Mount Allison unveils 'powerful' artwork to commemorate MMIWG

Dozens of red dresses were hung across the campus at Mount Allison University on Tuesday to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

But amid the pieces of clothing, one red dress stood out: the gleaming centrepiece of Pauline Young's newly unveiled stained glass artwork,She Lights the Way,unveiled during a ceremony at the Wallace McCain Student Centre.

The piece is meant to commemorate the many lives lost to violence, butYoung, a Mi'kmaq artist living in Whitney, about20 kilometres east of Miramichi, wants her art to also inspire hope and healing.

"I wanted this to be an empowering and powerful piece," she said."I just wanted this woman to be loud and proud."

The red dress is a nationally recognized tribute to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The federal government set aside funding for more than 100 art, music and film projects in response to the national inquiry.

Mount Allison University received one of the grants, and Patty Musgrave Quinn, the university's Indigenous affairs co-ordinator, immediately thought of Young.

Artist creates stained-glass red dress

5 years ago

Duration 0:59

Mikmaq artist Pauline Young created a stained-glass red dress in memory of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Quinn said Tuesday she was "floored" by the result.

"Every single time somebody does something, if it reaches five, 10, 500, 1,000 people, that is more people that are aware of the epidemic of Indigenous women and girls and two-spirited people going missing and being murdered," Quinn said.

The piece was unveiled at a ceremony Tuesday evening, but a class got a sneak peek earlier in the day.

An empty red dress with white wings is the focal point of Young's piece, but there are strips of red on the edge that represent women's spirits, Young said.

Kylie Francis, a second-year student from Elsipogtog First Nation, was struck with a similar thought as she took it in for the first time.

"I thought it was very powerful and beautiful," Francis said. "I saw the big red dress and I saw the other little red dots. So I thought that the main red dress was like the guiding, and other red dots are just like the followers of the other women who had to go on to the next life."

Amber Solomon, a student from Kingsclear First Nation, said the artwork deserves a place of prominence at the university.

"Education influences the way we see Indigenous people and the vulnerability they hold," she said. "So I think Mount Allison taking those steps towards reconciliation is important."