Artists Provide Spark for Vibrant Communities ~ SaskCulture

By: Diane Ell January, 2011

Individuals and communities have an interesting dynamic; it’s hard to think of one without the other and decide who builds whom. Since 1968, the idea of hosting an artist in a community, has illustrated how art and inspiration can not only help energize individuals, but contribute to building vibrant communities.

Formerly known as the Artist-in-residence program, the Partnerships Innovations Program, along with the Explorations Program, is a key part of the Creative Partnerships Program, administered by the Saskatchewan Arts Board, with funding from Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund.

“Since its inception, hundreds of communities and organizations in Saskatchewan have appreciated the impact of this program,” explains Michelle Rae McKay, Program Consultant - Indigenous and Community Arts, Saskatchewan Arts Board. Traditionally, the residency was hosted by communities and schools, but more recently new partnerships have emerged with different businesses, such as the Mosaic Potash Mine in Esterhazy, the Canadian Light Source Synchotron in Saskatoon, Sâkêwêwak Artists Collective, as well as Ranch Ehrlo Society and the Pasqua Hospital in Regina.

Over the years, the program has come to illustrate many great qualities. Bonnie Chapman, current artist-in-residence for the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, says it’s empowering and helps patients and staff deal with pain and stress.

Alejandro Romero, who worked as artistin- residence at King George Community School in Saskatoon from 2008-2009, says it changes people’s lives and brings communities closer together. Communities such as Gravelbourg, Last Mountain Lake and North Battleford have appreciated the legacies left by artists such as theatre revitalization, cultural facilities and lasting mentorships in the community.

“The program is always changing”, says McKay, “yet the focus on creating a meaningful relationship between an artist and a community or organizations is essential to its success.”

There are still new opportunities to be uncovered. “That is why the Partnership Explorations Program was added in 2008,” explains McKay, “to enable applicants to undertake some research before determining the type of artist partnership might be required.” Those interested in the Creative Partnerships Program are encouraged to contact McKay directly to talk about the program.

Art for Health

Those that spend their days focusing on their own health or the health issues of others often need distractions. The opportunity to be creative adds a new dimension and is considered by many to be therapeutic. Bonnie Chapman uses art to awaken an “encouraging and optimistic spirit” that better promotes healing and welfare in health care facilities.

“Hospitals need to have colour and warmth to take sterility away,” Chapman says, “it seems more nurturing for patients and staff.”

Chapman began as an artist-in-residence in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region in 2004 as a part of an Art at Work program initiated by Saskatchewan Arts Board. Her program proved so successful with patients and staff members that the Health Region began funding the program on a permanent basis. Today, she runs her own studio at Pasqua Hospital in Regina and considers it an open space where people can come, engage in art projects and, most importantly, be creative.

What Chapman discovered through her work is that it’s not so much her making connections, but patients, staff and families reaching deeper into themselves, helping to ease their own anxieties. She says the process of art-making takes people deeper into their self-consciousness, providing them with greater insight and self-knowledge of their mind, body and spirit. Chapman believes this ultimately helps them gain a “sense of participation” in their own health.

According to one patient who was undergoing cancer treatment at Pasqua Hospital, being creative helps put her in the moment, easing pain and stress. “I came the first time and I got hooked, she says. “I find it very relaxing when I concentrate on what I’m doing and I’m not thinking about any problems or anything else.”

Looking at Art with New Eyes

If there is one word to describe Alejandro Romero, during his residency at King George Community School in Prince Albert, it would be facilitarian. Artists are architects of beauty, he says, but what motivates him is not the hope of becoming internationally recognized, but empowering and assisting others in developing their own creative spirit.

“What moves me is that I facilitate,” he says. “Art is not an isolated matter; it’s a part of life. We communicate with our work, express what is happening inside and outside of us. People react to it.”

The King George Community School, created in 1911, is located in a neighbourhood with the same name and is considered a diverse but impoverished community. As such it is plagued with misunderstanding, feelings of isolation, and deficient in inspiration. But Romero, who came from a similar background himself, sees art as an immeasurable remedy for such social ills.

“We are doctors of the soul and we don’t get paid for that, and that’s part of the imbalance of society,” he says of being an artist. “I thought that if I ever practice art I also wanted to work with communities and use art. I want to make them think of art as a life form, about what it means. I want people to lead and take risks. It’s living in the now, the present.”

As an artist-in-residence, Romero saw his role to provide avenues that enabled people to realize the artist within themselves. He wanted to establish a dialogue that helped uncover common ground bringing the community closer together. Through his residency he had people use recycled materials to create yard sculptures, form artists groups, hold community art shows and organize a mural project outside a hockey rink.

“The result is a mural where they can say they were involved in the creation and feel a sense of pride and accomplishment,” he says. “This [Art] is a great resource for you to talk and express how you feel. I think it was very important for them to hear that and it gives them the opportunity to share that with others, sometimes they can’t have the space to do that.”

Romero has since moved on to be part of the Live Arts Education virtual residency program supported by Saskatchewan Arts Board, Saskatchewan Ministry of Education, SaskCulture/Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund for Sport, Culture and Recreation. His program provides a two hour broadcast designed to teach students Grades 3-8 about digital photography, composition and his own experience as an artist.

Reaching Youth with the Positive Experience of Art

Lots of people are given a bad lot in life, but they shouldn’t have to endure it forever. There should always be greater opportunities for everyone. Amanda Scandrett, artist-in-residence at the Ranch Ehrlo Society, uses art to reach out to disillusioned youth hoping to show them that there’s more to themselves than they realize.

“In a lot of people you see a lack of self worth,” says Scandrett. “How can we expect people to make positive choices when they can’t even see them?”

Within her capacity at Ranch Ehrlo, Scandrett says she wants to increase the self-esteem of youth by helping them to reveal talents they never thought they possessed. In doing so, she also wants to get to know themselves better and communicate their feelings positively to others; a power, she believes, that art provides, that cognitive skills and verbalizing do not.

“I believe we create our own symbols because we all interpret the world in different ways,” she says. “Art is about expressing who you are and talking about yourself within a community. Personalities shine through right away and you just kind of click.”

Scandrett works with youth, mostly between the ages of 10 to 15 years, on various projects to help free their creative spirit. They’ve worked on creating hip-hop music and designing CD covers – a project also intended to illustrate the differences between graffiti art, popular with hip-hop, and vandalism. They also displayed work created on fabric at the 2008 Regina Folk Festival using their own symbolism to express moments of joy and gratitude.

“The work is this project focused on positive experiences and outlook,” Scandrett says. “The youth relived their own positive experiences as they created visual representations of the experience. They also experienced the benefits of sharing positive aspects of their lives with others and saw how viewers interacted within the positive space they created.”

Scandrett’s residency began as part of the Creative Partnerships Program, but has since been established as a permanent role at Ranch Ehrlo Society. Ranch Ehrlo exists as an independent school system with many facilities around the province. Its mission is to provide greater opportunities and services to assist youth in acquiring skills they otherwise wouldn’t have accessed. They have an approach to education Scandrett says, that very much matches her own.

“I don’t know what it is, but I find the kids are more willing to express themselves, step outside and try new things which I was surprised with at first,” she says. “I guess that was a preconceived notion that I came here with, that it would be hard to get them to open up. But they’re so willing. It’s really cool to work with them because they just take stuff and go with it.”

Besides working as artist-in-residence at Ranch Ehrlo, Scandrett is also a member of the popular Regina band Library Voices.