RED LAKE — Finding the silver lining in disaster, a new mural project is bringing colour to a space that was once nearly washed away.
About five years ago, a windstorm ripped the roof off the Red Lake Regional Heritage Centre experienced and six weeks of rain left it destroyed.
The new mural will be the latest addition to an Indigenous exhibit that is an important part of the new revamped space.
“This exhibit differed because it was not just an exhibit about Indigenous people and culture, but it was an Indigenous exhibit for Indigenous people,” said Trevor Osmond, director of the Red Lake Regional Heritage Centre.
“It used artifacts, yes, material culture, but it was also using their own voices and their own thoughts. We wanted the outside to be very museum like, very display case, almost that coldness to it, but we wanted the inside of the exhibit to have a lot of life. So, we created it with the idea that we have monitors on the inside, so we could go over some of the history but also talk about here and now,” he said.
Unfortunately, when the exhibit was designed, the inside also had that cold feel to it, Osmond said.
“There was a suggestion by one of the people we had been talking to through the design process, and they said it would be really neat to have some art on the inside of that.
“When the exhibit was finished, I decided to seek out funding in order to get some murals created so that we could then digitize those murals and print them on the inside of this exhibit,” he said.
The funding organizations are Canadian Heritage (Under the Museums Assistance Program, Indigenous Heritage Component) and Ontario Arts Council (Indigenous Artists in Communities).
The centre ended up with five artists who came in, planned and started to work on the four canvases.
“One of the interesting things about the project was that it was created with the idea that these artists would collaborate on each of the mural pieces. It wouldn't be one artist working on one mural piece.”
“It’s not something you see that often. Through each mural piece you really see differences in style, but they blend together and give this amazing imagery,” he said.
Students from four schools have come in to see the artwork in progess, said Osmond, as well as the exhibit.
“That was a big component for us, we didn't want to just be an art piece. We wanted to have some conversation and inform younger generations of what woodland art was and why it was so important, especially to this region.”
When the students attended, they got to see the artists painting, and could ask questions.
“Students got to review the ins and outs of art and why it was so special, why they were doing the project and how it related to Red Lake.
“We also had the opportunity to interview the different artists involved. Those interviews will go into the actual exhibit so that when people get to see the art in the exhibit, they'll also get to know the story of how it came to be,” Osmond said.
“Sometimes Indigenous history is underrepresented.
“They really lost a lot of their history. There's a separation from the culture and ultimately it comes from the residential schools and the segregation. There's a real need to bring that back into the lives, especially of the younger generations. They need to know where they came from without it, you're sort of lost,” he said.
Osmond hopes by the end of the month the art will be added into the exhibit.
“It's a series of four pretty striking pieces. I think being excited and drawn in to the stories in the centre is an important aspect of it.
“Right now, we've been paying attention to how people interact with the exhibit, and they love the outside, they love to check that out. It's very museum, but it's done very well.
“When they go on the inside, I think they're a little bit overwhelmed. I think with having the art on the inside, it will really draw people in and allow them to take a breather before they start checking out the videos and learning about the content in the exhibit."
