An irrepressible passion for art has flown from artists’ hands onto banners that will decorate St. Paul’s main street this summer, in a project encompassing dozens of volunteers from not just St. Paul, but the outside area, including Mallaig and Saddle Lake.
“It just speaks to the spirit of volunteerism in our community,” said Penny Fox, chair of Champions for Change that spearheads the banner project.
“When people come into our community, they see the stories that make our community what it is – they won’t see that anywhere else.”
Last Wednesday, during what happened to be National Volunteer Week, some of the various artists behind the downtown art project gathered at St. Paul Regional High School with their banners.
The faces of the artists are diverse, from elementary and high school students, to teachers, to members of the francophone community and the First Nations community and more. The resulting product reflects that diversity, under the theme of 120 Years of St. Paul des Métis.
One banner displays a historic “mail” system, a hollow tree filled with letters and surrounded by birds of the area – with the clock stuck on the same time as the clock at the post office. Others depict fishhooks, canoes, a fiddle, and a chief’s headdress, with powwow dancers in silhouette, while yet another depicts the history of École du Sommet.
Twenty-six banners will be put up over the next few weeks and displayed over the course of summer.
“When you leave it outside for one year, Mother Nature gives it a soul,” said local artist Herman Poulin, whose enthusiasm for art is contagious. While new paintings are rotated through the street every year, he notes many clubs and organizations are putting their banners up for display once they are taken down.
He would love to see a display of all the banners held at some point, with Fox noting this could be an “art walk” project to coincide with Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations next year.
Regional High School teacher Shala Orbell, whose art students participated in the project, said that the project was an intensive one.
“For the students it was wide open,” she said, adding that the first step was finding inspiration. “The nasty teacher made them do research.”
Once they came up with a theme, the students drew the work and then executed their individual paintings.
This year, the Mallaig Army Cadets also contributed a banner that is a memorial to Vimy Ridge, while Saddle Lake Inclusive Education students from Onchaminahos School also participated in making a banner.
“In the Inclusive Ed. class, we’re using art and music as a medium for self-discovery and self-esteem building,” said teacher Judy Bogdan, adding that students were excited about being part of the banner project, describing their reaction as “absolute pride, especially when they found out they were going to be hanging on main street.”
For Saddle Lake students to take part in the project was another way of building connections between the neighbouring communities, she noted.
Those feelings of pride were evident in the words of students:
“It shows how much we love our community. It’s a great community, great people,”
- École du Sommet student Catianna Culham.
“I think it gives us an extra sense of belonging, seeing something we did, displayed to the whole community,” – Regional High School student Nolan Bespalko.
“There’s a lot of First Nations that come into town. So we thought we could represent our culture in town too,” – Regional High School student Shakina Shirt, from Saddle Lake
“It’s not just a painting; it means something to everyone,” - local artist Herman Poulin
Help find missing banner
Organizers of the main street banner project are hoping the public can help bring home a missing banner that was meant to be a gift. < br />When the Town of St. Paul staff brought last year's banners down, they said one depicting the coureur des bois or M étis sash, was not among the rest, said local artist Herman Poulin. < br />There were no signs the banner ripped off due to the wind or elements. Poulin said he would like to ask other organizations and people who have contributed banners to check if the missing banner may have been misplaced or mixed with theirs. < br /> "It's disappointing because we've put a lot of time into these banners,” said the artist Chantal Briére, who said she wanted to give the banner to French association l'ACFA as a gift. "I made it to give them so it would be representative of their heritage . . . to leave them something they can be proud of and display.” < br />After people put in the hours of time and effort into creating the banner, "it's just sad to think they might lose that,” she said. < br />Organizers of the banner project are asking if anyone has any information on the matter. If so, they can contact Community Futures, at 645-5782, or if they have the painting of the M étis sash, drop it off at the Community Futures office with no questions asked. The banner can also be put through the mail slot in the door of the building.
