Mi’kai’sto Red Crow Community College
Entro recently completed the planning, management and curation of an ambitious two-year art program for Mi’kai’sto (Red Crow Community College) in Stand Off, Alberta, a Kainai Blackfoot community located on the Blood Reserve. For over 30 years, Red Crow Community College has served both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students across southern Alberta. As the first Tribal College in Canada, Red Crow is a leader in delivering education rooted in Blackfoot culture to meet the needs of the students, Elders, and the broader community. The new campus includes a central gathering atrium, kitchen, childcare center, a round room, and a gymnasium that can be used for cultural celebrations and other events.
The new space needed to be meaningful to students and visitors, to encompass the college’s values and Blackfoot culture through art and language. The resulting collection features material, cultural symbols, and contextual elements that are essential to the Blackfoot identity and to the Mi’kai’sto message.
Artists responded to the program art committee and Elders’ briefing, which conveyed the aspirations for Mi’kai’sto, for the young people and the community, and the importance of the Blackfoot worldview, storytelling, and knowledge transfer, that through each work, welcome people into a Blackfoot space.
Fifteen Blackfoot and other invited artists have created original commissioned works of art for this new college facility, each responding to the program art committee and Elders’ briefing. The art program not only celebrates the community, but supports it. By developing a system of paid commissions, established and emerging Blackfoot artists were able to gain experience and showcase their work to a wider audience.
We wanted people to feel that they are in a Blackfoot space when they entered the building. We thought the very best way to do that is through art. Each individual piece throughout the building conveys our Blackfoot culture, history and ways of knowing. Collectively, the art tells the story of who we are, where we have been and what our future holds. It is a very special place.
The exterior monument complements the art program’s celebration of Blackfoot culture and stands as a landmark beacon in the community. Its design is derived from the form of a traditional Kainai stand-up headdress. The 22 colorfully patterned and illuminated poles stand in a circle with openings facing East and West, defining an accessible and intimate space for gathering, or the contemplation of the Blackfoot values printed on several of the poles.
The Mi’kai’sto project included the design of a bilingual wayfinding program for the129,000-square-foot facility. The use of Blackfoot language as the primary voice of communications throughout the school is the most culturally significant element of the program and an essential aspect of the Mi’kai’sto identity. Material selection, typography, cultural symbols and patterns combine to express a program that is clear, contextually relevant and integrated with the architecture.
Project Credits
Design Team: Chris Herringer (design director), Monika Meyer (designer), Shehrbano Aktar (designer), Kevin Cortez (designer), Sabrina Diehl (designer), Aleks Bozovic (designer), Colin Burrows (technical designer)
Architecture: Kasian Architecture
Physical Fabrication: WSI Sign Systems
Additional Collaborators: Lori Van Rooijen, Project Director and Owner’s Representative, Larkspur Group; Mary Beth Laviolette, Independent Curator; Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA), Art Loans
Artists: Mano’taanikaapi, Bryce Many Fingers/Singer; Naatoiyiki (Holy Whistle), Cheyenne McGinnis; Nato’yi’kina’soyi, Hali Heavy Shield; Ponokaki, Marjie Crop Eared Wolf; Koo Kii (Corner), Ryan Jason Allen Willert; Iniskim Aki, Janice Elizabeth Tanton (artist deeply connected to the Siksika Nation); Iinniiwahkiimah (Buffalo Herder) Terrance Houle; Iikaakskitowa (Wounded Mouth), Cowboy Smithx; Iikaamannistpo (Speaks more than one language, understand several thought systems), John Chief Calf; Faye HeavyShield; Apoiskumapi (Little Brown Boy), Adrian A. Stimson; Api’soomaahka, William Singer III/ Ahkoiinnimaki (Pipe Woman), Star Crop Eared Wolf; Aa Pa Man Ski (Across Singing), Delia Cross Child
Photos: Jason Dziver
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