Latest Living Local projects celebrate connections between our diverse communities

Two artistic heritage projects are set to document and interpret early community growth in Edmonton’s River Valley and Mill Woods.

WireService.ca Media Release (01/25/2016) Edmonton, AB – First Meetings is a photo and art project researching and recreating early meetings between Alberta’s First Nations and French voyageurs traveling through Edmonton. La Cité Francophone will connect with local artists, heritage practitioners, and nearby communities through workshops, art exhibits, and interactive storytelling, inviting Edmontonians into the river valley to connect with these stories and reflect on the area’s importance in the city’s growth and formation.

“Every project is a journey of discovery of our local history and collective past,” says La Cité Francophone Executive Director Daniel Cournoyer. “That touches on what’s going on here in our francophone and Indigenous communities through these projects of first meetings.”

The Mill Woods Living History project is looking at the collective past of one of Edmonton’s most diverse neighbourhoods. Launched in 2012, the project continues to work with residents, cultural organizations, and community leagues to collect and share oral histories from the many communities that make up Mill Woods.

A total of $50,000 was awarded to the two projects during this first run of Living Local grants based on their creativity and emphasis on connecting people with their neighbourhoods through arts and heritage. The Call for Expressions of Interest for a second run of Living Local grants was recently launched with a deadline of February 29th, 2016.

“It’s exciting to see communities collaborating inspired by their shared past,” says David Ridley, Executive Director of the Edmonton Heritage Council. “Each project brings new ideas about what makes Edmonton’s heritage unique and new methods for sharing these stories with broader audiences.”

The Living Local program is a collaboration between the Edmonton Heritage Council (EHC), Edmonton Arts Council (EAC) and the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL). For more information about the grants and full lists of current and past projects, please visit the Edmonton Heritage Council website.

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The Edmonton Heritage Council is a not-for-profit organization that envisions Edmonton as a place where heritage is understood and valued by all members of the community as an integral way of life.

Ryan Stephens
Communications Assistant
Edmonton Heritage Council
tel: 780-429-0166, ext. 299
rstephens@edmontonheritage.ca
edmontonheritage.ca

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