Weekly We Make: Memory Mobile
Joi T. Arcand, Cultivate 2, inkjet print of photograph, 2005.
About the Weekly We Make Activity
Inspired by the memories depicted in Joi T. Arcand’s Cultivate series, create a mobile that shows your personal memories swirling through time and space. You’ll use recycled materials to make the charms on your mobile. You can view the work that inspired this workshop in person in the exhibition Joi T. Arcand: ayâtaskisow, on view now at the MacKenzie Art Gallery until 22 March 2026.
This workshop is led by one of our amazing Gallery Educators.
About Weekly We Make
It’s an art party! Weekly We Make at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, presented by Canada Life, is an opportunity for individuals and families to drop in and create artwork.
Learn about the artists and artworks in MacKenzie’s Permanent Collection and featured exhibitions with weekly in-person hands-on workshops that can be modified for all ages. Visit our studio to make art with Gallery Educators and guest artists, exploring new and beloved techniques and art materials.
There is no cost to attend these drop-in sessions. All materials are provided.
The Artwork that Inspired Us
Each artwork in the Cultivate series is made up of two different photographs. Along the bottom of the artworks are photos taken when Joi was a kid. They show her and her father on the family farm. These photos repeat in a band across the bottom of each artwork. The larger photo at the top of the artwork is a new one Joi took as an adult. She and her father carefully recreated the older photos, copying the emotions, colours, and layout of the originals.
Family, land, and memory are important themes in Joi’s art. In Cultivate, Joi shows us her relationship to her father, her family’s connection to the land through farming, and how she interacts with her family’s records of memories. Joi plays with time, showing how memories can exist both in the past and continually in our minds.
Joi made this series in 2005, when her art was more centred around photography.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Joi T. Arcand is a nēhiyaw (Plains Cree), German Canadian, and Métis artist. She grew up on the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 6 territory, surrounded by family.
Her father, Mervyn, farmed on the reserve. This relationship to the land is an important part of her artworks. She also examines what it was like for her family to be Indigenous farmers. Many laws and rules made farming difficult for Indigenous people, but her family did it anyways.
Joi studied art at the University of Saskatchewan, where she focused on photography. Today, she has moved on from photography and is an interdisciplinary artist. She has also studied Cree language at the University nuhelotʼįne thaiyotsʼį nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills.
Joi now lives in Ottawa, Ontario, but visits Saskatchewan often.
Joi T. Arcand, Cultivate 2, inkjet print of photograph, 2005.
Studio Activity
Create a mobile that acts as an archive of your personal memories, swirling through time and space. You’ll use recycled materials to make the charms on your mobile. You’ll also think about how your memories are connected.
MATERIALS
- 6×4 pieces of watercolour paper
- Watercolour pencils
- Water, or wet wipes
- Small paint brushes
- Wire hoops
- Scissors
- Sharpie markers
- String or yarn
- Hole punches
INSTRUCTIONS
Part One: Making your mobile charms
- Think about all your favourite memories. Pick something to represent each one of them. It could be an object, part of the scenery, or a person who was in the memory.
- Draw the thing that represents each memory on your watercolour paper with watercolour pencils. Try to draw each thing about the size of the palm of your hand. These will become the charms on your mobile.
- Punch a hole near the top of each drawing.
- Cut out each of your drawings. It’s ok to leave a bit of a border around each one.
Part Two: Putting your mobile together
- Look at all your memory charms. Are any of those memories related? Did they happen at the same place, or close together in time? Did you feel similar emotions during them? Try to group your charms together in 4-6 groups.
- Cut 4-6 strings about 60cm long. You will need one string for each memory group.
- Tie each string to your wooden or wire ring. Make the knot at about the halfway point of each string.
- Tie the ends of each string together at the top of your mobile. Tie them in a slip knot or another knot with a loop, so you can hang your mobile at home.
- Tie each of the memory charms you grouped together onto the same string at different heights.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
- How does your family keep and share their memories and history?
- Why are our memories important?
- What is the same, and what is different in Joi’s old and new photos?
IMPORTANT WORDS
- Series—a group of connected artworks. They often have similar themes and may look similar.
- Recreation—something that was made again and copies the original.
- Interdisciplinary Artist—someone who uses many different art forms and fields of study together in their work.
