, said the Medland and Green Inspiring Artists Bursary is a tremendous benefit to students who want to gain professional training and experience outside of the institution.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this case, Cleah was able to access a rare opportunity that enabled specialized skills development and career potential,\u201d Carreiro said.<\/p>\n During her time in Visual Arts, Fast said she had the opportunity to go beyond her comfort zone and try new things.<\/p>\n \u201cAccess to diverse, creative opportunities were a big reason I chose the Visual Arts program. I love the Marilyn, and I wouldn\u2019t be doing these incredible things without the support and encouragement from my professors,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The opening reception for Through the Lens<\/em> will be held Thursday, Nov. 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Visual Arts Gallery. The exhibition runs until Nov. 23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While backstage at an iconic music festival and in the front row at New York Fashion Week, Cleah Fast couldn\u2019t help but feel a spark \u2014 or rather, flash \u2014 of creativity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":97074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7484,37,1],"tags":[14002,240,30,10897,46,2518,111],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97073"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97073"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97077,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97073\/revisions\/97077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}