The Brescia Centennial Portraiture,' 2019-2020. Acrylics on crezon.16 ft. x 24 ft. St. James Building, Brescia University, London, Ontario.
This is what happens when an institution’s history stops living only in documents and starts living in the people who made it.
★ O’Neil, P., Kteily-Hawa, R., & Janzen Le Ber, M. (2022). Social Portraiture: Decolonizing Ways of Knowing in Education through Arts-Based Participatory Action Research. Canadian Journal of Action Research.
Brescia's Centennial Portraiture
What is the 100-year story of Canada’s first women-only university?
Students explored the archives, interviewed founders, and gathered alumni reflections. Together translated a century of Brescia’s history into a collective visual narrative.
Over the course of the project, students, alumni, faculty, and community members came together to explore and represent stories of education, leadership, and community. The mural now installed in the campus courtyard honours the legacy of the Ursuline founders while reflecting on Brescia’s evolution across 100 years, painted by the people who built and lived it.
Facilitators: Nina Trask, Hannah Kern-Cheng, Joelle Francis, Pamela Hough, Savannah Hayes
Lead Producer & Facilitator: Melanie Schambach
Partner Organization: Brescia University College
Funded by: The Circle Women’s Collective and private donations
