UNews - LandMarks2017

Celebrating Canada 150 through art, LandMarks2017 opens in Indian Battle Park June 20

trevor.kenney — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 21:37:57 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge joins 15 post-secondary institutions, 12 leading Canadian artists, and seven curators in engaging with Canada 150 through LandMarks2017, a national art project. Created by Partners in Art (PIA) and presented by TD, this Canada 150 signature project brought artists together to creatively explore and connect with Canadian landmarks. From June 10-27, 100 contemporary art projects will be presented across 20 national parks and historic sites, including right here in Lethbridge at Indian Battle Park.

On Tuesday, June 20 at 4 p.m., Jackson 2Bears’ (Art) studio art class opens its exhibition, Spatial Storytelling: land, art, place and community, in Fort Whoop Up and around Indian Battle Park. 2Bears chose Indian Battle Park because of its proximity to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, the history in the land, and its importance to Treaty 7 and the Blackfoot people.

Jackson 2Bears’ (Art) studio art class with local Blackfoot Elders. The exhibition, which opens with a reception at 4 p.m., Tuesday, June 20 at Fort Whoop Up, is open to the public until June 27.

“A good deal of what we did in the class had to do with studying and learning about that space,” says 2Bears. “So most of our classes happened down at the Fort in partnership with the Galt Museum, who were very generous with their time and allowing us to use their facility.”

Instead of spending their time working in art studios, students spent time off campus, in the Fort, hearing from the knowledge keepers of the Blackfoot territory.

“It was important to me at the outset that the course acknowledge the traditional territories of this area and the place we were working,” says 2Bears. “It was crucial to have people come in from the Blackfoot community and share the knowledge properly as the keepers of this land. It made sense for this to be a core part of the project.”

Guest speakers included Blanche Bruised Head, who welcomed the class onto Blackfoot territory and gave them permission to work there; John and Keith Chief Moon, who shared traditional songs and Napi stories; Terry Many Grey Horses, who spoke about moon cycles and tipi building; Susan Burrows-Johnson, who spoke about the history of the fort; and Martha Many Grey Horses, who was crucial in helping bring the LandMarks2017 project to life at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

“As a Mohawk, I’m a guest here in this territory,” says 2Bears. “Even when I first moved here, Martha introduced me to the community and helped me feel welcome here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and also in the territory.”

Many Grey Horses helped arrange several of the speakers who shared their knowledge and inspiration with the class. Knowledge keepers presented day-long workshops on everything from Blackfoot creation stories, to the history of the area, and the history of the fort.

“All that information fed in to students doing their own work about that space, they collaborated a little bit here and there, but we all ended up making our own works,” says 2Bears.

The result is a collection of pieces that vary in scope and medium.

“Our projects are both celebratory and critical of Canada and the history of colonialization, the history of the fort itself, and people’s response to that,” explains 2Bears.

Visitors to the exhibition will see sculptures, paintings, performance and installation art, sound and video works. The pieces all tell a story, inspired by the knowledge keepers as well as the student’s own research.

For example, Alison Frank became interested in ammolite, which is very important to the treaties and is part of many creation stories. It also speaks to the mining extraction that took place on that land. From this inspiration, Frank created clay versions through raku firing, which creates a metallic or luminescent rainbow-like colour that looks a lot like ammolite.

Also in the exhibition are a virtual video piece by Joel Cross Child; a sculpture by Dene artist Jennifer Bowen, which represents a portal between this territory and her own in Yellowknife; a large living sculpture using indigenous plants by Michelle Sylvestre; and a group project involving 15 youth silhouettes by Deirdre Earl.

The exhibition, which opens with a reception at 4 p.m., Tuesday, June 20 at Fort Whoop Up, is open to the public until June 27. LandMarks2017 is a collaboration of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, Partners in Art, Susan Burrows-Johnson, CEO/Executive Director of the Galt Museum and local artist Tanya Doody, who was crucial in providing labour and technical work in the project development.

Community invited to help reconstruct vandalized art piece

trevor.kenney — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 21:05:32 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge art student Sarah Russell planned to share a message of unity through her artwork in the LandMarks2017 exhibition. However, vandals rearranged her work into a crude image on the side of the coulee in Indian Battle Park. Russell’s artwork, which represented the Blackfoot symbol for unity, now needs just that – people to unite to help rebuild the installation before the opening reception on June 20.

As part of the national art project LandMarks2017, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ art class has been working hard since January to create artworks to celebrate Canada’s 150^th anniversary. Aimed at exploring and connecting with the land, LandMarks2017 consists of 100 works presented in 20 national parks and historic sites from June 10-27. Sixteen universities and 12 leading Canadian artists created works for the exhibitions.

Everyone is invited to play a part in an act of unity by joining artist Sarah Russell at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 20 at Fort Whoop Up to assist in reconstructing the symbol on the coulee.

The main objective of LandMarks2017 is to encourage exploration and inspire dialogue about the history of the land. Universities were invited to participate and Jackson 2Bears adopted the project for his topics course: Art 3850 – LandMarks 2017 (Spatial Storytelling: Land, Art, Place and Community). 2Bears brought in knowledge keepers from the Blackfoot community to share the history of the land and the people with the students.

Russell, a Kainai-Piikani Blackfoot herself, wanted to come to the table without any labels. “The elders really opened up my mind to be positive, so I wanted to create something that was positive out of negative,” explained Russell. “I wanted to represent the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, I wanted to represent the Blackfoot people, and I wanted to represent the territory.”

Russell was inspired by the Blackfoot symbol for unity and decided to take on the enormous task of hand painting more than 150 rocks, placing them on the coulee-side by Indian Battle Park. The piece was large enough you could see it across the river from ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall. The project was extremely labour intensive, not just in finding, painting and placing the rocks, but also the formal process she went through in securing permission to create the piece.

“You can’t just go and take a rock,” explained Russell. “In our culture we believe that everything is alive, and has its place, so I didn’t feel comfortable just going to take rocks. Therefore, I had to talk to the elders about how to obtain the rocks respectfully for this piece.”

Russell also needed to receive permission from the elder who originally created the symbol before she could recreate it. “I had to track him down, understand the meaning behind the symbol, and get permission from him,” continued Russell. “I asked him about the meaning of painting the rocks white and he said it was up to my interpretation. But the symbol was a gift to the Blackfoot people and it is a gift to me to use it however I wanted to.”

Russell’s interpretation of the symbol and the message she hoped to share through her art, was about connecting all people, not just First Nations. “The symbol is to unite the Blackfoot confederacy,” said Russell. “But I wanted to push it a little bit further and unite all human beings.”

Unfortunately, between May 20-23 the rocks were reconfigured into a crude shape, and with frustration and disappointment, Russell removed all traces of her work. “I started with seven rocks, and they were really heavy,” said Russell. It took two months to get every rock painted and in place.

“There were over 150 rocks, and I got help placing maybe 30 of them. The rest I did myself,” said Russell. While she had help in other ways, it was discouraging to see months of hard work destroyed. “Why ‘those’ rocks? That’s why I got upset. If you want to make a sculpture like that, bring up your own rocks,” Russell said with a laugh.

However, with support and encouragement from 2Bears and the U of L Faculty of Fine Arts, Russell’s artwork should soon be back on display. Everyone is invited to play a part in an act of unity by joining Russell at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 20 at Fort Whoop Up to assist in reconstructing the symbol on the coulee.

Russell warns the terrain is steep and rough, with cactuses, and maybe snakes. Volunteers should come prepared for the elements including good shoes and proper clothing.

The LandMarks2017 exhibition, including Russell’s symbol of unity, are on display in Fort Whoop-up and across Indian Battle Park from June 20-27.

UNews - LandMarks2017

Celebrating Canada 150 through art, LandMarks2017 opens in Indian Battle Park June 20

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