June is Indigenous peoples month in Canada and we are happy to have renown indigenous artist, storyteller and carver, Simon Winadzi James join us. Simon talked about how his art connects his culture and family and that he has been an artist for over 30 years and brought an old growth cedar Raven mask that he had been working on for the kids to see.
The kids were treated with a film screening of an episode of the animated series Raven Tales called ‘The Return of Kolus’. The Kolus is a mythological large bird that Simon believes his people related to the time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. After the screening there was a short discussion and kids were able to Simon questions about the story.
Inspired by the Canoe adventure in the story the kids worked on their own mini paddle craft project added their own design and further customized it with wood burning.
Creative Cafe Artist Collective 