Community
L'Arche Winnipeg experiences Eden in debut art exhibit
Participants at L’Arche Winnipeg are getting ready to present their debut art exhibit this week at La maison des artistes visuels francophones. Experiencing Eden: Disability and the Natural World invites viewers to encounter the wonders of the natural world through the perspectives of folks living with physical and intellectual disabilities. “It’s important for us to keep our members engaged and to have outlets for creativity and connection and learning and exploration,” says Jubilee Dueck Thiessen, L’Arche Winnipeg’s Communications and Fund Development Coordinator. “We provide three-day-a-week social programming and that’s where lots of this art has been created.” .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Over the course of the past few months, participants created works of art out of art supplies donated by the community as well as found items. As a part of their community circle program, the artists of L’Arche Winnipeg have spent the last few months hard at work creating a wide range of pieces for Experiencing Eden in a variety of mediums, including multimedia, painting and sculpture. Dueck Thiessen notes that the theme of nature was one that was chosen by the participants in consultation with a local artist. “We really wanted to be intentional about what story we told with our art exhibit,” she explains. “We had support from a local artist named Danielle Fontaine Koslowsky who came and spent an evening with us helping us think about where we see beauty and experience beauty in the world, and for most of our members, the resounding response was nature.” One of the participants, Kaelyn, celebrated nature in her art through a variety of mediums, including a papier-mâché bird and jewelry, a craft she’s been perfecting for a couple of years. “I make bracelets by hand,” she explains. “I use different colours, always mixing whatever colours I find. Sometimes, I just put them [with] what looks good together and then go from there.” In addition to engaging with the works created by L’Arche Winnipeg’s participants, gallery-goers can also add their own touch to a growing community art piece by making a dragonfly. “We want to celebrate each person’s unique gifts and the way that each unique voice contributes to a larger, vibrant story,” explains Dueck Thiessen. “We’ll also have a collaborative sculptural piece that you can walk through that really, I think, embodies our shared humanity and the beauty that is possible when we each contribute what we can to our community.” Kaelyn is hoping to continue using her art to celebrate people in her community, with plans to recognize emergency workers with her next pieces. “It’s to show how grateful we are for them sacrificing their lives and their family,” she says. “I want them to be recognized.” Experiencing Eden: Disability and the Natural World runs from August 7 through 23 at La maison des artistes visuels francophones on Provencher Boulevard. Admission is free, and a reception will be held on the exhibit’s opening night featuring live music. More information is available at L’Arche Winnipeg’s website.