On November 25, 2020, the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary came together as a first step in the process of creating a shared vision for a new strategic plan. This approach reflected the faculty’s commitment to honouring Indigenous ways of knowing, being, sharing, and doing.
I was commissioned to develop the process and artwork for the Strategic Plan (2022-2027). William (Billy) Iskotoohka Wadsworth sang traditional Blackfoot songs in each of the four directions, while the 60 faculty members drew pictures corresponding to each of the questions below.
- East: Where do you see our faculty right now?
- South: What are our hopes and dreams for the Faculty of Social Work?
- West: What are the barriers that may get in our way of achieving our hopes and dreams for the faculty?
- North: What are our strengths and gifts to achieve our hopes and dreams?
Over the following months, I coded the themes I saw in the images shared by faculty members as I would in any qualitative research project. I prayed and reflected on these themes in ceremony. The resulting artworks – two for each of the four directions – capture a collective vision from faculty members’ individual visions. They celebrate beauty, diversity, shadows and gifts.
Painting Process
Strategic Planning Sketches
East
South
West
North
9″ x 12″
Acrylic on Paper
Commissioned by Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, 2020
Final Pieces
Acrylic on Canvas
36”x48”
2020
“The two rivers merging into one represent leaving our past, but also looking towards our future – we’re merging into a new time. There’s chaos and turbulence as these two rivers merge but as we start to understand where we are, we slowly sort that out and the rivers will come together and move forward in this new direction.”
Jennifer Leason
Acrylic on Canvas
36”x48”
2020
From birth, to life, to death.
From leaves, to flowers, to seeds.
Beauty not only rests with roses.
Beauty begins in the weeds.
Forgotten.
Passed by.
Underestimated among the perfect, colonized
green lawns…
A nuisance, sprayed to death
With Killex, Monsanto and Round up.
Resistant.
Resilient.
The wind blows the seeds.
Spreads the ashes.
Life will go on.
She will spread her beauty.
Jennifer Leason
Acrylic on Canvas
36”x48”
2020
Windigo
Whispers in the pines, “I’m coming for you.”
Windigo breathes down my neck.
I shiver. I run.
I look for my sister and cousins
Don’t leave me behind.
Don’t leave me alone.
Nanny warns us, “Don’t stay out too late!”
Take care of each other or Windigo will find you.
Thick skin, acid organs, decaying bones, melting mind, blind, confused,
lost
Don’t leave me alone.
Don’t leave me behind.
Sunset and imminent darkness.
Windigo’s gaze, looking through my soul.
Forever hungry, all consuming.
Darkness is surrounded by darkness
Lurking in the shadows
Distrust, disconnected, truths consumed by lies.
Don’t leave me behind.
Don’t leave me alone.
Jennifer Leason
Acrylic on Canvas
36”x48”
2020
“So many times when I’m driving into Calgary, I see the sunrise and the beautiful sky, and it’s like the light is dancing. Where we see the faculty right now is that we have all these hurdles to overcome. Like the mountains we have to climb up and go down – it’s a process, it’s a journey. But looking to the east there’s also an opportunity of a sunrise – of a new day. The dancing sky and the vibrant light of that sky is a reminder that we can do this. We’ve got this, and through our connection, and through our hard work and determination it’s possible.”
Jennifer Leason
Teepee
15 poles representing our values and differing perspectives.
Intersecting – Supporting one another and the top.
If one pole were to stand o n its own – it would fall over.
We are stronger when we lean on one another for support.
Jennifer Leason
Videos
Image to the East 1: Where is our faculty now?
Image to the East 2: Where is our faculty now?
Image to the South 1: What are our hopes and dreams for the Faculty of Social Work?
Image to the South 1: What are our hopes and dreams for the Faculty of Social Work?
Image to the West 1: What are the barriers that may get in our way of achieving our hopes and dreams for the faculty?
Image to the West 2: What are the barriers that may get in our way of achieving our hopes and dreams for the faculty?
Image to the North 1: What are our strengths and gifts to achieve our hopes and dreams?
Image to the North 2: What are our strengths and gifts to achieve our hopes and dreams?