Native youth express themselves through art

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Several of Vancouver's Aboriginal youth had an opportunity to showcase their artistic talents last month as the city by the sea opened its arms to Canada's first art gallery dedicated to acknowledging the importance of the arts in schools.

ArtStarts in Schools Gallery and Resource Centre opened its doors on Sept. 27 to a waiting crowd of sponsors, local artists, educators and youth.

The first art gallery in Canada dedicated to showcasing young people's artwork, ArtStarts gallery is a tangible and innovative example of the importance of art in the curriculum of Canadian students. "It's a place where we can say 'Look what's happening in the school system,'" said Wendy Newman, gallery executive director.

A civic-funded and private sponsored multi-million dollar facility, the 5,000 sq. ft. gallery is divided into two floors with the main floor dedicated to showcasing art through exhibition and the upper floor allocated to an area for workshops, meetings, research and administration.

The theme of the inaugural exhibition shown at the gallery, which ran from Sept. 27 to Oct.18, asked elementary and high school students to explore what it means to live in Vancouver. Entitled Person, Place or Thing? the show featured mixed media in the form of freestanding installations, textile creations and photography.

First Nations contribution was welcomed and applauded, as Aboriginal youth from Vancouver's Britannia school showcased a photographic exhibit entitled Through Our Eyes.

In the project, headed by artist Christine Germano, the high school students were asked to think about "What their community is and what is important to them?"

From conception of ideas to the display of their works, the youth from east Vancouver alternative programs-Britannia Outreach, Aries and Street Front-took pictures of their chosen subjects, developed their images in a darkroom and wrote text to accompany their works.

Germano was inspired to begin the Through Our Eyes photo project four years ago while living in the First Nations community of Alert Bay, B.C. Following a successful art and culture-focused undertaking with Aboriginal youth of Alert Bay and Fort Rupert reserves, the 36-year-old artist decided to introduce the photo project to various schools in Vancouver. To date, Germano, whose work is funded by both the Vancouver Foundation and ArtStarts program, has worked with Native youth in about 10 local schools.

Elizabeth Adams is one of the many high school students from Britannia Outreach who was a part of Germano's project exhibit. Adams, who is from Nisga'a Nation, chose to define her place in the community through a photographic collection fittingly entitled Bannock Queen. The series of black and white photos illuminate local restaurant owner and operator Teresa Mark. When asked why she chose the female entrepreneur, Adams explained that the woman is a role model for First Nations women in the field of business.

"She is an Aboriginal woman that made her own business happen", said Adams. "You don't see too many Aboriginal people doing good for themselves," the young artist added.

There is a need to combat the stereotypes associated with First Nations people, and through these exhibits Aboriginal youth are able to voice their view of the world and community in which they live. Steve Garrod, head teacher at the Britannia Outreach Program, stressed the importance of how urban Native youth must define their existence in a society where the media all too often focuses on the negative aspects of First Nations communities and people.

"So much of what the media represents of First Nations people is negative," said Garrod. "We were hoping for students to be able to present their view of the world they live in and how they see it."

Germano also stressed the importance of helping Aboriginal youth recognize their talent in the arts. "A lot of these kids, because of the system and the way the schools are for Aboriginal kids, don't feellike they have it in them to succeed," she said. The youth, ages 13 to 18, are attending alternative programs because they haven't been able to achieve their full potential in the mainstream education system, but that doesn't mean they don't have the opportunity to become future business people, doctors, lawyers and successful artists. In fact, following the exhibit student Jennifer Connor's photograph of a bird's nest has been selected to be published in the Health Canada-funded insert in Redwire magazine.

Future plans for the "Through Our Eyes" exhibit include participation in Vancouver's annual Talking Stick Festival, a week-long event showcasing Aboriginal artists of all genres. The festival will be held Feb. 4 to 11 in Vancouver.

Germano is happy that the exhibit will be shown at the First Nations festival and says it is important that these youth are supported by members of their culture as well as the non-Aboriginal public.

"The kids reached out to the Vancouver community and now with Talking Stick they will be able to share their accomplishments with their Native community," she said.