Saskatchewan artist selected for university commission

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The Four Directions, a sculpture featuring four stylized bows, their arrows pointing north, east, south and west, has been selected as the winning submission in the University of Regina's (U of R) search for a piece of Aboriginal art to grace its campus.

The sculpture, created by Red Pheasant First Nation artist Lionel Peyachew, was chosen from among 20-plus proposals submitted to the university by Aboriginal artists from across the country. This is the first major commission for Peyachew, who teaches art at the University of Lethbridge.

The sculpture, expected to be in place sometime in the spring of 2005, will sit near the entrance to the First Nations University of Canada's (FNUC) building on the U of R campus.

"It's a terribly dynamic and strong piece and that's really what we were looking for," said Kathleen Irwin, a professor with the University of Regina's fine arts department of Peyachew's entry.

"We were looking for a piece that reflected philosophically the mandate or the philosophy of the First Nations University, that speaks to the integrity of the land in all parts of our community and certainly in all parts of education," she said.

"The piece itself ... is both full of tension but also full of potential and that makes it dynamic and forward looking, but also at the same time reflective. So it's a very strong piece and I think it does all things we hoped it would do."

The grand total of funding available for the sculpture is $100,000, with $20,000 coming from the Saskatchewan government's Centennial Community Linkages project, $10,000 from the U of R alumni association, $20,000 from the U of R and FNUC and $50,000 from the City of Regina under the federal Cultural Capitals of Canada Grant program.

Peyachew's art has gone through transitions over the years. His work has always been infused with Native themes, but at first the pieces he created were representational, appearing as they did when they were used in the distant past. When he tried to show his work he was told the pieces belonged not in a gallery but in a museum, so he changed his approach, creating the same types of items but in a more abstract way.

This commission is forcing him to again change the way he works. Until now Peyachew had used found objects or objects from the environment to create his art. The original model of The Four Directions was created using wood and sinew. The 24- foot high version he will create for the university will be made of steel pipe and cables-materials he has never worked with before.

The change from wood to metal was made to extend the life of the sculpture, but Peyachew said the spirit of the piece will remain the same.

"The vision will be there; only the material will be different," he said. The sculpture will be left to rust naturally so, with the help of time and the elements, the piece will eventually look much like the original version.