This was the second reception I’ve attended at the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts, the RBC Emerging Artists Project.

The first time I was invited by a former student. She had done visual art for one of my assignments and it was awesome. I had encouraged her to formalize it by writing a commentary for each piece. She did after the course was over, in a blog which I’ve shared many times on Facebook. I recall there was a young Indigenous man who was one of the three at that time. So I’m now wondering if RBC deliberately includes an Indigenous person in the line-up.

I met Crystal Dillon at the Red Road Healing Society family longhouse night with her children. She was enthusiastic about the exhibition and invited everyone to attend. The reception was very classy with an instrumentalist playing for the enjoyment of those viewing the art with a fine choice of refreshments available.

While there, she shared some of her story with me. A young First Nations woman who recently graduated from an arts program, she is adjusting to the transition of becoming a professional. Knowing how to price her work is a challenge she told me. Crystal draws, paints, and sculpts. She had already sold one of her works. I hope she does well in the future! In the meantime, I plan to attend more receptions at “The Nina” and hope to see more emerging Indigenous artists there.