Western Canadian Centre for Deaf Studies (WCCDS)

Upcoming Events

2026 Jones Memorial Lecture

The Colours We Don’t Say, But Sign Instead

Presented by Crystal Jones

Thursday, November 19, 2026

7pm

More details and registration link to come!

Crystal Jones is an Edmonton-based Deaf artist, community leader and accessibility advocate. A University of Alberta graduate in Physical Education with a focus on adapted physical activity, she brings together creativity, lived experience and a commitment to inclusion. Crystal has served on the City of Edmonton’s Accessibility Advisory Committee and currently serves as Vice President of the Edmonton Association of the Deaf, alongside maintaining her acrylic and mixed-media art practice.

Initiated in 1988, the annual Jones Memorial Lecture series was endowed by Pat Eidem in memory of her parents, James and Jesse Patterson Jones. Both were university alumni and actively involved in the Alberta community, Mr. Jones primarily in law and politics, Mrs. Jones in education and women’s issues. In his later years, Mr. Jones became deaf, which prompted his daughter to endow the lecture series. 

The Jones Memorial Lecture series continued in conjunction with WCCSD until 1996, when the responsibility was transferred to the Dean’s Office. The Jones Memorial lectures resumed in 2003 and have continued since then.