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31 Marlene Street (1)
Location Map
"Keeping Our Land".
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Location: North Face
Occupant: Manitoba Housing
District: St. Vital
Neighbourhood: Lavalee
Artist(s): Jimmy D. Harper
Year: 2002
Sponsors: Marlene Street Kids Program
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Jane Brenner (Marlene Street Kids Program): "Jimmy Harper is an awesome artist. We
actually hired in him to run an aboriginal art class out of Lavallee School. He was
teaching kids between eight and 12 to do aboriginal artwork. He did these two Murals
free (the other is 9 Marlene Street); we supplied all the paint and he did it all on his own.
He's an awesome artist; and nobody's touched or tagged them- they're all still intact."
"He's very soft-spoken, Jimmy. It's very hard to hear him when he talks. But when he
talks about his artwork, he's a little louder. He's a real gentle man. It's surprising how
talented he is for his age. He started with pencil a long time ago, doodling. One thing led
to another, and as he was getting older, his elders were teaching him what all the stuff
meant, and then he started to paint it on his own. He never had any art classes or
anything else like that ever. He's done some beautiful work."
Jimmy Harper: "I started getting involved with the Marlene Street Kids and showed my
artwork to the kids program and the Tenants Association. The teepees represent the
Marlene Street community. At the time I did this wall I would say that aboriginals made
up about 70% of the population at Marlene Street so I thought this was fitting. I was
working with the kids so it took about double my time-about two weeks. The weather
also slowed me down."
"I named this Mural 'Keeping Our Land', because there's always someone watching over
us; and the spiritual Eagles represent the creators or creator. I put two eagles out there
because on earth there's always two: man and woman, a bird or an animal; there's always
two of it. Day or night they watch over us. This scene is actually a transition between
day and night, it's set at dusk. The seven teepees I put up there were represent my family;
there are seven of us. The colours of the teepees represent my interpretation of life. The
black outlining represents your youth (human being or young animal), the dark brown
signifies you become mature, the lighter brown indicates you've become very old and
white part signifies you're passing away and becoming a white spirit. That's what my
beliefs are in life."
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