On July 10th from 1pm to 2pm Leah and Danielle were hard at work laying down a soft pastel mural on the sidewalk at the Mann Art Gallery. Together, they created a Giving Tree with the Red River Cart Wheel Teachings from Leah Dorion's book: The Giving Tree: A Retelling of a Traditional Metis Story  The mural stayed on the sidewalk for 5 weeks and continued to fade as summer passed by. 

 

"Day 1 of the Intergenerational Métis Artist Mentorship Project with Leah Dorion and apprentice Danielle Castle, the Acting Gallery Educator, was a success! Their pastel sidewalk mural depicts 12 Métis Values with Creator, in a wagon-wheel circle, beside a tree with deep roots, at the gallery entrance. Over 3 hours, we had 55 visitors, who wore masks and stayed socially distant, talk with the artists and Elder and Knowledge Keeper Curtis Breaton. Long-time gallery volunteer Russ Mode worked crowd control, and we were joined by a surprise visit from Elder Liz Settee. Many visitors took a chair and enjoyed sitting in the sun and watching the artists work, and contemplated the values being depicted. A young girl arrived, wearing a ribbon skirt and moccasins, and watched for a while before leaving. When she returned, she had art supplies and, newly inspired, sat down beside the mural to make her own art! We are so grateful to the City of Prince Albert, SaskCulture, and the C.I.F GRANT for funding this project. We couldn’t do these wonderful things without core funding from SK Arts and Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada either!"
 

Lana Wilson, Acting Director/Curator