Schools in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan are sporting new murals and artwork, thanks to the efforts of students and Indigenous artists. In AB, as part of the Chinook’s Edge School Division’s Indigenous residency program, Cree artist Clare Butterfly created paintings for Penhold Crossing Secondary School. Butterfly also helped students paint tipis at HJ Cody School, Steffie Woima Elementary School, and Beacon Hill School. In BC, Senator Reid Elementary School is now sporting a new mural designed by Katzie artist Rain Pierre in collaboration with the school’s students. The unveiling ceremony included a territorial acknowledgment, traditional Indigenous drumming, and a witnessing ceremony; the students who contributed to the mural also received blankets. In Saskatchewan, Estevan Comprehensive School debuted a new mural by Plains Cree artist Geanna Dunbar. Dunbar said that the students asked powerful and thought-provoking questions about the mural and its meaning.
