Neskantaga art show highlights hope

The paintings that Josh Kendricks displayed at a Toronto gallery last week have a lot of sadness in them. That sadness was a big part of his personal reality at the time the works were created. It also reflected the atmosphere in his community of Neskantaga.
But talk to Kendricks about the art he is creating now and the overwhelming emotion is one of hope.
“These paintings came from my depression, everybody’s depression,” Kendricks said of the three works on display in Toronto. “There are sad faces on most of them. That is the foundation, where I came from.
“But the next step is teaching to get out of depression. Those are the next ones, the ones I’m excited about,” the 23-year-old said. “In all my drawings now I’m trying to put hope in there. I’ve got a sense now of what I want to do with art to help people, to help the youth connect with Elders and connect with their culture.”
Kendricks’ work was on display at the Youth Voices of Neskantaga art show at the Beit Zatoun gallery in Toronto from July 26 to August 1, along with photos, poetry and music videos from other youth of Neskantaga.
North-South Partnership for Children organized the gallery show, following up on a similar art show that was held in Neskantaga in May after the community declared a state of emergency over the prevalence of suicides by youth.
Kelvin Moonias, a Neskantaga band councilor, said North-South’s involvement in the community was much needed during a difficult time.
“I’m very happy that they came, glad somebody was there hearing our voices,” Moonias said. “It saved our youth.”
Moonias said the art show held in Neskantaga, which brought a large turnout of community members together, instilled a sense of pride in Neskantaga at how talented the youth of the community really are.
Now that they have the chance to display their talents in Toronto, Moonias said the youth of Neskantaga have been given a great opportunity.
“I didn’t know what good artists they are until I saw their work,” Moonias said. “I hope this opportunity opens the doors for our young people. I hope they’ll go a long way with this.”
Alyssa Moonias has been taking photographs of her community, friends and family for nearly a year. The 15-year-old called the chance to display her work to a Toronto audience “a big accomplishment.”
“We made it this far with our art,” she said. “It’s a big deal.”
Alyssa Moonias said the community has embraced the talents of the youth, and has supported her and her peers in the creative process.
“We’re finally coming together once again,” she said.
As for Kendricks, he sees a bright future for his art involving different mediums and different styles, what he calls an artistic ‘fusion’.
He also emphasized that his art is growing as he gains age and experiences, into something that moves away from the depression of his early years.
“The more I learn, the more vivid it all becomes,” Kendricks said. “My style has changed, and my works have more teachings in them, more positive meaning. These new ones are more complex, with more vision, and this is just the beginning. These are just the first steps.”
Yet one of the lessons he learned from the paintings that were displayed in Toronto will stick with him. Three of the paintings were drawn by Kendricks, and then painted by a group of youth from Neskantaga.
“It made me realize you can bring people together through art,” Kendricks said. “I want to do more of that, have more people come together to paint my drawings.
“We all have our own talents, and when everybody works together I believe that Neskantaga can do something to put itself on the map,” Kendricks said. “If we put it all together, we can create everything from nothing.”