About the Weekly We Make Activity
Create a visual manifesto! A manifesto is a document used for sharing thoughts, ideas and values of groups of people or individuals. What are your thoughts, ideas and values? What is important to you, and how do those things have an impact on the world around you?
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
“This story that I’ve woven together is a true story. It’s about my family, but it’s also about other Native families in this country and Canada.
My name is Jaune Quick-to-see Smith. The title of this work is Paper Dolls for a Post-Columbian World (With Ensembles Contributed by the U.S. Government).
These paper dolls represent this overview of the genocide of Native people, beginning when Europeans hit our shores—killing, pillaging, pushing people out of their homelands. But genocide is composed of a whole list of things. Every single piece in this work has a story that fits this genocidal program…
My aim is always making a teaching moment from something that I feel we don’t learn in school. And I think my paper dolls offer the viewer a moment to do some critical thinking.”
—Jaune Quick-to-see-smith (source: moma.org.)
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (1940 to 2025) is an artist and citizen from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation in Montana. She is known for creating work that addressed the myths of her ancestors and current issues facing Native Americans.
Raised on the Flathead Reservation, Smith remained deeply connected to her heritage while learning about the work of artists like Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Robert Rauschenberg, and traditional Native American artists during her studies at Framingham State College, and the University of New Mexico.
Smith is known for her unique ways of working with paint, collage, and imagery. With a combination of representational and abstract images, she explores subjects such as the destruction of the environment, governmental oppression of Indigenous cultures.
Installation image from Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination since 1969, June 24 – November 26, 2023. Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. Photo: Olympia Shannon, 2023.Artwork pictured: JAUNE QUICK-TO-SEE SMITH, Paperdolls for a Post-Colombian World, 2021, Acrylic, amber shellac, aluminum, paper, and wood, Gochman Family Collection.
Studio Activity
Create a visual manifesto! A manifesto is a document used for sharing thoughts, ideas and values of groups of people or individuals. What are your thoughts, ideas and values? What is important to you and how do those things have an impact on the world around you?
MATERIALS
- Drawing paper
- Pencils, erasers & sharpeners
- Scissors
- Glue sticks
- Collage material
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1
Start with writing or drawing.
- Make a title for your manifesto and write it on your paper;
- Now write or draw your manifesto. Add the ideas, themes and values that are important to you. What does your ideal world look like?
Step 2
Add visuals.
- Use collage materials to add visuals to your writing or drawing.
- Cut out images and attach them with glue to your paper.
Step 3
Share your manifesto with the people you care about.
