Lifelong Learning Journeys
Four paintings were inspired from my children’s book, Meennunyakaa / Blueberry Patch (Theytus Books, 2019). They toured alongside the acrylic on paper mock-ups (9X12”) through galleries and are now permanently on display in the Taylor Institute atrium. This video explains the artistic process and tells the story of the four paintings.
Citation: Leason, J. (2026, June 30). Lifelong Learning [Animation]. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/drjenniferleason/lifelonglearning
The paintings represent the four hills of life and lifelong learning: Conception / Child, Youth, Adult and Elder. The blueberries in the paintings are representative of lessons we learn throughout our lives. Throughout our journeys, we’re picking blueberries that are like little lessons and teachings that we’re collecting in our baskets of knowledge.
The words landed hard, not because they were new, but because they were precise. Lacked: I did not have. Any: nothing of significance. Relevant: not relatable to what they recognized. Theory: no legitimate way of explaining how something works, why it happens, and what it means.
I remember sitting there in silence, not confused, but translating. I understood exactly what was being said. They were not claiming the work had no depth. They were saying they could not see it. In that moment, I held two realities at once. I held the creation stories. I held the communities. I spent years mapping patterns, identifying governing forces, and helping people make sense of systems that were harming them. I realized that what I lacked was not theory, but a that it lacked a language the institution was trained to recognize as theory. What they were calling “absence” was actually wholeness.
Dr. Jennifer Leason
CIHR Tier II Canada Research Chair, Indigenous Maternal Child Wellness
