Local artists teach art in Nunavut every year
In 2005, Nottawa’s Rob Saley and Clarksburg’s Paul Mantrop took their first artist trip to the Canadian Arctic.
They were part of a Group of Seven Southern Georgian Bay artists’ collective known as Drawnonward, onboard an Adventure Canada ship that visited several Arctic communities.
“We were just blown away by the north and after seeing the communities and meeting the people, learning about the challenges facing them, we wanted to collaborate, be a part of the solution and give back. We didn’t want to just go there to paint and then come back to the south to sell our art,” says Saley.
Drawnonward worked with the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) to establish the first art camp in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut in 2006. Since then, Saley and Mantrop have returned every year to teach. In the past few years, Andrew Qappik, a renowned Inuit printmaker from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, has joined them.
“It started off as a youth camp, because that group seemed to be the most at risk, but it has evolved into a camp for all ages and has been described in the communities as an art therapy camp for elders and youth alike,” explains Mantrop.
This year’s camp ran for 10 days in Whale Cove, a community with a population of just over 400. Participants for each camp are selected by the KIA and come from across the Kivalliq region. Their costs, as well as the instructors’, are covered by a variety of government and private funding sources. At the end of each art camp, all the students and instructors are expected to produce a number of pieces for a group show that is open to the entire community.
Saley said he is amazed by the depth of talent in the students.
“We have some participants who have never drawn before and others who are quite skilled, but there is a lot of natural talent among the Inuit people. Every camp we’ve done, the participants produce some incredible art. One of our former students went to Emily Carr and then came back to the camp as an instructor. Another has come to three camps and is now going to Algonquin College to study fine art.”
Saley and Mantrop are now working on a plan to create wider awareness about their work in the North and to raise money to help ensure the stability of the program going forward.
“One of our main goals now is to find one or more corporate sponsors to fund all or part of the art camp every year. Funding has sometimes been sporadic which creates delays in scheduling the camps making it hard for both instructors and students to take part. If we can ensure funding, we can create a better experience for our students and the overall camp,” says Saley.
As a first step, they are organizing a group show at Toronto’s Roberts Gallery from Feb. 15-28. The show will showcase Saley, Mantrop and Qappik’s work with a portion of sales going to the KIA in support of the camp.
“We know how to make art and put on shows, so we have decided to add a fundraising component and draw more attention to the issues facing these communities. We want to be part of a collaborative approach that helps bring about some positive change in the North,” says Mantrop.
Rob Saley photo: Paul Mantrop demonstrates oil painting.
