Oceanna Fisher-James, Jaylee Kachor-Engen and Safeway owner Wes Erlendson pose in front of the Wahkohtowin Art Gallery at the South Hill Mall. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW)

By Jeff D’Andrea

Art in the mall

Carlton students’ art fills South Hill mall

May 2, 2021 | 2:45 PM

For many hours, Carlton Comprehensive art teacher and mentor Melanie Merasty worked with long-time counsellor and role model Victor Thunderchild to make the Wahkohtowin Art Gallery a reality.

As the gallery opened on Sunday morning, Merasty said that Thunderchild was “supposed to be here,” in person, but still took peace that Thunderchild was still at the gallery’s opening “in spirit.”

The Wahkohtowin Art Gallery will feature three separate collections in the South Hill Mall corridor, across from the Service Canada offices. The gallery will rotate the work on display each month, and will portray over 60 collections each year from Carlton students, including students from elementary schools eventually, Merasty hopes.

The first three collections to be shown off at the gallery were painted by Jaylee Kachor-Engen, Oceanna Fisher-James, and Tynisha McKay.

Jaylee Kachor-Engen’s collection, Circles of Remembrance. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

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Kachor-Engen’s collection is called Circles of Remembrance, and features several Medicine Wheels across Saskatchewan and North America that are fading after many years. Kachor-Engen’s work looks to preserve and treasure these Medicine Wheels, while discovering her own Metis ancestry.

Oceanna Fisher-James’ collection, Legacy. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

Even as a Grade 9 student last year, Fisher-James challenged her school to do more for Black History Month. Her collection features many important historical figures in Black history, like Harriot Tubman, Jackie Robinson, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Tynisha McKay’s collection, Hope. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

McKay’s collection is called ‘Hope,’ and represents how everyone is the same, but completely different at the same time. Through a series of bubbles, McKay explores the beauty in our differences.

All four seasons at the Safeway

Elder Liz Settee, artist Emily Hill, Safeway owner Wes Erlendson, Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne and Carlton art teacher and mentor Melanie Merasty all pose with Hill’s four-season mural at the front entrance of Safeway. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

Before the Wahkohtowin Art Gallery was unveiled on Sunday, Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne walked into the front entrance of the city’s Safeway and looked up at the massive four-seasons forest mural painted by Carlton Comprehensive student Emily Hill.

He immediately thought of another painting of Hill’s of the EA Rawlinson wolf that he purchased from her at her February gallery. That painting is hanging on his mayoral office wall.

“That’s going to be worth a fortune,” Dionne said, as he looked in wonder at the mural. “Congratulations Emily, all the best in the world, and continue on because you have a rare talent.”

Through the Carlton Collection Builders program, Hill was commissioned by Safeway owner Wes Erlendson for a mural to capture the Prince Albert area. The mural is on four large boards and takes up most of the wall of Safeway’s front entrance. Erlendson and Safeway also sponsored a portion of the Wahkohtowin Art Gallery, as did the Prince Albert Kinsmen Club, Sask Prevention, and the South Hill Mall.

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Jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW