September 30, 2014 is the second annual Orange Shirt Day. The day grew out of a residential school commemoration event held in Williams, Lake BC in Spring 2013. During this event Phyllis (Jack) Webstad, a Survivor of the St. Joseph Mission Residential School described her experience of arriving at the residential school and having an orange shirt that was bought for her by her grandmother taken away from her.
Speaking about her experience Phyllis said that "the colour orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn't matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying and no one cared." Phyllis complete story can be viewed here.
As a result of Phyllis' experience and the 2013 commemoration event Orange Shirt Day was created as a way to inspire conversation around residential schools and reconciliation. Similar to the anti-bullying pink shirt campaigns, the Orange Shirt Day/Every Child Matters campaign encourages people to wear orange and begin discussing the issues behind the cause. Many school boards across Canada are using this as an opportunity to begin discussions of residential schools in their classrooms. More information about Orange Shirt Day can be found on their website and facebook page.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Monday, September 22, 2014
Bringing the Legacy of Residential Schools into the Classroom
My latest post, "Bringing the Legacy of Residential Schools into the Classroom" can be seen over on Active History. The post focuses on resources that can help teachers integrate residential schools into their lessons. I look a handful of education tools which can be accessed digitally and are good starting points for teaching the history of residential schools.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Art and Wellness: Community Partnerships
The current issue of Muse includes an article by Shirley Madill focusing on the relationship of "Art and Wellness." Madill's piece focuses on the role of museums and art galleries in communities, the connection of arts and health, and the wellness benefits associated with public engagement in the arts.
She argues that "Investment in the arts produces important social benefits that have a strong positive impact on both individual and community health." Madill includes examples of numerous Canadian initiatives that highlight the collaborative partnerships between health organizations and art institutions.
For example, The Art for Healing Foundation aims to bring art into hospitals and other care facilities as a means of creating inspiring, peaceful, and beautiful environments for patients and healthcare workers. Since 2002 the Foundation has been responsible for installing over 8000 works of art in institution across Canada.
The integration of artwork into hospital settings can also be seen at the St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg and their decision to to open the Buhler Gallery in 2007. Located within the Hospital the Buhler Gallery has seen over 75,000 people visit the space with more than a third of the visitors being hospital patients. The Gallery has successfully created a welcoming reflective space for visitors and highlights the intersection of art and healing.
In addition to hospital based art programs, Madill also highlights the benefits of programming created by community galleries that is geared toward people dealing with health issues. The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, where Madill works, partnered with the local Alzheimer Society to create a "Gather in the Gallery" program. The programming focuses on engaging Alzheimer patients and their caregivers within the gallery space. Current in it's fourth year this program has been seen as a success by the gallery, Alzheimer Society and its participants.
Overall Madill's work reminded me a lot of the Journey Women exhibit I was able to be part of in 2014 that focused on using art based healing to create 'body maps' which reflected personal healing experiences. The article also made me think about the potential within in many museums and galleries to collaborate with health based organizations. There are tremendous opportunities for engagement, public outreach, and the creation of new programming that is beneficial to both communities and galleries.
If you're interested in the intersection of art and health I recommend checking out the September/October 2014 issue of Muse as it contains Madill's excellent piece and others focusing on the role of museums and galleries in health.
She argues that "Investment in the arts produces important social benefits that have a strong positive impact on both individual and community health." Madill includes examples of numerous Canadian initiatives that highlight the collaborative partnerships between health organizations and art institutions.
For example, The Art for Healing Foundation aims to bring art into hospitals and other care facilities as a means of creating inspiring, peaceful, and beautiful environments for patients and healthcare workers. Since 2002 the Foundation has been responsible for installing over 8000 works of art in institution across Canada.
The integration of artwork into hospital settings can also be seen at the St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg and their decision to to open the Buhler Gallery in 2007. Located within the Hospital the Buhler Gallery has seen over 75,000 people visit the space with more than a third of the visitors being hospital patients. The Gallery has successfully created a welcoming reflective space for visitors and highlights the intersection of art and healing.
In addition to hospital based art programs, Madill also highlights the benefits of programming created by community galleries that is geared toward people dealing with health issues. The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, where Madill works, partnered with the local Alzheimer Society to create a "Gather in the Gallery" program. The programming focuses on engaging Alzheimer patients and their caregivers within the gallery space. Current in it's fourth year this program has been seen as a success by the gallery, Alzheimer Society and its participants.
Overall Madill's work reminded me a lot of the Journey Women exhibit I was able to be part of in 2014 that focused on using art based healing to create 'body maps' which reflected personal healing experiences. The article also made me think about the potential within in many museums and galleries to collaborate with health based organizations. There are tremendous opportunities for engagement, public outreach, and the creation of new programming that is beneficial to both communities and galleries.
If you're interested in the intersection of art and health I recommend checking out the September/October 2014 issue of Muse as it contains Madill's excellent piece and others focusing on the role of museums and galleries in health.
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