SODA STUDIES was a series of workshops with grade 5/6 Students at Hätr’unohtän zho/Robert Service School in Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Territory (Dawson City, Yukon). In this project artists and children asked – who decides the ingredients of soda, the shape of its bottles, the persuasion of its advertising and the after-life of its waste?

Visiting artists, herbalists and foodies introduced the students to unique ingredients; Fran Morberg-Green led a Tea Making workshop, Sylvia Frisch shared her knowledge of Birch Syrup tapping, Bo Yeung taught the students to make Boba, and Oliss (AKA Kiki Barua) worked with students to harvest and process cramp bark. Additionally, Whitehorse-based glass studio Lumel brought a small kiln up the Klondike Highway and led a glass blowing workshop. Informed by these local experts, we went on to design bottle shapes and flavour combinations.

The students unconventional bottle designs were brought to life by Jesse Bromm, of Goodbeast glass studios. A copy of the student’s bottles are included in the AFTER WRAPPERS installation, a long table installation featuring mono-printed garbage from the school grounds.

In Dawson, the culmination of the SODA STUDIES workshops was a community dinner for the students and their families to taste the flavor combinations we had come up with during the workshops. Students drank out of their custom designed glass bottles.

This project wouldn’t have been possible without the collaboration of Craig Hunter & Jaimie Hale at Hätrʼunohtän zho/Robert Service School, along with the Grade 5 & 6 students of Dawson: Aaliyah, Abel, Colm, Dezy, Eric, Hank, Isaiah, Jack, Jackson, James, Khloe, Louphil, Lyla, Nico, Oliver, Piper, Quinn, Rudy, Rylan, Sam, Sarah, Steven, Taliyah, Tyson and Ved. Thanks to other school staff: Brendaline DeGuzman, Bridgit Amos, Guilia Cecchi, Nathan Dewell, Peter Menzies, as well as Jeffrey Langille.