During the previous Fine Arts class, I was able to get together with my Inquiry group to discuss the artist that we will be researching. As one of our sources, we thought it would be a good idea to go to the library to search for a book on the artist. After finding a few useless resources, we were intrigued by one that was located in the Archives and Special Collections section, especially since all of us has never been there.
If you have never visited the Archives, we found out from the librarian that it is an area located on the fourth floor of the library that houses rare book collections and maintains the University's artworks and artifact collections. I was amazed that I had beed going to the University for so many years and had never discovered this place before. As we exited the elevator on the fourth floor, we noticed several students studying in a what appeared to be a very nice study area. There was also a detailed model of the university encased in glass. Further down the hallway we came to the Special Collections building. Inside we had to fill out a form in order to see what was titled, The Kenojuak prints. We were all curious of what resource we were about to discover that needed such special attention.
We soon discovered that the prints were three books of poems that are based on a series of prints by the artist, Kenojuak. They follow the same order as the Cape Dorset Calendar. The poems were quite simple, however their simplicity captured what Kenojuak portrayed in her art.
Here are a few samples from the artist.
How beautiful - thanks for sharing these here and also choosing an important artist to share with us through your Inquiry Project. I can't believe that I have never used the university's Inuit print collection, stored in the archives, in this class! (Years ago I had an idea to photograph and develop lessons for the prints but we didn't get the grant!) Or a little field trip the archives would be a good idea. Thanks for being such good detectives and finding this for yourselves!
ReplyDeleteIt is funny I accidentally stumbled on the artist when making a nonfiction book list for our language arts class. She was in a book I wanted to use titled, Scholastic Canada Biographies: Canadian Artists. When I looked into some of her artwork, little did I know that I actually had one of her calendars. I bought it for myself as a gift two years ago, for I just loved her style of art. A field trip to the archives would be a great idea Willow. Also too bad about not receiving the grant. That would have been such a fun project. Little do they know what they missed out on.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited you discovered the archives!! I took my class on a field trip there once to do some primary research, and they loved it! It's such an authentic experience. It really made the material come alive for them and most wanted to go back again. They do tours and lesson type things for free for school groups.
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