On October 16, the Cannabis & Mental Health project unveiled a three-panel mural created in collaboration with Myths & Mirrors Community Arts in N’Swakamok (Sudbury) Ontario. Sam Barry and Raven Debassige realized the project alongside local youth to highlight the beauty and reliance of this community. Grow Your Knowledge (2024) is a testament to harm reduction, knowledge accessibility, and community collaboration.

Myths and Mirrors Community Arts has been dedicated to offering distinctive opportunities for individuals of diverse ages and backgrounds to engage in artistic experiences beyond conventional settings since 1996. The organization is led by and for the community of N’Swakamok (Sudbury, ON), aiming to promote community arts, connection, and harm reduction. Their objectives revolve around fostering creative innovation, nurturing a shared community identity, and offering a platform for marginalized voices to articulate themselves. Myths have interacted with numerous individuals, partnering with artists to craft artworks, performances, installations, and various creative endeavors.

Since its inception, Myths and Mirrors has been dedicated to addressing the realities of people’s lives, providing support and celebration amidst the challenges and adversities many face. Through its work, the organization seeks to dismantle the myths that perpetuate harmful systems such as capitalism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and colonialism by reflecting the lived experiences of individuals affected by these systems. This commitment has necessitated learning new approaches to collaboration, fostering flexibility, and adapting to meet the diverse needs of the community for expression and creative exchange. Myths and Mirrors has always been supportive of Indigenous youth and initiatives.

The organization emphasizes collective art creation over individual artist endeavours, bringing together artists and community members to produce meaningful and authentic art that tells real stories.

The collaboration between our organizations began in the spring of 2024 as an effort to find innovative ways to promote harm reduction and our Cannabis & Mental Health Course.

The process began with both internal and external community consultations, including the Cannabis & Mental Health Youth Action Committee (YAC), Myths and Mirrors Community Arts, and with the families of Ryan Heights, who would be receiving the mural.

Using paper, pens, and colouring pencils, the families drew and wrote their ideas for the mural during Myths’ weekly Art In The Park event. The pages that were collected then influenced the mural design.

Raven and Sam worked hard to incorporate the vision from the consultations, the communities, and the Cannabis & Mental Health Project simultaneously. Their unique styles and use of colour enabled a vibrant creation to emerge.

The artists were provided supplies and space to create through the hard working team at Myths and Mirrors, who organized the entire process. Once the design was determined, the Ryan Heights community joined Sam and Raven in a collaborative painting workshop.

The mural showcased large, recognizable shapes, such as strawberries, sunflowers, and faces, which allowed the artist to facilitate using a paint-by-numbers style workshop.

Following the community workshop, Raven and Sam added the finer details to tie the image together.

The Cannabis & Mental Health Project thanks Myths and Mirrors Community Art for such amazing work and looks forward to hearing from the N’Swakamok community!

About the artists.

Raven Debassige is an emerging artist, art instructor, and project coordinator. Growing up in Sudbury, Ontario, she was inspired by her aboriginal heritage and found comfort in expressing this passion through art. Using vibrant colours, her art reflects storytelling, expression of personal feelings, and connections she has made. In 2019, she graduated from the Cambrian College Visual Arts and Design program. She is an active member of Sudbury’s arts community. She has enjoyed working alongside the not-for-profit organization as the Project Coordinator of Live Love Louder, where they facilitate inclusive murals and art activities around their community.

About the design, Raven stated: “I was inspired by the input to make it more botanical and bright, adding an energetic and positive atmosphere. Also wanted to portray the interconnection of nature and community – lots of symbolism and dual interpretations of growth, health, and knowledge.”

While Sam Barry had this to share…

Aanii boozhoo, Sam ndizhinikaaz, N’Swakamok ndonjiibaa, miinwaa Maniwaki ndonjiiba, Algonquin agokwe ndow.

Hi, my name is Sam (they/them), and I am a 2-Spirit artist, academic and activist based in N’Swakamok (Sudbury, ON). I am a mixed Indigenous person with maternal family roots in Maniwaki (KZFN, QC). From a young age, I’ve engaged in Artivism, using creativity to unite both my artistic and activist works. I am a visual artist, primarily working as a muralist and creating vibrant acrylic on canvas and digital art pieces. I am a community member of N’Swakamok (Sudbury), and I am a member of the Youth Action Committee at Cannabis and Mental Health (C&MH). I was brought on board to collaborate with Raven Debassige and the youth from the Ryan Heights community.

Working with another Indigenous artist and a community of youths and their families meant that I could engage in a community arts project for the first time. My murals have all mostly been done by myself;  this provided an opportunity to explore collaborative art. This mural is a reflection and a product of so many different people, conversations, and ideas, and to me, that is the most beautiful part. As a person who works in harm reduction, I explored different ways of articulating why and how harm reduction is important to our communities in ways I typically don’t have to think about.

In my work with Cannabis and Mental Health on the Youth Action Committee, I’ve been involved for two years now, and I am so grateful to have been a part of an organization that involves and listens to youth, our lived experience and our harm reduction needs. I’ve met like-minded people who uplifted me in my work and helped connect me further in the field I want to keep working in.

If you travel in the Cambrian Heights area of Sudbury, stop by the Kwikway to see the mural! Chii-miigwetch to all who made this possible!

Written in collaboration with Connor Lafortune,
Indigenous Strategic Advisor at the Cannabis & Mental Health Project.