IN SEARCH OF... LIFE
Listen to mural artists Philip Cote and Nick Sweetman as they discuss their artistic process and importance of showcasing Indigenous voices. Find out what message they want us to take away from their mural, and what it can show us about Indigenous-settler relationships and different ways of knowing.
LEARN MORE AT lakeshorearts.ca/in-search-of
About Philip Cote:
Anishinaabe-izhini-kaaz-o-win Nodj-mowin-Miskogayaashk Gichi-manidoo-anishinaabe indoodem Mishu-pishu niin Anishinaabe, Shawnee, Lakota, Potawatomi, Ojibway, Algonquin Min-a-waa Mohawk. Philip Cote, MFA, Moose Deer Point First Nation, is a Young Spiritual Elder, Indigenous artist, activist, educator, historian, and Ancestral Knowledge Keeper. He is engaged in creating opportunities for artmaking and teaching methodologies through Indigenous symbolism, traditional ceremonies, history, oral stories, and land-based pedagogy. Citing all of his ancestry, he is Shawnee, Lakota, Potawatomi, Ojibway, Algonquin, and Mohawk. Philip is the seventh generation great-grandson of Shawnee Warrior and Leader Tecumseh, and his ancestor Amelia Chechok is the granddaughter of Chechok who was the first signer of the Toronto Purchase of 1805.
About Nick Sweetman:
Nick Sweetman is a multidisciplinary artist from Toronto. He completed his MFA in 2014 from OCAD University in the Interdisciplinary Art, Media & Design program and went on to receive a certificate from the Mural Routes Leadership Training in Mural-Making program the same year. Since then he has been working in public space on mural projects, often in collaboration with other artists, and in partnership with various non-profit organizations (David Suzuki Foundation, The STEPS Initiative) as well as the City of Toronto. He has successfully managed large-scale projects both independently and as lead artist over a team of volunteers, from children up to adults. He has dedicated many of his projects to raising awareness and using public art to talk about social and environmental issues in Toronto, and sometimes has the opportunity to travel and paint abroad, most recently to Kelowna BC where he is painting a mural for Uptown Festival.
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Credits:
“Lake and Shore: Two Worlds Converging” (2018) by Nick Sweetman & Philip Cote
Video Production: Nadijah Robinson, Megan Sue-Chue-Lam & Meagan Mabilangan
Video Editing: Candide Uyanze
Marketing: Shakira Luke & Meagan Mabilangan
Music: “Arcade” by LAKEY INSPIRED, “Piano and Sax” by Joakim Karud, “Awakening” by Wataboi, “Aspire” by Pryces, “Naked Gun” by TRAEDONYA! & “Mean it” by Mona Wonderlick
In Search Of… is presented by Lakeshore Arts, as a part of Local Discoveries, ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021-2022, and is a City of Toronto Cultural Hotspot Signature Project