Vietgen worked with eight Brock teacher candidates to run visual arts workshops with an \u2018Art and Sports\u2019 theme in local elementary and secondary schools, helping students to learn about the determination and passion that drives athletes competing in the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games.<\/p>\n
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Students from the Courage to Soar Program collaborated to create a ‘Team Courage to Soar’ lacrosse jersey commemorating their class identity and celebrating the sport, which was invented by the Haudenosaunee people.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cAs they were working on their artwork, students were able to see how the creative process and participating in sports share common elements \u2014 both require a high level of concentration and both revolve around skill development that can be nurtured and advanced,\u201d said Vietgen.<\/p>\n
With the help of his team and their teachers, about 150 students from across Niagara worked in different media to create works exploring topics related sports and nationalism.<\/p>\n
A high school visual arts class at Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School in Grimsby, for example, created storyboards and tableau sculptures expressing their interpretation of teamwork, while students at St. Mary Catholic Elementary School in Welland collaborated on a pictorial representation of a turtle shell, in honour of the Summer Games\u2019 mascot<\/a>, Shelly. Students from the Niagara Catholic District School Board\u2019s Soaring Eagles Alternative Secondary Program created art inspired by the stories of Indigenous athletes.<\/p>\n Students also participated from A.N. Myer Secondary School and Simcoe Street Public School in Niagara Falls, Connaught Public School and Eden High School in St. Catharines, and the Courage to Soar Program, which is offered by Fort Erie Secondary School and the District School Board of Niagara at the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre.<\/p>\n The student artwork is now on display at the Grimsby Public Art Gallery, Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre, Welland Public Library-City Hall Complex, St. Catharines Public Library\u2019s Central Library Branch, Niagara Regional Native Centre and Niagara Falls Public Library.<\/p>\n