Young Canada Works — Success Story

Robert McLaughlin Gallery

Louise Pitre

Jon Colwell’s mural commissioned by the Robert McLaughlin Gallery as part of the Mamanaw Pekiskwewina / Mother Tongues: Dish with One Spoon Territory exhibition.

In 2021–2022, Erin Szikora was the Robert McLaughlin Gallery’s Young Canada Works — Building Careers in Heritage (YCW-BCH) intern serving as the Assistant Curator, Indigenous Projects. The main focus of her position was to support the research, development and implementation of Mamanaw Pekiskwewina/Mother Tongues: Dish With One Spoon Territory exhibition, which involved a series of community-based Indigenous programs. The exhibition, which extended from November 2021 until October 2022, was intended to “celebrate and make visible the traditional and ancestral languages of the lands covered by the Dish With One Spoon treaty.” As part of this programming, Erin helped to plan a free public Indigenous language workshop, which included the development of Story and Song: Anishinaabemowin Colouring Book, featuring illustrations from five contributors.

Erin’s supervisor, Leila Timmins (Senior Curator), described the result of her project as follows: “In collaboration with external curator Missy LeBlanc, Erin was able to deliver a very successful series of programs as well as to commission two murals and to build strong relationships with many Indigenous-led organizations in the region. As a result of Erin’s hard work and dedication, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery (RMG) is in a much better position with regard to exhibition research and departmental organization and foresight.”

Jay Haven’s mural commissioned by the Robert McLaughlin Gallery as part of the Mamanaw Pekiskwewina / Mother Tongues: Dish with One Spoon Territory exhibition.

Erin describes some of her main accomplishments: “I commissioned two community-informed murals by Indigenous artists with ties to the region; facilitated two panel talks with local Indigenous elders, knowledge keepers and language

teachers; ran an all-staff equity discussion on the importance of Indigenous hiring practices; hosted multiple exhibition tours; and built new and developed existing relationships with Indigenous and non-Indigenous community organizations, artists and individuals.”

I was able to catch up with Erin more recently to hear more about how her YCW-BCH internship helped to prepare her for her current position with RMG:

“My role as Assistant Curator, Indigenous Projects, provided the tools to succeed in my new position as Greenspace + Public Art Coordinator. In this new role, I am the liaison between multiple stakeholders and community partners to co-create a welcoming, inclusive and accessible outdoor space in the RMG’s backyard. The RMG has supported my personal and professional growth, allowing and encouraging me to take on new initiatives within the organization including leading staff-wide training sessions, collaborating on community events and partnerships, and curating an upcoming exhibition for the fall of 2023. My time at the RMG has solidified my love for working with and in community. Building new and developing existing relationships with community partners and seeing them see themselves in the gallery is the most rewarding part of my job. In the future, I hope to continue making arts institutions the inclusive and accessible spaces I believe they are capable of becoming.” M

Louise Pitre is a Young Canada Works Program Officer with the Building Careers in Heritage Stream and the YCW Communications Liaison for the Canadian Museums Association.

Sample of colouring images in the book Story and Song: Anishinaabemowin Colouring Book.