A mural that took two years to create, seems to have been unveiled at the perfect time in Warman, SK.
The mural, dedicated to truth and reconciliation, was completed by students at Warman High School and their artist-in-residence Ray Keighley.
WHS Arts teacher Sarah Gerrard says the project started with the goal of educating students on the topics of treaty, truth, and reconciliation.
She adds the process has opened her eyes.
“When you start looking into truth and reconciliation, and I’m coming at it from a Euro-Canadian perspective, it’s a lot to start unpacking,” said Gerrard. “As we got into the project, we realized we were just scraping the surface. There’s so much more that we need to learn and that we need to grow from, so this is just the beginning.”
During the creation of the mural, students learned from many guest speakers who shared their stories of the harms done to Indigenous people.
Gerrard says it’s amazing to see all the lessons illustrated in one mural.
“We’re very proud of it, we involved the community, we heard from various organizations, it feels just really pleasing I think,” said Gerrard. “To have seen all those ideas come to fruition, and with COVID-19 we didn’t know how this would come together, so it’s very pleasing to have it up on the wall and know that it’s going to be in the community for a long, long time.”
She adds as proud as she is to see it finally come to life, it’s unfortunate that it comes at such a difficult time for the country.
Gerrard is hoping the mural offers people the chance to reflect and want to learn more.
“I think we have a lot more in common than we have differences, but we often focus on the differences,” said Gerrard. “All of the different things that are on the mural have significant meaning and symbolize something. I hope it makes people curious, I hope they ask questions, I hope it makes them want to learn more about Indigenous culture, and about the history that we have here in Canada, the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
The mural can be found on the side of Route 11 Creative Art Studio in the city 15 minutes north of Saskatoon.
