Ojibwe artist works with strangers to create mural at University of Winnipeg

Turtles, wolves, eagles and pine trees: hand-crafted stamps made of wooden blocks are neatly set out on a table at theUniversity of Winnipeg's environment and science building.

Jessica Canard, 26, invites passersbyto take a stamp and paint roller and use them toimprintpictures onto eighttriangular panels.

Canard is hosting the liveart project, in which she's asking the public to help create the Community Connections mural at the University of Winnipeg.

"I findart is a pretty universal thing," Canard said. "It's just about bringing people together from different backgrounds, different social circles, that wouldn't normally get the chance to connect or cross paths."

The project is funded by the University of Winnipeg and Canada's National Arts Centre. The images selected represent the Seven Sacred Teachings and plant medicine that are significant to Ojibwe, Cree and Mtis people who live on Treaty 1 territory, on which Winnipeg sits.

Canard spent Tuesday morning recruiting participants for the project. By lunchtime, 50 people had left their mark on the panels.

The mural represents an opportunity to "decolonize" and reclaim her heritage, she said.

"When I was growing up, I didn't see pieces that I could connect tolike, 'Hey, that reminds me of my heritage, ancestry, or my background.' And my diaspora is literally, like, two hours away from here, so I just want to take up space."

Canard said the finished mural will have 22 panels and covera total of 64 square feet, or roughly six square metres. Itwillbe unveiled at the university inearly spring.