National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two Spirit People

October 4 was National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two Spirit People (MMIWG2S+). To commemorate this day, the Patrick Power Library, Indigenous Student Advisor, and Indigenous Student Society President invited Denise Pictou-Maloney to share stories of her lived experience and activism work with MMIWG2S+. At the end of the discussion, participants had the opportunity to hang red dresses in the library windows. The dresses symbolise and honour the women, girls and Two-Spirit people who are missing and murdered. Everyone is welcome to visit the Library to view the installment.

Equity, diversity and inclusion resources for SMU faculty and staff

The Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion is a Canadian organization that focuses on diversity and inclusion, and human rights and equity, specifically in Canada's workplaces and schools. Saint Mary's University is an employer partner with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) which provides us with several benefits that will support us on our diversity and inclusion journey.

The following benefits are available to all faculty and staff:

• Monthly newsletter, Diversity Ink.
  CCDI’s monthly newsletter provides information about CCDI events and research, and other pertinent news from the Canadian diversity and inclusion realm. Subscribe here. You can view past editions of their Diversity Ink newsletter here.

• CCDI Knowledge Repository
  As part of the “Members Only” portal on their website, CCDI has an e-library with over 1,000 documents containing Canadian-specific and international diversity and inclusion research, reports, toolkits and news, which are indexed and searchable by multiple parameters (e.g. by keyword, by topic, etc.). This e-library is an evergreen resource and new content is continually being added. If you would like access to the Knowledge Repository, you can self-register here.

• Monthly webinars
  CCDI offers educational webinars which are free for all of our employees. Registration is currently open for the 2021 calendar year. Click here to see a list of topics and dates. Previously recorded webinars can be accessed via the Knowledge Repository.

• In-person events
  CCDI hosts best-practice forums and Community of Practice events in 18 cities across Canada twice per year. Check this page regularly to see when new dates have been added.

  Questions? Please contact Dr. Rohini Bannerjee, AVP Diversity Excellence or Deborah Brothers-Scott, Director Diversity Inclusion and Wellness, People and Culture.

Upcoming webinars

Register now for the third and fourth webinars in our LGBTQ2+ Inclusion in the Workplace series.
These events are open to all and offered at no charge. Pre-registration is required.

Reconciling Identity: A discussion about Two-Spirit people within the LGBTQ2+ communities
Wednesday, September 21, 2022, at 1 p.m. Eastern

All the T: A discussion on gender within the LGBTQ2+ communities
Wednesday, November 16, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern

Making it Mya event photo gallery

June is Pride Month. Wednesday, June 15, the SMU community gathered for Making it Mya: A Drag Dialogue with Dillon Ross at the Patrick Power Library.

DILLON ROSS BComm’17 completed a double major in Human Resource Management and Marketing from the Sobey School of Business and a minor in French from the Faculty of Arts.

In addition to working as an HR professional, Dillon also performs as Mya Foxx, a Halifax-based drag performer known for her high-energy performances and choreography. From live performances to dance workshops to inspirational talks, Mya strives to ensure opportunities and accessibility for the 2SLGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities.

Saint Mary’s Art Gallery opens its doors to “Phase Variations”

Lou Sheppard

After two years of limited operations due to the pandemic, the Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery is thrilled to announce “Phase Variations,” a new, in-person installation by interdisciplinary contemporary artist Lou Sheppard.

Sheppard is a transmasculine Nova Scotian artist and rising star in the art world, with works that have been shortlisted for the prestigious Sobey Art Award.

With its keen focus on contemporary art and interest in supporting Canadian and local artists, the Art Gallery offers an opportunity for visitors to step outside of their daily lives to learn and discover something new—something the community has undoubtedly missed during COVID-19 restrictions.

“It is an honour to be the first show back in the gallery space, and I hope that students, staff, faculty and the community feel welcomed back into the space,” says Sheppard. “It is a place to shift perspectives, feel uncertain, be challenged, learn and feel differently.”

“It is a place to shift perspectives, feel uncertain, be challenged, learn and feel differently.”

— Lou Sheppard

“Phase Variations” aims to rediscover and celebrate queer history in Atlantic Canada, a history often overlooked, excluded and erased. Created by Sheppard and curated by Robin Metcalfe, former director and curator of the Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery, the project pulls from Metcalfe’s archive of queer history in Atlantic Canada. The archive of materials includes photographs, newspapers and other communications associated with the queer experience from the 1970s to the present.

“I visited Robin Metcalfe’s archives to draw out fragments, which I used as poetic points of entry into the works in the exhibition,” says Sheppard. “For example, the video piece, ‘Send Them All to Sable Island,’ is based on an offhand remark by a Halifax area mayor in the 80s in reference to people with AIDS. In the video work, I imagined Sable Island as a queer commune or hospice by overlaying fragments of queer conversations that I drew from Metcalfe’s archives. In front of the video work are ten sets of sheets, each of which have been slept on by queer friends.”

The show’s title is borrowed from the biological process whereby bacteria adapt to rapidly changing environments. It is also a nod to a musical term that refers to developing out-of-sync sounds waves resulting in a strumming effect – repeated musical passages in a slightly altered form. These terms inspired Sheppard’s interpretation of the selection of archived materials to represent the forgotten history of the queer community in a positive way.

“When you walk into the space, you don’t feel the darkness surrounding being queer in the ’70s,” says Pam Corell, Assistant Curator at the Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery. “Lou does an excellent job bringing his positive outlook on life to create a celebratory aspect to such a dark period for the queer community.”

In addition to the exhibit, visitors can view some of the inspiration materials from the archive in the Reading Room. Created by Sheppard, these materials were curated by Undine Foulds, the Halifax Young Curator for the Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery.

This is the second year the gallery has hosted a Halifax Young Curator, an internship for emerging or young curators who live or explore barriers to the contemporary art sector.

“I hope people can experience a sense of queer history in the space,” says Sheppard. “We’re living in a time where queer identity is very visible and can be publicly celebrated, but that hasn’t always been the case. It is important to know who worked for the freedoms we have today.”

“Phase Variations” runs until April 17. The gallery is currently operating from noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.

The Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery was established in 1971 and was the first purpose-built university art gallery in Halifax. Built to National Gallery of Canada Standards, it focuses on contemporary art.