Group eyes late summer unveiling for Thanks for the Meal art project

Indigenous artists Raymond Skye (left) and Shayde Sandy (right) created the painting that will be used to create large art installations as part of the debut project for the Art Gallery of Niagara-on-the-Lake. They’re pictured here with Ron Clavier, who led the development of the Thanks for the Meal project. ~ Submitted photo

By Luke Edwards

A group of Niagara art enthusiasts who are hoping to honour the local farming community ran into a spring issue that many farmers would find only too familiar: An uncooperative Mother Nature.

Fortunately, a wet spring is basically the only thing holding the Thanks for the Meal project from launching. And unlike growers who are often on a tight timeline, Ron Clavier and the Art Gallery of Niagara-on-the-Lake team can afford to wait a few months.

Thanks for the Meal is a take on a similar art installation project in the United States that started with a tribute to John Steinbeck and his home in the Salinas Valley in California. American artist John Cerney began installing giant displays featuring rural Americana that have since expanded throughout the U.S.

Clavier’s idea is to do something similar in NOTL, honouring different aspects of the area’s farming community. He has a Canadian twist, though, taking a line from The Farmer’s Song by Murray McLaughlan to name the project Thanks for the Meal.

“We want people to understand the life of the Niagara farmer,” Clavier said.

The group was hoping to get the first piece - a nod to Niagara’s Indigenous agricultural history - up this spring. To do so they needed to find a location, an artist, and above all some funds. Each task came with its own set of challenges, but challenges they could overcome.

For location, they worked with municipal officials and found a willing partner in St. Davids Hydroponics, which offered up some land on Niagara Stone Road, an ideal gateway for their debut.

They also teamed up with Niagara College and other partners to help with the installation and some of the logistics.

For the artwork, Clavier said it was important to have artwork that was authentic and realistic. He didn’t want an abstract piece, but he did want to ensure the artist came from the community being depicted. Through well known Indigenous artist Raymond Skye the team connected with Shayde Sandy, a Haudenosaunee artist from Six Nations of the Grand River.

Sandy and Skye helped develop a piece depicting three women Indigenous farmers, representing the three sisters: squash, beans and corn, which were vital for early Indigenous farmers.

At a community meeting held late last year, Clavier said they needed to raise about $15,000 to get the first piece installed. His belief is that once there’s a proof of concept they’ll be able to more easily raise funds.

“I think that will generate a lot of excitement,” he said.

With some community donations the group started approaching their goal. But it was a donation from the James A. Burton and Family Foundation that really put the fundraising over the top.

“That brings us over the line, just,” Clavier said.

With all the pieces in place, all they needed were relatively dry conditions before the Niagara College students wrapped up their school year.

Alas, it wasn’t to be.

“It’s not a tragedy, but it can’t be helped,” Clavier said.

Instead, the plan now is to install the 16-foot-tall structures in late summer or early fall, when the students return and are able to offer their expertise. It gives the group some time to plan a public unveiling, and possibly a private event for the local Indigenous community.

For more information on the project, visit thanksforthemeal.com. 