Winnipeg Arts Council

Earth Day

— Photo by William Eakin

The goal of this project, created to celebrate Earth Day 2012, was to strengthen our communities by bringing young creative minds and hands together, recognizing that these are the hands and minds that will shape the future of our city and our planet. By discussing and exploring what the Earth is and what it can be to us as individuals, we can perhaps better know how and why daily efforts of sustainability matter to us all.

The project was guided by artist Craig Love and the artwork was created by participants at the East End Cultural Centre, Norberry-Glenlee, Westdale Community Centre, Magnus Eliason Recreation Centre, and Turtle Island Neighbourhood Centre. Each participant was invited to make a quilt-like square using mostly natural, sustainable and some recycled materials. The themes the children were inspired by included the Earth, ecology, nature, home and sustainability. Together, the squares create a collective imagining of what could serve as a wish-list for the future of our city and our world.

After a public exhibition at the Millennium Library on Earth Day, representative squares and a photographic record of the project were placed in the City of Winnipeg Archives, allowing the works to have a life beyond their creation.

This project was funded by the City of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Arts Council.

Craig Love

Craig Love is an artist who makes paintings, drawings and books. He was trained at the University of Manitoba and Parson’s School of Design. He has shown his works in Winnipeg, Toronto, New York, Istanbul, Germany, and Australia among others. Craig has taught both children and adults at the University of Manitoba, The Winnipeg Art Gallery Studio, as well as with the Winnipeg Folk Festival’s Young Artist Program.

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