'Visible to anyone and everyone': Indigenous teens to paint mural outside art gallery

EDITOR'S NOTE: A version of this article originally appeared on SooToday on Aug. 8. It is being republished here for readers who may have missed it.

The Art Gallery of Algoma will soon add some bright, bold colours to its exterior as a number of Indigenous youth prepare to create a large, woodland-style art mural later this summer as part of a project that's being done in partnership with the Indigenous Friendship Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.  

More than a dozen youth have been tapped for the Woodland Mural Art Project, which will see local Indigenous artist Lucia Laford lead a series of workshops throughout the month of August in order to introduce youth ages 13 to 18 to the basic principles of woodland art in the lead-up to the actual painting of the mural, slated to take place Aug. 28 to Sept. 1. 

Art Gallery of Algoma Executive Director Jasmina Jovanovic says the gallery wants participants to celebrate and embrace cultural knowledge through the mural project, which is being funded through a grant from the Ontario Arts Council.  

“We want them to feel that they are definitely part of our community, and they’re part of, so to speak, mainstream art,” said Jovanovic. “This is the only public art gallery in Algoma, and I think having that mural on the outside of the gallery — being visible to anyone and everyone — is a great testament to the fact that the Art Gallery of Algoma is embracing our community and everybody who is part of the community.” 

Jovanovic describes the woodland style as a traditional form of Indigenous art that was popularized by Norval Morrisseau, who interpreted oral history in Indigenous culture into a “visual language” with his work beginning in the 1960s. 

“It is connection between everything in nature and spirituality, expressed in visual language, in bright colours and symbolism,” she said. 

Several artists have followed in Morriseau’s footsteps, including Sault-based woodland artist John Laford, who died in 2021. A number of his pieces remain on the walls of the Art Gallery of Algoma to this day. 

His daughter Lucia has been working with the Art Gallery of Algoma and the Indigenous Friendship Centre to present a series of woodland art workshops over the course of the past year, which is why the gallery thought she would be a “natural” choice to lead the mural project. 

“We wanted Indigenous youth to feel proud about their heritage and learn more, and just enjoy the whole process,” said Jovanovic. “We know that Lucia is capable of doing all that.”

The woodland mural will be officially unveiled at the gallery during a celebration scheduled to coincide with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Sept. 30.