LOWAC – Finding Common Ground Through Creativity

The Lake of the Woods Arts Community was the CGRF’s first community partner to undertake community research through this project.  The project was a cooperative participatory art venture, facilitated by CGRF graduate student Melanie Zurba.  It brought together Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists from the Kenora area in 2010.

Participants were asked to create works that answered the question “What does the land mean to you?”  The project was a forum for cross-cultural collaboration, as well as an opportunity to create a conversation about the values and meanings people hold in relation to the land, water and place that they share.

Two lasting pieces of art were created through this project: a large glass mosaic based on the creation story of Turtle Island, and a sculpture consisting of numerous test tubes filled with natural and created precious objects that reflected artists’ connections to and values associated with the land. The turtle mosaic is installed at the City of Kenora’s Discovery Centre.

A final report from this project is available here: Finding Common Ground Through Creativity Final Report