A talented Black Diamond artist and a group of high school students have brought an image of truth and reconciliation to life for everyone to appreciate.
Dené artist Bruno Canadien worked with Grade 11 art students from Oilfields High School and several other organizations to create a large-scale piece of public art in the downtown area.
Canadien and the teens came up with the idea for a piece that represented Truth and Reconciliation and getting back to the land.
“Many view Reconciliation as the re-establishment of respectful relations between ourselves and the land, and the bison was prominent in this web of relationships,” Canadien said. “This mural imagines the central role of bison in the landscape of the past and the future.”
The abstract painting covers the wall of the Foothills Family Medical Centre on First Street SW.
Canadien said the design incorporates images from the land and sky like flowers, a prairie chicken feather and butterflies and has the orange handprints of the students as a sign of solidarity with residential school survivors.
“It’s a recognition of the fact that things have been changed by settlement,” he said. “It’s talking about the truth of the past, the truth of the landscape before settlement.”
The project was part of an online residency Canadien was selected to participate in with Sustainable Thinking and Expression on Public Space (STEPS), a Canadian charity that funds and supports public art installations.
The residency required Canadien to produce a piece of public art. He worked with the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, who provided him with a painting assistant from the Stoney Nakoda Nation, and the local RONA, who donated the paint and supplies.
Canadien volunteered his time in creating the work, which took months to plan and design and five days to paint.
Providing the chance for everyone to take in art without any barriers is an aspect of public art that appeals to Canadien.
“Especially going through the pandemic, it is difficult for the general public to access art with the galleries being closed and the theatres being closed so it is nice to bring art to the general public that is free to view,” he said.
Engaging the community in public art was an important part of creating the art, he said.
“If public art doesn’t have community support then there can be negative feedback,” said Canadien. “I was very grateful for the support.”
Oilfields High School art teacher Joanne Smith said she was grateful for the students to get to work with Canadien.
Canadien sent them a design and the students worked on more ideas, which were incorporated into the final design.
She said the students came up with the idea to have their handprints on the artwork and as the project moved along they became more enthusiastic.
“Once we got on site it became more real to them and they were enthused to be there,” she said. “There were a few who weren’t sure they wanted to paint but everyone ended up painting at the end.”
Smith said they are now considering painting a mural in the school and hope Canadien will also take part and work with the students again.
