City of Peterborough Selects Artist For Miskin Law Community Complex Public Art Installation

First Nations artist Vanessa Dion Fletcher has been awarded a commission to create artwork for the Miskin Law Community Complex including a twin-pad arena and a library branch.

Dion Fletcher is a Lenape and Potawatomi neurodiverse artist; her family is from Eelūnaapèewii Lahkèewiitt (displaced from Lenapawking) and European settlers. She graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2016) with a Master of Fine Arts in performance and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University (2009). Photo courtesy of the City of Peterborough.

Dion Fletcher will create the focal point for the impressive two-storey atrium, featuring an east-facing, floor-to-ceiling window at the main entrance to the Miskin Law Community Complex at Lansdowne and Park streets.

The artwork will build on the City’s commitment to create awareness of Indigenous cultures, peoples, and heritage. The commissioned work will provide insight into First Nations teachings, ethos and spirit of sport and the role sport plays in building relations. 

The new work, entitled Analogous Harmony (working title), is composed of three hoops or rings, painted with the visual texture, pattern and colour of quillwork. The rings are abstract forms that invite the viewer to see their experience with sport. The circular form evokes balls, tracks, hoop dancing, and the earth.

“I began by engaging with lacrosse sticks, hoop dancers, and canoes as forms of inspiration. I related these images to the feelings of movement that are evoked by my two-dimensional quillworks…,” said Dion Fletcher. “I now see my quillwork as an invitation to look and see what is within one's own heart and spirit.”

The artwork unveiling will coincide with the grand opening of the community complex this fall.

“Whether it was learning to ride a bike, paddle across a lake, run cross country or playing soccer, for me, sport is a conversation with oneself, the environment, and the creator,” said Dion Fletcher.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.