YEG Dignity November Artist Gathering

On November 12, 2022, JHC held its first meeting for the YEG Dignity artists who will be painting murals for the pedway between the City Center and Churchill LRT Stations. In order to ground the group, Elder Jo-Ann Saddleback was invited in to share their knowledge of Mother Earth and our place in the world. Artists were invited to reflect on those teachings and reflect on their own connection to the land and the world through a guided sketch with the Knowledge Keeper Lana Whiskeyjack. Then, they shared. 

I was struck by the importance not just of sharing our grounding, learnings and newfound knowledge of Mother Earth and our place in the world but the way the artists interacted and interpreted this knowledge. Art and these murals are a vibrant way of expressing ourselves and this project is no different. The stories we share about these murals and the plays we are going to write for them must do justice not just to a cultural heritage but to the people living, interacting, and intersecting with that heritage and the land we live upon today.