Ken Duncan is passionate about telling the story of arts, culture and heritage in Strathcona County. He just never imagined that virtual reality would be the tool to get the job done. That was until he partnered with a group of enterprising students through MacEwan University’s Office of Work-Integrated Learning.  

After being matched with a group of eight MacEwan students from a range of disciplines, Duncan, president of the Arts and Culture Council of Strathcona County (ACCSC), and his fellow ACCSC board members got to work as a team to plan an event called Artistic Horizons. The highlight, says Duncan, was the students’ plan to embrace tech. “Using virtual reality (VR), they created a futuristic way of telling the story of our county,” he says. “It’s a really cool project with many moving parts.”

Artistic Horizons combined a physical gallery experience with a virtual one inspired by the hero’s journey – a method of storytelling that follows the different stages of a hero on an adventure. In this case, the heroes were Strathcona County artists, and their journey involved the four stages of an artist’s life. 

Part of the adventure for Duncan was how telling the artists’ stories brought so many diverse groups together – First Nations, immigrants, youth, seniors, government, industry and education. 

“To me, it was a tiny microcosm of what Canada is all about – many different groups working together to create something new and different,” he says. “It was just an excellent way of showcasing innovation, education, the arts and our heritage all at once.” 

Rebecca Korceba, a third-year Bachelor of Commerce student, was part of the student team responsible for the project’s communications and worked directly with artists and community members. 

“Seeing the event come together, especially the combination of the physical gallery and VR gallery, was really rewarding,” she says. “It was also great to witness how much local artists appreciated having a space to showcase their work.”

Korceba’s biggest takeaway from her first work-integrated learning experience? How an event like this was about much more than displaying artwork. 

“Watching a project like this come to life in the real world – and just how much happens behind the scenes to make it successful – was eye-opening and changed how I approach my studies,” she says. 

That’s exactly what Duncan says he and his fellow board members, including Sylvia Trenka who worked closely with the MacEwan students, had hoped. 

“We benefit from the perspective of younger generations and their knowledge of tools that we didn’t even know existed. We also have lived and work experience to share with students that can help them work toward gaining meaningful employment. It feels like a true partnership.”

That’s good news because this project is just getting started, says Duncan, who is also working on three other work-integrated learning projects with MacEwan.

“We're just getting started,” he says. “Artistic Horizons is a multi-year project and a great economic development and tourism tool. And walking into a classroom filled with students who have different approaches and perspectives is like a shot of energy. It’s just so rewarding.”