FUTURES/forward Mentee, Renée Michaud — cohort #3 triad, October 2020 to March 2021 — mentored by Laura Barron

As part of the triad model, Renée was placed as an artist-in-residence at the Prairie Chapter of Sierra Club Canada.

The community-engaged arts project co-created with the Sierra Club Prairie Chapter: Nature as Muse, a poetry and mixed media series of artmaking workshops hosted over zoom.

RENÉE MICHAUD is a versatile self-taught multidisciplinary artist and cultural producer whose community-engaged arts practice is dedicated to social change in the areas of environmental sustainability, gender equality, and mental health and well-being. She is an emerging spoken word and visual artist, as well as a conscious DJ who continues to create substance-free and inclusive spaces for creative expression and deep connection with our inner selves and with others. Renée is an International Coach Federation candidate, Work & Wellness Coach to creatives, and founder of Uneety Coaching and Creative Co. After 10 years of experience in communications and higher education, she finally followed her growing curiosity about the arts and spirituality by leaping into creative entrepreneurship in 2019. She is an Anishinabeg native from North Bay, Ontario area now residing in Chelsea, QC, and working on both sides of the Ottawa River.

Nature as Muse: A Knowledge-Sharing Interview with Art for Social Change Facilitators

As part of the Nature as Muse poetry, visual art and nature immersion workshop series, folks from across Canada gathered weekly for 8 weeks in a virtual setting to learn about and create poetry, Indigenous legends and visual art together. Their creations were inspired by a walk in nature taken during the workshop or in the days leading up to it. Over 100 poems, stories and visual art pieces were created by 15+ participants as part of this community project. Co-creation occurred during a time when many were in lockdown due to COVID-19 and the need for meaningful connection with others and with nature was higher than ever.

In this interview, community-engaged artists Renée Michaud and Laura Barron tell us about their experience co-creating a nature-inspired art workshop series with their partner organization, the Sierra Club Canada Foundation – Prairie Chapter, to deepen participants’ connection to Mother Earth and their sense of stewardship for the environmental. The artists-in-residence also curated a series of 12 nature-based art activities that can be facilitated with community by SCCF staff and volunteers or local artists. In this video, the interviewees provide insight on their own creative processes and discuss project outcomes, challenges and success as well as themes relevant to careers in art for social change.

Some of the questions addressed in this interview include:

• Who were your participants, what type of art did they make and how were they impacted?
• What were the most valuable components of your workshop series?
• How was your overall experience as part of the mentorship program?
• What aspects were most rewarding?
• Were there any surprises?
• What did you learn that was most valuable to you in your practice?
• What does this experience make you think about a future in ASC?

*****Acknowledgments for video:
Music in interview: Kerchingless Wonder by Doctor Turtle
License: Creative Commons BY 4.0
Link to song and license: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Doctor_Turtle/5f91e09024ca8

ICASC wishes to thank the Sierra Club Canada Foundation – Prairie Chapter for this collaboration and hosting Renée Michaud’s artist-in-residency. FUTURES/forward gratefully acknowledges that Renée’s mentorship thrived due in part to the generous support of the McConnell Foundation, Judith Marcuse Projects, the Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Support Fund and Community Foundations of Canada.