Valerie G. Barnes Connell Jordan
Northern Advocate
Children and youth had the opportunity to explore art in an open, fun way, thanks to a series of gatherings organized by the Community Arts Mentorship Program (CAMP) in the Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB) communities during the week of Nov. 17.
CAMP, founded in 2019 by Eliza Doyle and Holly Yuzicapi, has a goal to support building arts opportunities and making them sustainable from within the community.
At SMVS, northern youth had the opportunity to explore hip hop and traditional drumming; jigging; painting; and beadwork.
Artists were there to share their art form with those gathered in a freestyle way.
So often, Yuzicapi said, when connecting with students and art, you see the same ideas and subjects over and over. She said the goal was to give the youth “expressive opportunity” where they could explore art freely, with no expectations of a mark for work done, or having to be perfect at something. The goal was just to explore and enjoy the experience.
“It’s really to get messaging out that art is much more than an activity; that it’s actually health and well-being,” Yuzicapi said. “When we look at arts from a cultural perspective, it helps us process. It helps us tell a story. I mean, you go to counselling, you tell a story. You go to therapy; you tell a story, so what are all the ways we can get people telling stories?”
CAMP comes into a community bring different kinds of art modalities, “exposing people to maybe something that they might love,” Yuzicapi said.
They have resources to support increasing the opportunities within a community by encouraging artists to share their passion for their art with others. Ideally, Yuzcapi said, they want to pique the interest of other community members, and hopefully introduce them to a new art form.
“You’ve got to model that bravery of being different and trying things,” Yuzicapi said. “There’s not enough of that.”
CAMP has the resources to mentor people in the community who have a passion for their art and to give them support in taking a leadership role in building resources available within their own community.
It’s about sharing the arts, where an artist doesn’t need a Bachelor of Education to teach, but the ability and passion to share what they know within their own community, (and) to make it sustainable, she said. It’s also looking deeper into the opportunities art can offer for a person’s health and well-being.
“(It’s) bringing artists into the community, seeking out artist who are willing to share their talents and offering them some mentorship knowledge and resources to build the capacity to share and support the arts right in the community,” she said.
Often people don’t have the capacity to explore art freely, art supplies can be expensive, and that’s where CAMP can help.
During the week sessions were held in Grandmother’s Bay, Stanley Mission, Sucker River, La Ronge, Hall Lake and Little Red River.
It was the third event CAMP held in the communities.
They have also held events in other northern communities such as Buffalo Narrows, Beauval, and Canoe Lake.
More information on CAMP is available online at www.communityartsmentorship.com.
