I suppose this is about the halfway point on the project timeline, although it doesn’t seem like we are halfway through the work of the project. We have a great start, a focused vision and good resources at our fingertips to keep this project rolling ahead. I had a unique opportunity last month through the Canadian Council for the Arts to participate in a virtual artist tour with Métis artist Katherine Boyer, presented by curator (and family friend), Wayne Baerwaldt. The exhibit “To Bead is to Visit” is currently happening at the Âjagemô gallery in Ottawa. When our rural community had to opportunity to be part of an experience like this (thanks to technology), I couldn’t pass it up! Luckily the school principal and a classroom teacher were willing to take on the pre-planning and get the grade 6/7 students prepared to visit the space. This is an incredibly busy time of year for me with directing Christmas plays at both schools, so unfortunately I couldn’t participate during the time of the tour, but was informed that is was a fantastic experience! Originally, Katherine Boyer’s work was not part of our project plan, however, her traditional Métis beaded artwork is a great fit within our Living Histories project. I’m looking forward to working on a beading project with the students inspired by Katherine’s work in the New Year. Please read more about the Katherine Boyer experience here. As for the rest of our Living Histories project, there has not been too much progress since the Soda Rock trip. We have collected the student’s photographs and are currently in the process of looking at how to incorporate local songs or drumming rhythms into the piece. Our next step, after the Christmas break will be to invite some local Indigenous community members in to help us create these elements for our final artifact.
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