Share Your Experience
When I began the 2020 Skyscape Series it was due to my love of the prairie skyline and all the colour and drama that plays out everyday. I never could have imagined how that year would turn out. As the year went on my body of work started to take on it’s own narrative, meaning, and intent. As the year progressed and restrictions blurred our day to day lives together it became so important to capture the ever-changing envirment that surrounds us and that it is something that joins us all together. While we may have been in quarantine or have limited outings we could always look up and know that others are seeing the same thing. It became a symbol and reminder of all of the hope and optimism that comes with change. And now when we look back on the difficulties of 2020 we are reminded that the beauty and resilience of the world around us is equally reflected in ourselves.
I had always planned on creating a book with all of the paintings included in it but it became equally important to continue the narrative change into my book and have community engagement. Now I want the book to be something to be cherished, an important anthropological documentation of our collective experience. Whether it is an experience that is good, bad, amazing, devastating, or an unexpected silver lining, they are all important experiences to be captured.
My goal is that no matter where you are in life or what your background is that you can go through this book and there will be other stories that you identify with and ones that really resonate with. Like the skies, this book should help bring us together. Knowing that we aren’t alone and we all have shared experiences.
Every story does need to connect with a date so everyone will need to give a date that their experience happened or a date that they identify that experience with.
My hope to connect with as diverse of a group as I can and connect to every part of Alberta as I can.
Things to Consider
- Stories from the year 2020
- Use your first name only (or you can choose anonymous)
- Include the city, town, village, reserve, settlement, homeland, treaty, etc.
- ALL stories are welcome whether they are good, bad, or bittersweet. Bad stories are equally as important as good, I promise you. In fact, they could potentially be healing for others that resonate with them that also went through similar situations.
- Use your first language: it is important to reflect how diverse we are and celebrate it. If you can write the English translation that is appreciated but if not I will hire a translator.
- If you cannot remember the exact date of your experience as close to it as possible is fine. If you know it happened sometime in August, please feel free to pick a date in August that resonates with you. If you know it happened in the first four months of the year, a date picked within that timeframe is great.
- Audio stories are accepted via my website (or through the gallery attendant): I will add them to the book for you and your audio story can be part of the multimedia portion of this project.
- It doesn’t have to be a story that is associated with COVID-19 even though the focus is that. Any story that is meaningful to you that happened during 2020 is valued.
Examples
July 24, 2020:
“For 4 months during the first wave my home’s guestroom was my office. It was never a room I spent much time in before, but for those 4 months it was the majority of my world day-in and day-out. Aside from lacking air-conditioning and being 5-10 degrees Celsius warmer than the outdoor temperature during summer, it served me well and kept me safe through MANY meltdowns, deadlines, conference calls, and virtual meetings.” I never dreamed that I would be sad to leave working from home - but packing up my makeshift command station, I felt sad - like moving out of an apartment or saying goodbye to a car. - Kim, Sherwood Park, Alberta
August 23, 2020:
“My grandpa passed away today and I won’t be able to travel to support my grandma or go to his funeral. This is the second death this year and not even related to COVID-19. A third one is to happen later in the year.”
- Misty, Edmonton, Alberta