The Gallery is excited to host the second session of Listening to land, people and plants featuring a presentation by Delia Cross Child entitled “The Land is My Connection.”

Organized by artists Annie Martin and Janet Youngdahl with the assistance of Migueltzinta Solis and Tareq Abu Rahma, this land knowledge creation and dissemination project brings primarily Indigenous elders, artists and scholars together to explore practices and traditions which link the earth to human beings, honouring the spiritual connections between humans, land and growing things. Focusing on the interrelations of people, plants and the arts, this lecture/workshop series is accompanied by an online archive of lectures, articles and artists’ creative responses to the project’s leading questions. 

“The land has spirit and the land has power. It is my connection to who I am as a mother, grandmother, traditionalist and as a First Nations artist,” says Delia Cross Child. “In my presentation I will present a retrospective of my work and the influences that were consistent in my process of creating. Those influences continue to be evident in the images that have emerged on my blank canvases.” 

Delia Cross Child recently retired from the Kainai Board of Education as a teacher at Kainai High School. While there, she always impressed to the students the importance of knowing one’s culture in the pursuit of a good education. She is an Alumni from the University of Lethbridge and the Lethbridge College. Throughout her career as an Educator, she has continued to create her artwork, as this has always been an important aspect of her life. She resides with her children and grandchildren on the Blood Reserve where cultural continuance and community are important aspects of her life. 

This program has been organized with the support of CREDO funding. 

This event is free for Gallery members, with regular admission, and for attendees that self-identify as Indigenous. Please check in at the Gallery’s front desk when you arrive.