Artist Jaime Black brings REDress Project to NU

Nipissing University is proud to host an important art installation, the REDress Project, from December 5 -12, as well as a discussion with the artist, Jaime Black, on December 6 from 5:15 – 7 p.m. in the Nipissing Theatre (F213). The REDress Project is an aesthetic response to more than 1,000 missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. The installation, comprised of numerous donated red dresses, will run in Nipissing’s main foyer.

Black will discuss her work on December 6 as part of the National Day of Remembrance and Action for Violence Against Women. A candlelight vigil will also be held on December 6, at 4:30 p.m. in the Nipissing foyer. Black's artist talk will be followed by a panel discussion from local leaders who are taking action and raising awareness on the issue of racialized and gender based violence.

Also on December 6 at Nipissing, the Union of Ontario Indians will be hosting a display of earrings, each individual earring being representative of one missing and murdered Indigenous women. Those attending the event are welcomed to donate a Native-designed earring to place on The Blanket of Hope in recognition of the sharing of stories about the missing and murdered.

Each REDress poster will be mounted and up for bid via silent auction. Bidding will start at $40. Student artwork will also be donated and can be bid on. All proceeds will be donated to Ojibway Women's Lodge and Amelia Rising.

Black is an emerging, Métis multidisciplinary artist based in Winnipeg. She studied English Literature at the University of Manitoba and has an Education degree from the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education. She has taught in Opaskwayak Cree Nation in the Pas, Manitoba, has worked developing art curriculum for the Urban Shaman: Contemporary Aboriginal Art, and has long been involved in the Aboriginal writers and artists communities in Winnipeg. She is currently a mentee with Mentoring Artists for Womens Art (MAWA). In her artwork, she attempts to create a dialogue around social and political events and issues, through provocation or creating space for reflection. She is particularly interested in feminism and Aboriginal social justice, and the possibilities for articulating linkages between and around these movements.

For more information about the REDress Project, visit the website, here.