COMMUNITY ART P


Bowhead Whale by Alexa Hatanaka, Jonathan Cruz, Patrick Tompson with help f


This mural was a collaboration between a number


of young people from the city of Iqaluit in Nunavut, Canada and artists Alexa Hatanaka, Jonathan Cruz and Patrick Thompson. The process of creating this piece involved soliciting community paint donations and the youth’s input on the mural’s shape and its location. Two of the portraits that circle the whale are local Inuk and the rest are based on black and white Canadian image archives and library books. Local women expressed that they invisioned a dogsled team on the wall, so the group of artists painted a more fantastical version.


The mural wall was located at the Iqaluit hospital, so the group wanted the image to be positive, celebratory, colourful, and full of energy. The artists were given a lot of feedback and created the shape of the whale so it ended up an amalgamation of different people’s input. The intentional creative process involved a lot of improvisation that respected culturally sensitive symoblism, the wishes of young and older generations, as well as a piece of art that was imaginative enough to inspire the youth.


14 iAM


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