There will be more than 50 Artists on Location throughout the village during Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society’s Creemore Festival of the Arts from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 5-6. Pick up an event map at the info booth set up on the Village Green stage to find the location of artists working in a variety of mediums including paints, fibre, textile, photography, pottery, wood, mosaic, jewellery, sculpture and mixed media.
Indigenous imagery is central to the designs featured on Grizzly Apparel, a project of artist Soul Merasty. His representation of a grizzly, one side with fur and one side a geometric drawing, speaks to the two sides of life.
“The geometric side explains about the negative things,” he says, “things like a death in the family, failing a test at school or having your car repossessed. The side with fur represents the positives, things like graduating from school, earning a promotion, or winning a lottery.”
Merasty says the Bear Clans are protectors of food, water, medicines and people, which can put a lot of pressure on a Bear Clan member to always be strong and courageous. The bear motif in his work was inspired by his grandfather and his mother.
In spite of having grown up in Toronto, Merasty was unaware of the 7th Generation Image Makers until quite recently. The group is a dynamic, youth-led Aboriginal community arts program. Merasty knew some of the staff through the Native Resource Centre, and last summer was invited to collaborate on a project.
Merasty created the first hoodies in his Grizzly Apparel line during the pandemic. He had been laid off from work three times as a result of the pandemic, and went looking for a project. He did the art and had the hoodies printed at a T-shirt shop in Gerrard Square. He put the first four pieces on a Facebook page for the Pocket Neighbourhood in Riverdale and they all sold within two hours.
Merasty is currently studying Automotive Parts and Service Operations at Centennial College and his art is definitely a part-time thing. In the future, he hopes to have his own shop and do another clothing line with more of an automotive focus. His work will be on display at Water First, 10 Francis St. E. during the Creemore Festival of the Arts along with work by R.J. Lewis, another 7th Generation Image Makers artist.
Since 1996, 7th Generation Image Makers has provided urban Aboriginal youth with access to high quality arts programming and professional arts training in a culturally supportive and safe environment. It is the signature interdisciplinary arts and media program at Native Child and Family Services of Toronto.
- 7th Generation Image Makers Soul Merasty and R.J. Lewis will be showing work from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. onOct.5and6atWater First, 10 Francis St. E.