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  • Apr 18, 2018
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­Summer Launch: Locals Only
Jordan Schwab and Kevin Wesaquate

May 5 to 23, 2018

Saturday, May 5 events
Workshop: Kevin Wesaquate, and Alex Allery, 12 to 2pm
Opening & BBQ: Mobile Art & Food Carts and Misaskwatomina project, 4 to 7pm
Food blessing, and greetings from Mayor Charlie Clark, 5pm

 

Join AKA as we begin the Locals Only summer program on Saturday, May 5th with  Saskatoon-based artists Jordan Schwab and Kevin Wesaquate.

The Locals Only launch begins Saturday afternoon with a workshop led by Kevin Wesaquate, founder of the Indigenous Poets Society exploring the implementation of an Indigenous food source – misaskwatomina (Saskatoon berry shrub) – within an urban environment. An Elder will offer teachings on how important these plants are to the Indigenous community, while Kevin Wesaquate will show participants how to assert themselves through the use of spoken word poetry.

Later, join us for the debut of Jordan Schwab’s mobile art and food carts on view in AKA’s gallery space May 5 to 12 before beginning their outdoor public schedule. Throughout the summer these carts will bring youth-led art projects and share fresh foods with Saskatoon’s core neighbourhoods. That evening there will be a food blessing and welcome, while Mayor Charlie Clark will bring greetings from the city, followed by a neighbourhood BBQ; everyone is welcome. Locals Only recognizes that sharing food and space is a vital way to catalyze sincere dialogues, friendships, and imaginations.

Locals Only is one of 200 exceptional projects funded through the Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter initiative. With this $35 million initiative, the Council supports the creation and sharing of the arts in communities across Canada. Locals Only was developed with preliminary research funding from the Saskatchewan Arts Board Artists in Communities grant. Thank you to Saskatoon residents, small businesses, artists and academics who generously gave of their time and knowledge in the first research stage of Locals Only. Special thanks to Cory Schewaga.

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Jordan Schwab, originally from Prince George, BC, holds a BFA from Thompson Rivers University (2005), and received his MFA from the University of Saskatchewan (2009). Through a previous career in commercial and industrial construction, he developed an interest in constructed environments, entropy, and collective work, which form the basis for his artistic practice.  He has exhibited across the country, having been included in shows at SKOL gallery in Montreal, SNAP Gallery in Edmonton, Martha Street Studio in Winnipeg, Kamloops Art Gallery, and AKA Artist-Run, PAVED Arts, and Remai Modern Pre-Launch in Saskatoon. He currently works and lives in Saskatoon as an Art Coordinator for Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming (SCYAP), where he has taught art and life skills to youth for the past 8 years. He also runs JK Professional Services, providing contract work to various galleries and individuals, and is a sessional instructor in the Art and Art History department at the University of Saskatchewan.

Kevin Wesaquate is a spoken word poet, storyteller and visual artist who is currently employed as the Artist/Writer in Residence at Saskatoon Polytechnic Campus as well as the Aboriginal Arts Leader at Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming (SCYAP). He also volunteers for SaskCulture and is a member of the Indigenous Peoples Artist Collective (IPAC), which is based out of Prince Albert, SK. Kevin performed with IPAC at Flotilla, the 2017 biennial gathering of artist-run centres in Charlottetown, PEI. Kevin is the founder of the Saskatoon Indigenous Poets Society, with the hopes of building a larger community of artists through it. This past September, the Indigenous Poets Society were featured in Nuit Blanche Saskatoon’s 2017 festival. Kevin has earned the title of Slam Champion at Saskatoon’s Spoken Word Poetry Finals and represented Saskatoon at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in 2017. With all this going on he continues to practice painting and filmmaking. Some of his work was recently featured in We Needi Graffiti and this past year’s One Take Super 8 Film Festival. A strong community leader in Saskatoon, he is from Piapot First Nation and the proud father of three sons and one daughter.

 

 

Free Vector Graphics by www.vecteezy.com


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