Client: Mi’kai’sto (Red Crow Community College)

Overview

Entro recently completed the planning, management and curation of an ambitious two-year art program for Mi’kai’sto (Red Crow Community College) in Standoff, Alberta, a Kainai Blackfoot community located on the Blood Reserve. Fifteen Blackfoot and other invited artists have created original commissioned works of art for this new college facility. An exterior monument complements the art program’s celebration of Blackfoot culture and stands as a landmark beacon in the community. Its design is derived from the form of a traditional Kainai stand-up headdress. The 22 colourfully patterned and illuminated poles stand in a circle with openings facing East and West, defining an accessible and intimate space for gathering, or the contemplation of the Blackfoot values printed on several of the poles.
“We wanted people to feel that they are in a Blackfoot space when they entered the building. We thought the very best way to do that is through art. Each individual piece throughout the building conveys our Blackfoot culture, history and ways of knowing. Collectively, the art tells the story of who we are, where we have been and what our future holds. It is a very special place.”
– Lionel Weasel Head (Aapoomiita), Chair of the Board of Governors, Mi’kai’sto

Goals

Fifteen Blackfoot and other invited artists created original commissioned works of art for this new college facility – each responding to the program art committee and Elders’ briefing, which conveyed the aspirations for Mi’kai’sto, for the young people and the community, and the importance of the Blackfoot worldview, storytelling and knowledge transfer that through each work, will welcome people into a Blackfoot space.

Another important aspect of this program was to facilitate business opportunities within the local Blackfoot community by developing a program of paid commissions for established and emerging artists. Additionally, the art program master plan was instrumental in helping the College obtain long term institutional art loans, and to achieve financial support for additional purchases of art by craftspeople and artists who do not have a profile outside of the Blackfoot community.

Process

In collaboration with Project Director Lori Van Rooijen; Art Curator Mary-beth Laviolette, Mi’kai’sto staff, program art committee, Elders, and 15 artists, we helped to create an art program that conveyed the aspirations of Mi’kai’sto and the importance of the Blackfoot worldview to welcome people into a Blackfoot space. Collaboration with Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) resulted in long term institutional art loans; art installers, printers, framers, and fabricators were all instrumental to the realization of the project.

Additional Information

The Mi’kai’sto project also included the design of a bilingual wayfinding program for the129,000-square-foot facility. The use of Blackfoot language as the primary voice of communications throughout the school is the most culturally significant element of the program and an essential aspect of the Mi’kai’sto identity. Material selection, typography, cultural symbols and patterns combine to express a program that is clear, contextually relevant and integrated with the architecture.