It’s a Friday morning at the Nanaimo Art Gallery’s ArtLab studio and a dozen teenagers are putting paint to a communal canvas.
The mural, which spans an entire wall in the gallery’s studio workshop space, depicts the youths’ collective visions of Nanaimo, distinct yet bound together. The group worked under the guidance and co-ordination of visiting mainland artist Bracken Hanuse Corlett.
“We spent a lot of time in conversation around their relationship to growing up here, their relationships to the land, the structures, how the city is maybe promoted to the outside world and what their experience is with it…” he explained.
“What we’ve decided as the unifying factor is this path that we’re all on together and we travel through the natural world, the urban structures, we have history around us and we’re in the present and we’re looking towards the future.”
Hanuse Corlett said art can often be a solitary endeavour and it’s important that the youth explore the collaborative process. He said the greatest challenge with getting a large group to work together is making sure every voice is heard, but added that the young artists get along and are respectful of one another.
“When I was growing up I was always the quiet person in the groups and wouldn’t speak up,” he said.
“So it’s been good to just get a chance to hear from everybody, from the quiet person to the more boisterous one, trying to let them give space to everyone involved.”
The mural will be among the pieces featured in the camp’s upcoming pop-up exhibition, which will showcase the teenagers’ work this summer. An opening reception will be held at ArtLab on Aug. 29 and the display will remain through Aug. 31.
NAG indigenous education co-ordinator Arlene Deptuck, who is also a Dazzle Camouflage facilitator, said the three-day show will reflect the gallery’s exploration into what it means to “speak differently,” with a nod to its current exhibition, Earthlings, a collection of collaborative, cross-cultural sculptures and drawings.
Aside from the mural work with Hanuse Corlett, the teenagers will debut the creations they made with two other Vancouver-based guest instructors: jewelry artist Jesse Gray, a former Nanaimo resident, and performance and media artist Elizabeth Milton.
Deptuck describes the guest artist seminars as opportunities for knowledge sharing.
“They bring their experience with their mentorships they’ve had, the teachings they’ve had, the education they’ve had and they’re able to provide that to these young people…” she said.
“[The participants] are able to open up to a broader range of experience in art making.”
WHAT’S ON … Dazzle Camouflage pop-up show opening at the Nanaimo Art Gallery ArtLab on Wednesday, Aug. 29 at 7 p.m., Show continues Aug. 30 and 31 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Deadline to enroll in NAG’s Code Switching youth art group is Sept. 18.
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