Timmins artist helps young people find their voice
A Timmins artist of Indigenous and Scottish heritage is looking to engage local youth in artwork and the sharing of traditional teachings.
Justice Sutherland has been holding an art workshop series at the local youth wellness hub. Sutherland said art can encourage youth to express themselves and affect change in their community.
Once a shy artist with little knowledge of her Indigenous heritage, Sutherland said her goal now is to share her passion and Mushkego-Cree culture with local youth.
She’s been doing that at the Timmins youth wellness hub for about three weeks.
“We’ve been doing a lot of painting, a lot of stamp-making,” Sutherland said.
“We’re doing a bunch of creative ideas and outlets to get one nice, big piece done. And we’re doing it on the Seven Grandfather Teachings and making sure that we’re stopping on each lesson and learning the teaching.”
Her favourite grandfather teaching, she said, is the beaver, which is wisdom, “because a lot of people want to be wise.”
Justice Sutherland has been holding an art workshop series at the Timmins youth wellness hub. Sutherland said art can encourage youth to express themselves and affect change in their community. (Photo from video)
“But it’s about the building. He’s about that resilience of going out every day and rebuilding your shelter every day, and going out and building those skills and then sharing those skills. He’s the builder of the community and that’s what it means to be wise, is to be able to share in skills and build up other people.”
Sutherland said they need to develop young people’s skills so they want to give back to their community.
Builds confidence
“And the more that we can give them skills, the more that will see Timmins flourish,” she said.
“All it is, is that initial step of confidence to get that artwork out there, and people want more art, we need more artists. Artwork is something that can bring that warmth into the home, to get that passion, that voice out.”
Sutherland said art allows people to share their views of the world.
“And it’s something that anyone can really do,” she said.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
“It’s about finding that passion in this city and really flourishing it and trying to build those skills up with as many youth as possible, so they can feel the confidence to share their artwork with the community.”
Sutherland wants to engage as many youth as possible and empower them to make their voices heard.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'The root cause': Canada outlines national action plan to fight auto theft
The federal government is launching what it calls its 'national action plan' to combat auto thefts, which will include stronger penalties for thieves, and increased information sharing between police agencies, government officials and border enforcement.
What is BORG drinking, and why is it a dangerous trend? An expert explains
If you've been to a party lately and haven't seen someone drinking a BORG, you're likely not partying with college students.
The world's best airline is paying staff a bonus of 8 months' salary
Singapore Airlines will reward its employees with a bonus worth nearly eight months of salary, a person familiar with the matter told CNN on Friday.
Prosecution rests in Donald Trump’s hush money case. The defence now gets its turn to call witnesses
Michael Cohen testified Monday that he stole tens of thousands of dollars from his ex-boss Donald Trump’s company, an admission defence lawyers hope to use to undermine Cohen’s credibility.
Red Lobster probes 'endless shrimp' losses after bankruptcy filing
U.S.-based restaurant chain Red Lobster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Florida court after securing $100 million in financing commitments from its existing lenders, the company said on Sunday.
'Next man up': Canucks coach, teammates bracing for Game 7 without Brock Boeser
Questions about how the team is going to handle the absence of star winger Brock Boeser from a do-or-die game seven dominated pre-game interviews with the Vancouver Canucks coach and players Monday morning.
Katy Perry sings goodbye to 'American Idol'
Katy Perry said her goodbyes on 'American Idol' after seven seasons. On Sunday night’s live 'idol' season finale, a medley of Perry's hit songs were performed, including 'Teenage Dream,' 'Dark Horse' and 'California Gurls.'
U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal from former Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by a Canadian-born former Guantanamo detainee who was seeking to wipe away his war crimes convictions, including for killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.
Woman, 35, in critical condition after her truck collided with a Via Rail train near Montreal
A 35-year-old woman is in critical condition after the pick-up truck she was driving was struck by a Via Rail passenger train Monday morning in Quebec's Monteregie region.