SASKATOON — The culmination of a joint art project between Persephone Theatre and the City of Saskatoon will take place this July.
Both organizations invite the public to join them for the unveiling of a brand-new mural by Josh
Wāpiskisiw at the Cosmo Civic Skate Park on Tuesday, July 22 at 10 a.m. The mural was also supported in part by STEPS Public Art.
This unveiling is the culmination of a project started in the fall of 2023 when Persephone Theatre and the City of Saskatoon’s Public Art began working together. In February 2024, a community gathering was held at Persephone Theatre to have conversations about the project, with the focal point of the art project being the experience of living in Saskatoon for youth, families and community members from Indigenous, immigrant and refugee communities.
“We are so happy to be a part of such an inclusive and collaborative project. It was great to work with diverse artists in the Saskatoon community to build such meaningful work,” said Tenille Thomson, Community Development Manager with the City of Saskatoon.
The project, which was led by three professional visual and theatre artists – Peace Akintade, Lautaro Reyes, and Wāpiskisiw – saw them not only create a public mural, but also an accompanying theatre performance, inspired by the stories of the participants. An in process staged reading of the performance, Welcome to My Country, took place on June 28 at Persephone Theatre.
“This has been a joy to collaborate with the City of Saskatoon Public Art, and the incredibly talented artists and community partners, to bring this project to fruition,” Persephone Theatre Executive Director Breanne Harmon said.
“Art making of all disciplines impacts our community in immeasurable ways, and we are so grateful to have such staunch support of these endeavors, which have shown up as both a public visual art piece on the Cosmo Skate Park, as well as the sharing of the verbatim theatre piece, Welcome to My Country.”
Welcome to My Country is new play created by Reyes in collaboration with community members, who have immigrated to Canada from other parts of the world, about their experiences living in Saskatoon.
The mural and the production were developed side-by-side, allowing each to reflect and respond to the other.
“The parallels between the artistic inquiries both Josh and Lautaro were wishing to explore—particularly working alongside the community to create something that expressed experiences unique to Saskatoon—prompted us to develop them in tandem,” explained Heather Cant, Artistic Director of Persephone Theatre.
In addition, Akintade supported Reyes in the creation of the production, by taking the lead on community consultation.
“We were thrilled to have Peace Akintade join us as a skilled facilitator of community and artistic collaboration. Peace conducted several workshops with community members to surface stories, experiences, and common themes that were used as inspiration in developing both the mural and the play,” Cant added.
