The goal is pretty simple, pretty straightforward: make Salmon Arm a safe and comfortable place for everyone.
When entering 乌鸦传媒淎 Place to Belong乌鸦传媒� exhibition at the Salmon Arm Art Gallery, you乌鸦传媒檒l see a large, brightly coloured quilt on one wall, along with several smaller framed creations on adjacent walls.
The smaller pieces are part of a Cultural Mapping Research Project.
Director/curator Tracey Kutschker explained that when it was decided to do an arts-based PRIDE Project designed to bring awareness and acceptance, a question arose.
乌鸦传媒淲hat place are we starting from?乌鸦传媒�
Kutschker and Kate Fagervik, who was then working for the arts centre, noticed a lack of information and research about 2SLGBTQ safety and wellness in Salmon Arm.
乌鸦传媒淲hat would be the use of having a whole festival downtown if it wasn乌鸦传媒檛 a safe space for them?乌鸦传媒� asked Kutschker.
Fortunately, Fagervik had experience with cultural mapping. As well, her father, Dr. Will Garrett-Petts at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, 乌鸦传媒渋s basically a leader of cultural mapping training systems in the province,乌鸦传媒� Kuschker added.
He is in demand and has done cultural mapping of the opioid crisis as well as the unhoused crisis, she explained.
乌鸦传媒淪o they乌鸦传媒檙e all over the place doing amazing work and they were very generous with us doing this.乌鸦传媒�
She said the project, which was born three years ago, follows research protocols and strict ethics guidelines provided by TRU.
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Over two years, the project team met with 25 participants who contributed powerful stories and maps within sessions. Participants were asked: 乌鸦传媒淎s you move throughout downtown Salmon Arm, where do you feel most comfortable, and where do you feel least comfortable?乌鸦传媒�
In 2022, Garrett-Petts and graduate students returned to analyze the maps and distill the data.
One repeated finding was places that allowed for creative self-expression were deemed safe places. A couple of examples were Shuswap Theatre and the Roots and Blues festival.
乌鸦传媒淲here people feel free to do and then free to be themselves. And some places that might feel like they should be a creative space are not a safe space because they don乌鸦传媒檛 allow for that open self-expression,乌鸦传媒� Kutschker explained.
Eighteen of the 25 participants, all of whom remained anonymous, agreed to show their maps at the exhibition. Along with the maps 乌鸦传媒� some containing many details with others more abstract in their art form, a transcript of an interview with each participant was made. The transcripts aren乌鸦传媒檛 used in the exhibition but much of the research data is compiled from them. Excerpts from some transcripts are on the gallery walls above the maps.
One, for example, says: 乌鸦传媒渢he burn outs on the rainbow crosswalks乌鸦传媒� you have uninformed people saying, 乌鸦传媒榳hat乌鸦传媒檚 the big deal; it乌鸦传媒檚 just a sidewalk, just some tire marks.乌鸦传媒� It isn乌鸦传媒檛 just a mark on a sidewalk. It is a statement 乌鸦传媒� it乌鸦传媒檚 a statement that we don乌鸦传媒檛 belong and we乌鸦传媒檙e not welcome.乌鸦传媒�
A final report is being prepared. It will be presented to city council and copies distributed to organizations such as Downtown Salmon Arm, Salmon Arm Economic Development and the Chamber of Commerce.
It won乌鸦传媒檛 identify businesses.
乌鸦传媒淚 think that乌鸦传媒檚 a good thing because businesses can change,乌鸦传媒� said Kutschker. 乌鸦传媒淎nd I would never want to publish something that said, this one place is unsafe because of one individual乌鸦传媒檚 bad experience with one human. That乌鸦传媒檚 one thing we乌鸦传媒檝e learned. There really is no safe space, there are only safe humans.乌鸦传媒�
She is hopeful that if a business sees itself identified once or twice on the maps in the exhibition as safe and a couple of times as unsafe, it might look at what it could do better. Perhaps training staff to be more inclusive, or creating a policy about how they introduce themselves to people.
Kutschker noted what乌鸦传媒檚 key is there are people who have grown up in Salmon Arm or who have lived in town for many years, and they don乌鸦传媒檛 feel they belong because of how they乌鸦传媒檙e treated.
She said the mapping project helps raise awareness for people who haven乌鸦传媒檛 experienced the daily reality of feeling unsafe.
乌鸦传媒淎ll we want is for everyone to feel like Salmon Arm is their home. That乌鸦传媒檚 the goal. To keep moving in that direction.乌鸦传媒�
A Place to Belong is at the art gallery Tuesday, Oct. 25 through Saturday, Oct. 29, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m, except for Thursday, open to 7 p.m.
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martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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