Art on Ice for Social Housing
Selkirk, MB (November 27, 2017) When artists were given the chance to beautify six ice-fishing shacks for a new community project in Selkirk, Manitoba realism artist Mandy van Leeuwen decided it was a chance to talk about homelessness in Canada.
Mandy van Leeuwen’s large-scale murals can be seen all around Winnipeg, as well as The Pas and most recently in Churchill. As a streetscape artist, van Leeuwen has seen and spoken with people living on the street who would stop and admire her work.
“The inspiration for my ice-fishing shack comes from my experience of working on murals in many communities that want to renew buildings with art and positive transformation. Through this, I often see firsthand that many people face the daily struggle of trying to find a safe home or a good meal in all kinds of weather,” says van Leeuwen (pictured above), who joined the Art on Ice project this summer. “I created Inside-Outside House with the hope to share a perspective on a very real issue, to imagine what it might be like if the shoe was on the other foot.”
Proceeds to Homes for All Fund
Her Inside-Outside House depicts a living room on the outside of the four walls of the ice fishing shack. A partially opened door – that you would normally think leads “inside” – actually shows a wintery day as part of the illusion.
The Inside-Outside House is one of six ice-fishing shacks that will be auctioned off on Saturday, December 2 at 3 p.m. during Holiday Alley, a new winter street festival in downtown Selkirk. Artists as young as 14 have chosen themes that range from honouring the “Native Group of 7”, to depicting an Inuit sea spirit, and celebrating the area’s abundant catfish. The proceeds from the Art on Ice auction will be shared with the Selkirk & District Community Foundation’s Homes For All Fund.
The Homes For All Fund was created by Holiday Alley and Homes For The Holidays House and Heritage Tour in 2016. The fund allows local organizations, which operate non-profit housing such as homeless shelters, women’s shelters, homes for people living with developmental disabilities and nursing homes, to apply for funds to help improve homes for the people they give shelter to.
Art on Ice is supported by Home Hardware, The Window Factory, Jimmy Reel, Terry‘s Towing, Red River North Tourism, Interlake Tourism Association, Border Chemicals, Bridgeview Bed and Breakfast, and Buus Construction.
See the beginning of this project last June at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTwzNv1rjBs
For more on this and all the other activities taking place this weekend, visit the Holiday Alley website by clicking here.
