Local artist Alanah Jewell connects to her Indigenous roots through art
Posted Mar 3, 2021 06:15:00 PM.
Alanah Jewell didn’t plan to become an artist, it just sort of happened that way.
At the conclusion of her second year of sociology at Laurier, she took a fateful trip to Scotland. With a seven-hour overseas flight, Jewell brought an iPad to keep herself occupied. Those seven fateful hours laid the foundation for her love for art.
As she sketched some Indigenous digital art on her tablet, it was like her entire world opened up. From there, she started painting and took over the “I AM Kitchener” Indigenous Art Market program, hosting bi-annual events.
“I recognized myself as an artist when I went to my first Indigenous art market as a vendor, and I realized people really like my stuff,” Jewell said. “I thought these were just pieces of paper with my designs on it. People really liked it, and I was like: ‘I can do something with this.’”
She now paints her own designs and sells them as part of her studio, Morningstar Designs.
In less than three years, she’s painted murals featured across Waterloo Region; from pieces on the parkade on Willis Way in Uptown Waterloo, to Halls Lane, to the Indigenous medicine garden at the University of Waterloo.
Jewell also contributed two painted picnic tables for Waterloo Region’s Art Fresco Public Art project. Her designs “Florals” and “Strawberries” were featured this past summer.
Jewell cites Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau as one of her inspirations and someone who paved the way for Indigenous artists to pick up a paintbrush and express themselves on canvas.
“It’s so cool that people love my art and they put my stuff up in their house,” Jewell said. “I love when people share photos of my pieces of their home. I’m basically giving a piece of myself away, and now that piece is in someone’s home.”
As an independent artist, she found the early months of the pandemic quite challenging, but she saw an unexpected surge of support during the middle of the year as Black Lives Matter and BIPOC social movements became front and centre.
She went from being unsure how she could make an income as an artist to realizing it could become a full-time career.
“When the pandemic hit, I panicked,” Jewell said. “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen because people aren’t going to want to buy art when they’re losing their jobs. I’m not going to be able to afford my life because people can’t afford their own life. But people support people during these times.”
Jewell was selected as the artist of the year by Wellington Brewery’s Queen of Craft initiative, and one of her next projects involves designing a beer label and t-shirts, where proceeds benefit women in crisis.
Besides her art career, Jewell also took on a new role with the City of Kitchener as the parks engagement associate. One of her first projects was to commission three Indigenous murals painted outside the entrance of the Huron Natural Area.
Her goal is to develop the space into somewhere that represents urban Indigenous people and their rich culture.
“As you’re walking through the natural area, you’re thinking about what this land used to be; who used to take care of this land, what communities used to live here, where the village was at Huron Natural Area; basically set the tone that this is an Indigenous space representing urban Indigenous people through art, culture, and hopefully having regular Indigenous programs,” Jewell said.
In the future, she hopes to establish Indigenous gatherings at Huron Natural Area, like medicine walks, pow wows, and maybe even festivals.
“My hope for Huron Natural Area is I want to see it become a forest and a natural place that represents urban Indigenous people,” Jewell said. “My vision is for people to walk through Huron Natural Area and see the Indigenous murals and art, and as they go along the path, they see other forms of Indigenous representation; whether that’s art in the park, or pieces of Indigenous culture in the forest.”
In the months since, her role has pivoted slightly to become an Indigenous placemaking role where she’s focusing on creating permanent Indigenous spaces in Victoria Park and Waterloo Park as well.
Recently, Jewell also launched a Winter Indigenous Storytelling series with the Kitchener Public Library. During these long winter months in quarantine, she felt isolated and disconnected with her culture, and this was a way for others to re-establish a relationship with their Indigenous roots, albeit virtually.
In this bi-weekly series, she speaks with local Indigenous figures share their life experiences and teachable moments from their past.
“It’s a way to shed light on how Indigenous knowledge keepers and storytellers have so much to share,” Jewell said.
“The idea was to showcase these people and get Indigenous youth or other people to connect with our Indigenous storytellers, or it’s a way for community members to see a familiar face and hear stories they haven’t heard before.”
