The collection at the YRDSB Museum & Archives documents the history of public education in York Region. Our collection continues to grow as education changes in response to new thinking, new technologies, and changes in our communities.
How can you use our collection? There are many different ways! Through the lense of a historian you might research how teaching methods have changed. As a scientist you could look at how different types of materials are preserved. A statistician might analyze the changing size of schools and classroom attendance.
Martha Griffith, art teacher at Bur Oak Secondary School, used art as a means for her students to engage with the YRDSB Museum & Archives collection in an innovative way.
The Question:
How are you represented in the YRDSB Museum and Archives?
The YRDSB Museum & Archives houses a collection of artifacts and images that narrate the history of the school board. Students were asked to reflect on how they are represented in the collection and combine images from the archives with their own photographs to create a series of cyanotype prints. Inspired by artists Ellen Gallagher and Wes Peel, these cyanotype prints consider what is captured in the YRDSB archives, what is missing, and how education shapes our lives.
Stereograph "Gathering Daisies" (003.20.1)
See the exhibit under the tab 'Cyanotypes'