Update on the Waldheim YarnBombers

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I stopped in to see how the Waldheim Yarnbombers are doing, and things are progressing.

Some of the students continued to knit during the summer and are ready to start stitching their pieces to the trees at the front of the school.  Other students were newcomers.  They came to our gathering for the first time and learnt how to knit and/or crochet, and are eager to create pieces for their yarn-bombed tree.

I selected my spot that I’ll be yarn-bombing, and am eager to install it on the morning of September 16th.

I was told by Wendy (the organizer of our group) that CTV is coming to the school on that day to report on the first phase of our installation–how exciting!  It will be good publicity for the school and their participation in Culture Days.

 

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Intergenerational Collage

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The Care Home in Paradise Hill invited me to facilitate an activity that would involve the Residents as well as a family member (preferably a Grandchild, since Grandparents Day is just around the corner).

I suggested we do a collage using various mediums as well as at least one family photo.

Not only did the Residents supply more than one photo, many of them had more than one Grandchild in attendance.  And some had a Great-Grandchild to assist in our endeavour.

After a brief demonstration on how they could incorporate meaningful text from books, pressed flowers, fabric, and photos into their collage the participants of the workshop quickly got to work.

As I went around to visit, offer assistance, and admire their creativity, it was clear the activity was bringing to the foreground many stories that may have been dormant. For instance, in one collage I noticed the duo had placed a page from the dictionary in the background and then layered many cut out images of cowboys over top.  When I enquired about it, the Resident’s Great-Granddaughter explained me to that they had chosen the word ‘challenge’ on that page as their theme.  When I asked, “why?” she further explained that her Great-Grandfather had told her he found it a great challenge to get on his horse at 93, but he did it anyways…..  And there was the photo (in the foreground of the collage) to prove it.

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The Philosophical Aspects of a Fabric Mosaic

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On August 23 I facilitated a Kids Craft for St. Walburg’s Blueberry Festival.

I had prepared the ingredients for a blue fabric mosaic and set up as a drop-in activity at the four corner stop on Main Street.

There’s something about these community based art activities that reminds me of Confucian sayings about society and self-governance or the Taoist concept of wu wei.  They remind me of sayings like, “the less the king does, the more gets done.”

What I mean by this is that there is a place and need for all types of workers, artists, at such endeavours.  If you provide the supplies and give a brief instruction (or better yet, show by example) kids of various ages come up and participate in their own way.  Some will come and sit down and focus on an entire section until it’s complete, regardless of the time it takes to finish the task. They like to having a designated and working alone. There are those who don’t like to start the project but like to follow behind the steadfast starters and fix.  They will (in this case) remove excess glue, trim fabric, straighten pieces.  There are rogues, of course.  Those that come in all jacked up on festival sugars, who are loud and obnoxious and don’t follow any of the rules.  And while I used be bothered by the drive-by contributors, I have (with time) come to understand their place too.  Now I see that if I just calmly bide my time, the rogues never last longer than five minutes, their errors ignite the fixers enthusiasm, and they break the monotony of the steadfast starters pace.

I have come to understand on a visceral level that indeed if there is a calm center around which kids of all ages can come and work in their own way (without being told how to operate) there is some sort of organic governance that occurs and everything functions smoothly.  The project gets done because everyone works in their own inherent fashion, and naturally there is a worker for every job and job for every worker.

Basically, these community based art projects are indicative of the idioms regarding the significance of the individual parts contributing to thephoto-56 photo-57 photo-58 photo-59 whole.

 

Stories from Southwest Saskatchewan

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I am staying at a beautiful bed and breakfast on a farm near Wymark, SK, which is about 20 kilometres south of Swift Current.

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When I pulled up to the house last night, three (of nine) farm cats and two dogs greeted me.

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Just outside the patio doors to my bedroom are pigs, horses and a chicken coop. Right now, I can hear sheep having a conversation with the cows from my window.

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I grew up in Saskatoon and have not had much experience with farm life. It’s fitting that I’m staying here, since I’m facilitating a digital storytelling workshop in Ponteix, SK and several of the participants are doing their stories on the family farm. The workshop is organized by the Southwest Welcome Newcomer Centre and is being held at the Cultural Centre in Ponteix, or perhaps more commonly known to the locals as Le Centre Culturel Royer.

Just a few weeks ago, Ponteix celebrated its 100th anniversary. It’s a town of about 600 people with a lively Francophone community. In the early 20th century, Ponteix was founded by a priest from France and became a French settlement. Father Albert Marie Royer named the town Ponteix after the church he served in France. This afternoon I wandered through the cemetery and noticed that many of the surnames on the graves were indeed French.

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One woman in the workshop is doing her digital story in French with English subtitles. Another young girl is working on a story about moving to Saskatchewan from the Philippines. And one participant’s story is on cross-cultural friendships formed among young people at a leadership camp.

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I’m looking forward to watching these digital narratives from Southwest Saskatchewan and sharing them with you.

 

 

When artists collaborate great things happen

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I’m always excited to learn about new spaces popping up that provide opportunities for artists of all genres to create. Finding affordable studio space in any city can be a challenge. During my recent visit to North Battleford to record a SaskScapes podcast with artist Sherron Burns, I had the pleasure of spending time in the newly formed Artist Run Centre.  It was wonderful to meet several of the artists working in the new space that day.  Each has a section of the large studio, and each space is decorated with art that reflects the work and vision of the individuals.  It’s a bright, open, vibrant space and it all came together through the efforts of artists who had a vision. They took that vision to the town council and as with many things in life, when the vision is there, the practical aspects just fall in line.

Here is their mission statement:

ARC: Creative Studios is an artist run centre in downtown North Battleford where artists can create new work, collaborate with one another and connect with community through markets, events, workshops and performances.

You can follow ARC on their Facebook page HERE

(photo included with this post shows painter, Rosemarie Stadnyk working with acrylics)

Stay tuned for an upcoming podcast in which Sherron speaks about how ARC came together!

Preparing to Launch

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My second visit to Rockglen took place in the Library.  A group of us met Wednesday morning and made Origami Boats in preparation for our ‘Lighted Launch,’ which will take place on Wednesday September 24th.

Like before, I gave a demonstration on how to make an Origami boat and played a short video that reinforced this teaching.

Then, we broke off into smaller groups and went through the process step-by-step.

All and all, we made about fifty boats that day and I hope to return one more time before the launch.

Later that night, a couple of Rockglen residents took me to Fife Lake (about a ten minute drive out of town), where the ‘Lighted Launch’ will take place.

It’s a beautiful lake.

The two residents, Richard and Darcy, (who are in their early sixties) explained to me how when they were young this Lake/Regional Park was the place to be.  The campground was always full.  Locals came for the weekend.  There were swimming lessons, ball tournaments, a rodeo, etc.  Then in the late 80s the lake began to dry up and by the year 2000 it was nothing more than a small puddle.

In the last two years, however, the lake has been completely restored.  The night I was there, people were kayaking and boating.  Kids were skipping stones. People were camping.  And others were playing ball in the nearby diamonds, practicing for the ball tournament that was about to take place that weekend.

Listening to people talk about the lake I really got a sense of how relieved they are that “it came back.”

I was told that it’s the ebb and flow of nature, the cycle of water, that makes it so that a lake can completely disappear and then reappear.  Plus, I was told it’s our human ‘footprint’ that disrupts nature “like that.”  Many blamed a local coal mine for the water disappearing.

Either way, all seem happy to see the return of their lake.  And rightly so.  From a Cultural perspective this lake is of utmost importance. Look at all the activity that is dependant this lake.  Even at it’s rudimentary level, even if a person does not participate in any activity at all,  it is a gathering place.  People who live in the same community, but do not necessarily visit,  gather here and share.

Keeping this in mind, I find it wildly appropriate that we are having a ceremony that will celebrate this lake–a celebration that will further bring people together.  I can’t wait.

Making Rabbits in Shaunavon

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I spent August 12 in Shaunavon at the Grand Coteau Heritage & Cultural Centre.  Each year they host two different Kids’ Art Camp, and this year they asked that I come and facilitate a workshop for one of the days.

The roster was full with fun activities: visiting a local pottery studio, making Celtic walking sticks, painting, etc.  So, I decided to add Papier–mâché to the list.  Namely, we made  Papier-mâché rabbit sculpturesphoto-51 photo-52 photo-53 photo-54.  

I had the group of twelve make the wire frames of the rabbits, stuff the frames, apply the Papier-mâché, and paint their sculpture s all in one day! They worked hard, but the end result was a dozen cute rabbits.

All Nations Healing Moon Gathering

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Most of my Culture Days Activities (and therefore these posts) focus on the bright side of our society. They focus on the fun, creative, celebratory nature of Saskatchewan.

While I enjoy the positivity of these endeavours and those aspects our Culture, I also feel that if we’re going to put forth a call  to engage in Culture we have to be open to all potential aspects of what this might be.

The “All Nations Healing Moon Gathering” is one such example of what I am speaking about.  Muskoday First Nation invites the families of those who have murdered and missing loved-ones to gather during the August Full/Super Moon, so as to grieve and heal. During this gathering there is much ceremony and cultural activity.  There is a Sweatlodge, drumming, smudging, talking circles, the drying of meat and fish, the collection of sweetgrass and sage, feasts, and more.

That said, I was more than happy to be asked to attend this gathering and facilitate a craft or art workshop that could run alongside all the other activities.

They set up a tent for me and during the day I ran a simple styrofoam print workshop.  I had many children come and stay the day and make several prints, which we then hung by clothes-pin on twine, around the tent.  Even a few adults came and sat and visited for the duration of my stay.

I’m not sure if it was the nature of the gathering, people’s vulnerability, or the magic of the Super Moon, but there was a ‘closeness’ that is difficult to articulate.  Perhaps  a couple of examples will suffice: the Autistic boy who would only address me as Auntie, or the War Veteran who told me various stories from his three tours of duty.

It’s challenging to look at aspects of Culture such as the missing and murdered.  But it’s there.  So what better way to deal with this troubling experience than with creativity, song, traditions, ceremony, and Art.

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The Symbiosis of Art, Culture, & Community

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The ways in which Art creates community, and the symbiotic nature of Art and Culture, never ceases to amaze me.

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When I first spoke with the group at Muskoday’s Culture Camp I told them about Marvin’s, the Camp Director’s, request that we depict one of their Clan Mothers: the Wolf.  So as to create discussion about the imagery we’d use in this depiction, I asked the youth group, “So, I’d like you to tell me what the Wolf Clan means to you.  Do you have any stories you could share?  Any information that would help us?”

Nothing.  Complete silence.

So then I asked,  “Okay, let’s back up a bit.  Does the Wolf Clan mean anything to you?”

Again, nothing.  The youth did not know about their Clan System.  They did not know about the role of Clan Mothers.

At this point Marvin intervened and imparted a little bit of information and said that he would invite someone out that night to tell the group about the Clans.

And so he did.

The next day when I arrived I took my cup of tea and walked over to the Archery Area to visit with the girls.  And sure enough I could hear them speaking and retelling the stories they heard the previous night, about the Clans and how they worked.  When I asked further questions about the stories they were told the girls would confer with each other to make sure they had their story straight.

And, just like that a decayed portion of Muskoday’s Culture is reignited via the creation of a tile mosaic.  It is the spark that starts a wildfire of cultural transmission.

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So here’s what the process of making of this large broken tile mosaic looks like: I usually arrive at the Culture Camp around 8:00, 8:30.  Most times I get a big smile on my face when I pull up to the camp, because there is someone (if not two or three) working away already.  I grab a tea or coffee, put on my apron, and join them in figuring out the puzzle.

The day is filled with the constant stream of tea, glueing, and conversation.  Some work on the piece for hours at a time.  We stand beside each other and dance around the bucket of tile and the pan of glue, and talk…. and talk.  It’s amazing the conversations that come about.  Some of it is just fun: silly stories and anecdotes.  But some of what is said is serious and morose: kids tell me about deaths in the family, sickness, and injuries.

Everyone takes breaks from glueing and breaking tile to go participate in other activities: canoeing, swimming, biking, archery.  And of course there’s mealtime!  But, eventually, they come back to the tile pieces either in groups or solo and the conversation begins again.

Most nights I quit around 9:00.  But, one morning I came back to a finished wolf.  So I know the kids don’t stop. Some continue even when I’m not there.

All those conversations, all that sharing, all that trust that occurs while co-creating art is building community.  We are becoming friends….And that is the elusive, subversive, magical potential of community art.

 

 

International Indigenous Art Program

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At the closing ceremonies of the North American Indigenous Games on Saturday, youth from across North America will present a 15-minute performance that they have been working on with senior and emerging artists. The performance is part of the International Indigenous Art Program (IIAP), defined on NAIG’s website as an opportunity “for youth to explore their creative development through a meaningful interactive and collaborative experience with internationally recognized multidisciplinary Indigenous artists.”

I’m honoured to have been asked to make a digital story on the IIAP, which will be shown immediately before the 15-minute performance at the closing ceremonies. It’s been an incredible experience to watch and document their creative process, and I’m looking forward to seeing their work performed on stage.

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