Re: Moses Beaver – Ontario Arts Council Project

Let me respond to your request for a post project report on Moses Beaver’s recent visit to our school.

Moses arrived at John C. Yesno Education Centre on March 24th, 2003 and stayed for two weeks.

The outcome of his visit was nothing short of amazing.

On of my areas of expertise is in the Visual Arts field and while at U.W.O. I won three scholarships in this area. Therefore, I am very aware of the dedication and effort that Moses put into his visit.

Moses’ schedule involved daily interaction with almost all of our students. He began with simple techniques of modeling, tonal values, colour theory and symbolic representation during the first week. A lot of effort went into teaching the students techniques in graphite, water-colour, acrylic and tempera. These techniques were explored in theory and in practice.

In addition to his daily schedule, Moses also worked in the gym area in the evenings. During this time he helped students create line drawings at a much larger scale. These works were constantly refined and Moses assisted the students in developing unique visual statements that could be loosely described as the “Ojibway Woodland Style”.

Moses did not just focus on this style, but explored many styles; abstract, realism, symbolism, and others. The students began this exploration a bit tentatively in the first week, but were totally excited and involved by the end of that week.

In week two, the tempo and the mood changed. Our gymnasium became the center of frantic activity with classes converging on the gym en masse to work on small canvas paintings (acrylic), larger paper base paintings and plans (drawings) for wall murals.

Day two of week two, was the most amazing day, collectively the students began collaborating on transferring their mural plans using overheads to the gym walls. These of course were mostly senior level students – grades 6, 7, 8 9 and 10.
What occurred next was nothing short of amazing, we had several community artists, inspired by the children and Moses, come in and began painting murals on the wall.

This was one of the most successful artistic ventures I have witnessed, by the end of the week the gym was totally decorated with amazing murals.

I personally filmed the event, day after day to have a visual record. We concluded with an Art gallery showing. We were so pleased with Moses and his work that the Board brought him back for our cultural week. I highly recommend this artist, his work and his sensitivity to the children demonstrate caring and inspiration that deeply affected our students and staff.

Our students are always asking if and when Moses will be returning, and we plan to have him attend our Bicultural week activities and provide us with more artistic knowledge and inspiration in the winter and spring of 2004. It is without reservation that I would recommend this individual. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at 1-807-242-8421.

Sincerely,