Kevin Cardinal (Cree name: Mihkwâpêmakwa - Red Willow), at NiGiNan Belvedere (photo: Cole Buhler)
April 23, 2021 (Edmonton, AB) – Kevin Cardinal (Cree name: Mihkwâpêmakwa – Red Willow) is an artist-in-residence at the new supportive housing development in the Belvedere neighbourhood. NiGiNan Housing Ventures CEO, Carola Cunningham, asked Kevin to meet with Elders in the facility and hear what they envisioned for a large mural.
Kevin Cardinal’s Instagram handle: @kcardinal.artist2
“When I thought about what we wanted to put on the wall at Belvedere, I thought of (Kevin) immediately,” Carola says. “I told him about the young people coming out of care and families that were at risk of losing their kids. Kevin heard my dreams for this place, and it took him ten days to do this beautiful work.”
Kevin, looking just a little shy, unveiled the mural alongside Elders for a virtual crowd joining live. He says he doesn’t talk about the meaning behind his paintings often but he wanted to do it for Carola.
Kevin takes photos with the Elders of NiGiNan Belvedere (photo: Cole Buhler)
“Carola told me what she had in mind for this place. I took some notes, went home, and prayed about it,” he says. “I focused on the idea of youth out of the foster care system and young mothers and fathers - men and women that are disconnected from culture, ceremony, tradition and cultural identity.”
The idea for the mural came to Kevin in a dream. “I woke up in the middle of the night and sketched it out on a little piece of paper. I didn’t want to go with this background colour initially, but that was the colour I saw in my dream. I’m kind of stubborn – I wanted to put in orange there, but I went with all the colours I saw in my imagination.”
Kevin explains that his characters, painted in vibrant blues, purples, and reds, represent the interconnected energy between families, Elders and Knowledge Keepers. “I wanted something visual to represent the spirit world or a higher power,” he says. “To help young people connect to themselves, their identity, culture, traditions and language.
Kevin signs his mural in Cree syllabics (photo: Cole Buhler)
“I have people in my life that these characters represent...people that introduced me to ceremony. There’s a transference from culture and tradition – it’s transmitted to a person that’s able to teach culture and tradition. There are people who carry that. I have them all connected.”
“The knowledge coming from (the painting), it connects to that higher power – Creator,” Carola says. “It’s so amazing. It’s beautiful. It’s throughout their bodies.”
Kevin, taking questions from the audience, told stories about how he started his career as a painter, how his dreams have influenced his work, and his spiritual experiences.
“I’ve discovered I can put whatever I want on a canvas or a wall and I can have it represent whatever I want it to represent,” Kevin says. “A tree represents a person. A bear represents culture. That’s what I’ve discovered – nobody can determine for me, what I want to represent. I use these symbols to represent the passing on of energy.”
The mural is located on the top floor of the supportive housing complex, which is used for community gatherings and programming for residents in the building.
