The Art Gallery of Algoma will soon add some bright, bold colours to its exterior as a number of Indigenous youth prepare to create a large, woodland-style art mural later this summer as part of a project that's being done in partnership with the Indigenous Friendship Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.
Art Gallery of Algoma Executive Director Jasmina Jovanovic says the gallery wants participants to celebrate and embrace cultural knowledge through the mural project, which is being funded through a grant from the Ontario Arts Council. Jovanovic describes the woodland style as a traditional form of Indigenous art that was popularized by Norval Morriseau, who interpreted oral history in Indigenous culture into a “visual language” with his work beginning in the 1960s.
Several artists have followed in Morriseau’s footsteps, including Sault-based woodland artist John Laford, who died in 2021. A number of his pieces remain on the walls of the Art Gallery of Algoma to this day.