Q & A with Megan Wells
Program: Visual Arts, BFA
Hometown: Grand Falls -Windsor NL
1) How did you come to study visual arts?
MW: It was something I always thought about doing, I had an amazing art teacher in high school who was super encouraging. She was a graduate of the VA program, and highly recommended Grenfell
2) Your research on equality in sports, hockey in particular. Can you tell me about this?
MW: I've played hockey for basically my entire life. It was actually my missing playing that started my research. Hockey was such a huge part of my life and I was interested in seeing how I could bring it into my art practice. Themes of inequality and the general sexism in sports are really prominent in my work. As many happy memories I have from playing hockey, I have a lot of negative ones too, they stem from being a girl in a male dominated realm.
One of my pieces in the grad show "Equipment of a female hockey player" is a direct response to those experiences. It's literally hockey gear dipped in cement and for me it represents the emotional weight and pressure placed on me and all other female players who have to constantly prove themselves worthy of playing.
I created this idealized team, "Team Mentality" that anyone can join, regardless of skill or any other factor in order to promote inclusion and reinforce what being a part of a team should be- a group of individuals who are all of equal importance to the team. I made custom sticks, jersey, stickers and buttons with team mentality logo on them. They're all included in my instillation "Join the Team." My hope for when people see this is that they think "hey, this is a team I'd like to be on" or at least wonder "what even is this? why is there hockey equipment in an art gallery?"
3) You participated in a student exchange, right? Can you tell me a little about that?
MW: I did yes, I went to the University of Tasmania for a semester in 2015 and I participated In the Harlow Art History program this past summer. Both trips were beyond fun and I learned so much just by being there and experiencing my surroundings. I'd highly recommend both to anyone, and I consider myself very fortunate to be able to go and study in different places and cultures.