RRC Polytech welcomes you to Manitou a bi Bii daziigae with Jackie Traverse’s artwork celebrating traditional gathering places. The brushstrokes in her woodlands-style painting are digitally printed on laminate. Look up to see the Red and Assiniboine Rivers flow alongside a sweat lodge, buffalo trails, the sun and moon, an eagle feather, strawberries, a turtle, bear prints, and the original peoples of this land.
Traverse, an Anishinaabe artist from Winnipeg, feels a deep connection to her work on this project. She recalls how, as a young girl, she would sneak out of school to watch an artist paint a Jackson Beardy mural on Selkirk Avenue. “It was the first time I had seen something like this, on this scale, that felt like it was for me,” she said. Now, she’s proud to have created her own large-scale artwork in Winnipeg’s Exchange District.
Traverse explains, “I think it’s really important to have it in downtown Winnipeg,” she said. “A lot of people don’t know the history and don’t understand why there’s so many Indigenous people in the Portage Avenue and downtown area. Our people have had a history with this place for thousands of years. It’s in our blood memory and our DNA. We’re drawn to the place of our ancestors and the footsteps they left behind.”
Thank you to Haley Zhou and Diamond Schmitt Architects for working creatively with Jackie. RRC Polytech commissioned this work, along with Morning Star by KC Adams, through an invitational competition managed by the Winnipeg Arts Council. Indigenous artists were invited to develop integrated artworks in response to the idea of innovation rooted in place. Collection of RRC Polytech.
In the media:
- Canadian Architect, posted August 31, 2022: Heart of Gold: Manitou a bi Bii daziigae, Red River College, Winnipeg, Manitoba
- Red River College News, posted Feb 12, 2020: Design for mural celebrating Indigenous traditions unveiled
- Winnipeg Free Press, posted Jan 3, 2020: Painting on the walls
- Red River College News, posted Dec 18, 2019: New art installation for Innovation Centre celebrates Indigenous history
