Sudbury high school students create two Indigenous murals
Some new wall art was unveiled at a Greater Sudbury area high school Thursday to help celebrate National Indigenous History Month.
Around 150 students at École secondaire Hanmer took part in a project to create two Indigenous murals.
Indigenous mural made by students at Ecole secondaire Hanmer representing the future. June 1/23 (Alana Everson/CTV Northern Ontario)
Grade 10 student Jessica Gour calls the experience invaluable.
"I gained a lot of knowledge about Indigenous cultures and my grandma as Indigenous, but, unfortunately, she passed away before I could even learn a lot about the culture," Gour said.
"So this really brought out the Indigenous part in me and it made me experience things that I never would have experienced if I did not do this project."
A teacher who oversees inclusion and diversity at the school, Natalie Frappier, said the students came up with the concept after attending the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation event in Bell Park last September.
"We wanted a big project where we could really reflect on the past and the future and what the students and the staff could do to have a change," Frappier said.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
Artist Jessica Somers also helped students incorporate woodland art into the murals.
"The students were involved right from the beginning having that teaching creating the artwork and then teamwork and collaboration throughout the whole process," Somers said.
Stéphane Paquette, a well-known local francophone musician and actor, works as a cultural facilitator for Indigenous education for the Conseil scolaire du Grand Nord school board.
"Everyone in the school had a presentation on the importance and what the woodlands art style is. And then the artist in question, Jessica Somers, came in and worked with the students and made sure that the concept came from the students," Paquette said.
"The paint stokes and everything came from the students also."
The school's principal, Patrick Venne, was impressed with the end result.
"It's a project that I hope students take away that it's important to not forget the past, but at the same time too, you know, plan for the future to see what we can do differently," Venne said.
The murals that represent the past and future hang in the hallway outside of the school's history classroom.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire' are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Premier Legault reiterates that McGill pro-Palestinian camp must be dismantled
Quebec Premier François Legault reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled while police remain 'on the lookout for new developments.'
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.