(Fort McMurray, AB - May 31st, 2023) Westwood Community High School has unveiled its latest artistic triumph: the magnificent "THE SCARLET PATH HOLDS" installation. Comprising three separate round tondos, the triptych unites to form a breathtakingly cohesive artistic statement, all interconnected by a red line, the scarlet path. Westwood's art class utilized their creative prowess to depict their vision of three divine realms of understanding and ideology. The resulting artwork is a stunning testament to the power of collaboration and creativity.
Each round tondo is an artistic masterpiece representing understanding and ideology's differences and similarities.
The top tondo is titled: MYSTERY AND THE SACRED
The middle tondo is titled: HUMAN CIVILIZATION
The bottom tondo is titled: THE WORLD OF NATURE THE CIRCLE OF LIFE
Along with assistance from their Art teacher, Marina Swagers, Westwood students were fortunate enough to gain the wisdom and expertise of artist Garry Berteig. This is Garry’s second piece within the FMPSD; he had previously assisted in creating a healing circle last year, which is on display at the entrance of Composite High School. Garry worked more as a mentor for art students at Westwood rather than directing students towards a preconceived project. Letting the creativity of the students run wild resulted in a final product that was truly their own.
Garry's initial vision for the 3 tondos involved the themes of spiritual, humankind, and nature realms, but the artistic choices were left up to the children. The scarlet path that connects everything together in the main piece brought the artwork together in a meaningful and impactful way.
“In effect, the scarlet line or path that joins the three tondos symbolizes the relationships between all things the Creator brought into existence. Cultures have this primary relationship symbolized in their languages, arts, and architecture. The evidence seen in art history are illustrations of the amazing achievements that hold reflections of these understandings.”
Grade 12 student Maya Hemeid speaks about Garry’s involvement and the opportunity to work alongside a renowned artist like him.
“It was an honour to have Garry come in as an artist to teach us skills and new methods to think about art; we’re all very passionate about it, and to be taught by a professional is an incredibly lucky experience. I also appreciate that I was lucky enough to be a part of an artwork guaranteed to be a part of Westwood culture for a long time. I look forward to looking at it and knowing that I got to be a part of a unique way to give back to the school I practically grew up in.”
Westwood art teacher Marina Swagers shares a similar outlook on the piece in that it preserves various ideologies coming together to create a history.
“Art speaks to people very deeply; we have all of the artists’ hand prints within the humankind circle, which speaks to me because I think back to the human nature of wanting to leave their mark since the beginning of time, and as such, painted their art on walls regularly leaving hand prints as a sign throughout the ages. We need to paint, create and leave a record of ourselves; that’s what this is, a time capsule. It’s not only a beautiful piece, but it’s also a way for students to leave their mark here at Westwood.”
Although the piece was initially storyboarded per tondo, this art history wasn’t created overnight; however, the piece took nearly 6 months to complete and finally come together. Grade 12 student Faridah Yusuf speaks on the process of collaboration but still being able to express individualism through the piece during those 6 months.
“In the beginning, we had 7 students working on each tondo, but we kept shifting from circle to circle until we eventually came together to work as a group to highlight similarities in the overall piece. We would work on the project during our art class every other day; rather than working on separate projects, we collectively worked on the tondo but also took time to work on individual art pieces.”
The piece is a testament to the diverse environment that is Westwood - both culturally and ideologically. There are a lot of different cultures and beliefs, but equally similarities of various cultures being represented in the piece.
Westwood Community High School Principal Roxanne Fudge describes the piece as a “mosaic of what we are at Westwood, representing our staff and student body.”
“The interesting part about showcasing this unique art piece is knowing it’s truly an inclusive piece because we’ve had all of our art students create it, and it’s reflective of the work we’ve done at Westwood to create an inclusive environment for a school and maintaining the inclusivity.”
“It symbolizes our different identities, cultures and ideologies coming together.”
For additional information, contact:
Momin Syed
Communications Coordinator
Fort McMurray Public School Division
780-788-8009
communications@fmpsd.ab.ca