Margaret Naylor is an artist, arts educator, and arts administrator. Her art practice has extended over 30 years and her work has been exhibited in galleries and other public venues in British Columbia and Ontario. Her work explores “pathways” through the social and cultural territories of position and identity. She is interested in the possibility of re-working social structures that determine an individual’s identification of self.
She has taught at the University of British Columbia, The Emily Carr University of Art & Design and the University College of the Fraser Valley. She has written an arts walking tour for kids and led workshops for children and teens.
Currently she works as the coordinator of the Arts & Health Project: Healthy Aging through the Arts. Her passion for this project is firmly rooted in the project's goal to bring vulnerable and marginalized seniors “back” into the community as valued and contributing participants. The project provides a shared link in a culturally and socially diverse community. It provides a forum for safe expression and communication, exploration and imagination, which in turn fosters a sense of well-being and belonging in the community. Their art processes information in ways that stimulate and challenge the seniors themselves, and the community at large, to solve challenging problems that extend far beyond the parameters of art. This project helps develop skills and build shared experience. It strengthens self-esteem and encourages active social engagement.
