On June 28, RDA’s Artistic Co-Director Anna Camilleri spoke at the Because of You community vigil in Barry’s Bay, Ontario. The vigil took place at the site of the 2022 Renfrew County Inquest Public Art Response mosaic monument, which was created by Camilleri, following a collaborative design process with local community members.

Here's an excerpt from Anna's speech:

“Two years ago, on June 28, 2022, the jury for the Culleton, Kuzyk, and Warmerdam inquest presented its verdict, including 86 recommendations for change.

The goal of the inquest was to understand what happened on the morning of September 22, 2015 and to bring forward recommendations that would address and eliminate intimate partner violence. There was a lot of media coverage of the inquest, which helped to inform people and communities in Renfrew County and beyond, but for the family, friends, neighbours and communities that lived through the horror of the murders of Carol, Anastasia and Nathalie, the inquest itself brought wounds to the surface.

At the same time the inquest was in progress, a group of organizations came together to produce The Public Art Response, a community arts project that offered community members impacted by this tragedy, opportunities to do something with their sorrow, fear, and anger – to come together, build community and make art that could both hold and tangibly carry forward our intentions.

Here, by the Cedar hedge in Water Tower Park, there is a large pebble mosaic monument that was unveiled in 2022 as part of The Public Art Response. I worked with a team of fellow artists, community members and gender justice workers on a collaborative design process that is the foundation of the pebble mosaic that was my great honour to build. The mosaic depicts three Black-Capped Chickadees, one tall windswept Eastern White Pine, and rolling hills. The design was deeply considered and personally significant to everyone who participated. Chickadees are songbirds known for their call 'chick-a-dee-dee-dee,' which is the foundation of their communication system that sounds alerts, warnings, and calls to action. Please touch the pebble mosaic and add your own story or intention to it.

The Public Art Response also featured a community arts mentorship program, a public unveiling event of the 8-foot pebble mosaic monument, and the creation of 150 small community-generated pebble mosaics as a response to gender-based violence, which were installed and unveiled in Killaloe Pathways Park in August 2023.

The Public Art Response is part of The Countdown Public Art Project, which works with communities to create monuments in public spaces to honour those affected by gender-based violence and to imagine, or count down to, a world without gender-based violence. The project launched in 2016, and it is an Ontario-wide arts initiative, produced by ReDefine Arts in partnership with local community, cultural, and civic organizations. Since 2016, over 4,000 people have gathered across Ontario to build 13 pebble mosaics in Pembroke, Eganville, Killaloe, Pikwàkanagàn First Nation, Peterborough-Nogojiwanong, North Bay, Carleton Place, Brantford, Almonte, Bancroft, Smiths Falls, and Combermere.

I share this background with you because many people have been hard at work to make change. We’re here to reflect on and celebrate the work we have done and to consider the work yet to come to end gender-based violence and intimate partner violence.

Baskets with 'vessels' are being circulated around our circle. Please select one for yourself. On June 13th and June 20th, I co-facilitated workshops with Anna MacDonald and Caitlin MacDonald from Watershed to create these small vessels in community. They are made from repurposed shredded paper and they can be used to hold intention, sorrow, anger, grief, hope, or an object such as a candle.

The workshops draw from my installation Carry Hold Release, an intervention into gender-based violence featuring 400 hand-formed vessels intended to carry intention; to receive what is let go of, hold space for what is generative, release what is not and help us to carry forward the 86 recommendations for change.”

***

To learn more about the Renfrew County Inquest 86 recommendations for change, listen to Lanark County Interval House & Community Support Executive Director and RDA Board Member Erin Lee on Lake 88.1: https://lanarkleedstoday.ca/ckw-inquest-recommendations/

To read the Renfrew County Inquest 86 recommendations for change, visit: https://lukesplace.ca/wp-conte...  

close-up of a child's hand touching a large pebble mosaic depicting a chickadee.

Because of You - community vigil, June 28, 2024, Barry's Bay, ON. Photo by Katie Yealland.

close-up of two small round vessels sitting on grass. The vessels have smooth interiors, textured exteriors and uneven edges. One vessel contains a small candle.

Because of You - community vigil, June 28, 2024, Barry's Bay, ON. Photo by Katie Yealland.

close-up of multiple people's hands touching a large pebble mosaic topped with three candles. The mosaic depicts two chickadees.

Because of You - community vigil, June 28, 2024, Barry's Bay, ON. Photo by Katie Yealland.

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