Minister’s Statement – Olympic Visual Artists

Hon. Bob McLeod
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
16th Legislative Assembly

Mr. Speaker, many Northwest Territories residents are watching with great interest as our Canadian athletes ─ including Hay River’s own Brendan Green ─ strive to “Own the Podium” at the 2010 Winter Olympics.It is important to note that the Olympics are more than just a sporting event. These Olympics are not just Vancouver’s games but Canada’s games and more importantly have been the first Olympics to fully partner with Aboriginal people. The 2010 Olympics are also a celebration of arts and culture, which we witnessed when our performing artists put on a tremendous show during the Victory Day celebrations held at BC Place on NWT Day last Friday. Today, I’d like to highlight the Northwest Territories visual artists we have at the Games.

Mr. Speaker, the ten visual artists representing our territory at the Games are from all five regions of the Northwest Territories. They represent various genres of our arts and fine crafts sector and produce work that ranges from moose hair tufting to beadwork.

The Olympics experience will be an invaluable one for these artists. They will be able to expose their work to a large audience during the Games. This audience encompasses not just Canada, but the world. They will also collaborate with other artists, acquire marketing skills and meet art gallery owners.

But it’s not just these ten artists that will benefit from the Government’s Olympics presence. Our territory and its arts and fine crafts sector will also gain much exposure from this initiative. That’s because the artists are not just there to showcase their work, but to act as ambassadors of the Northwest Territories. While they are in Vancouver, they are taking part in workshops, telling stories about our land and culture, providing hands-on demonstrations of their work and promoting the Northwest Territories as a place to visit, live, work and invest in.

Mr. Speaker, we believe the investments we are making in our artists during 2010 Winter Olympics will strengthen national and international awareness of Northwest Territories’ art and highlight our traditional arts and fine crafts. In turn, this will potentially open up new markets for our arts and fine crafts sector and create awareness of the territory in general ─ of our land, our people and our enormous potential.

Mr. Speaker, these ten artists are examples of the depth of talent we have in the arts and fine crafts sector and I’d like to publically acknowledge these talented individuals at this time.

The artists are: Brandy Wilson from Fort Smith; Cecile Deneyoua from Hay River; Mary Okheena from Ulukhaktok; Elizabeth Drescher from Inuvik; Janet Grandjambe and Lucy Yakelaya from Fort Good Hope; Jennifer Walden and Jamie Look from Yellowknife; Karen Cumberland from Fort Liard and John Sabourin from Fort Simpson.

I would encourage the Members of this Legislative Assembly, and all Northwest Territories’ residents, to visit the Government’s Olympics website to learn more about these artists ─ who they are, the work they do and where they are from. This website contains detailed biographies of all ten artists and a wealth of information about the Government’s other activities to promote the Northwest Territories at the Olympics.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the rest of the Members of this Legislative Assembly to join me now in saluting our Northwest Territories’ artists, as a sign of support for these individuals who are doing so much to help the Government achieve its goals of promoting this great land of ours.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.