Heather Shillinglaw | ᒥᔪᑕᒧᐣ  ᓇᓇᓂᐢ miyotamon nananis – it is a good road in all directions

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ᑮᓯᑌᐳᐃᐧᐣ ᓵᑳᐦᐃᑲᐣ kîsitêpowin sâkâhikan - "Cooking Lake," detail, copyright Heather Shillinglaw, 2022 (image courtesy of the Alberta Craft Council​)

On Friday, September 30, join us to meet and talk with the artist and engage in a blessing and smudging led by elder Mary Cardinal Collins. ​

Strathcona County is proud to host ᒥᔪᑕᒧᐣ  ᓇᓇᓂᐢ miyotamon nananis – it is a good road in all directions by Métis artist Heather Shillinglaw. Grounded in the oral teachings of her mother elder Shirley Norris-Shillinglaw from Cold Lake First Nations, Shillinglaw's art quilts envision landscapes as her ancestors would have known them. With Shillinglaw’s hand-created maps of Joseph Lake, Cold Lake, Lac Ste Anne and the Saskatchewan River, she draws us into very familiar territory for County residents. This piece reminds us to make space in our work and our lives to hear and see the different experiences and perspectives County residents have within our history and about the land. Framed by a bright red wall, this large scale, fibre-based piece is stunning and a must see in person.

About the Artist In her art practise, Heather Shillinglaw honours the language of her nohkums and kookums (grandmothers) by weaving into her artwork the oral teachings of her elders. Using modern and traditional quilting techniques, beadwork, sewing and collage, her practice is rooted in both the natural world and her ancestry; she is an Appetogasan (Métis) of Nehiyawewin (Cree), Chipewyan (Dene), Salteaux (Ojibwe), Scot, and French descent. Heather was raised in Sherwood Park, where her mother and father still reside. She holds a BFA from the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary and her work has been shown across Canada and internationally.