'THERE'S A LOT OF SYMBOLISM IN THE PIECES'

A GRADE 9 OJIBWE STUDENT'S DRAWING OF SCHOOL'S MASCOT KICK-STARTED PROJECT TO CREATE PERMANENT PIECE OF ART

An Ojibwe student's drawing of a school mascot in Woodland Indigenous style kick-started a schoolwide project to create a permanent piece of art.

Teacher and local artist Steph Dunn started a mural club at Orillia Secondary School, working to bring to life the Nighthawk mascot drawn by Grade 9 student Rowin Migwans, along with a map of Simcoe County, and a tree in the traditional, Indigenous painting style.

"There's a lot of symbolism in the pieces and it incorporates our Indigenous population and truth and reconciliation," Dunn told Simcoe.com from inside the school's front foyer, where the mural will be permanently mounted.

About 20 students got involved in the project when Dunn put the call out to the school at large. Members of the club met Wednesdays at lunch and Thursdays after school, since the initiative got underway in March.

"The students became a little community on their own and we worked really hard towards this beautiful piece that's going to be on the walls," Dunn said.

Student Finnley Thompson jumped at the opportunity to get involved in the mural club.

"I really liked painting and art and I thought it was a fun way to get involved in more school stuff since I'm not in any sports," Thompson said. "People (were) brought together into a family of artists that love to paint."

The club was guided

along by Indigenous student success adviser Shawn Cadieux, who provided direction with the project, such as the colours used from the traditional medicine wheel and the school's branding.

"It also represents the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual balance with regards to those teachings," Cadieux said.

The murals will be hung facing east, "because we understand in Indigenous culture, particularly with Anishinaabe

culture, that everything begins in the east."

Cadieux said the mural club is just one path on the school's journey towards reconciliation.

"The school has made some great progression this term in terms of embracing culture and supporting Indigenous youth and this is just one more example of how that's been done."

Cadieux added the process "was done in a good way.

"There was opportunity to have conversations and discuss how and what the approach should be."

For Orillia Secondary's principal, the project was an opportunity for the school to grow together.

"In a school setting, where we interact with each other constantly, it's important for us to understand ourselves and others in our building," Peter Bowman said.

"This project is uniquely beneficial to our school community in particular, as we attempt to better understand the expectations of truth and reconciliation and the calls to action that affect education specifically." With the mural complete, it will soon be hung in the main foyer.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: After hearing about the mural club, Orillia Today wanted to find out how it was impacting the student body at Orillia Secondary School.