Department NEWS

By  Lynn McDowell, Director of Planned Giving | Philanthropy

SCULPTURE COMMISSIONED BY CITY OF LACOMBE FROM MANS STUDENTS/PHILANTHROPISTS

On September 26, in a public ceremony with city dignitaries and members of the Maskwacis community, he City of Lacombe unveiled a sculpture created at Mamawi Atosketan Native School (MANS) by two students and vice-principal Mike Willing in the Leon Ingraham Industrial Arts/CTS Building.

Miweyihtowin, (Cree for “Affinity for Each Other”) depicts sharp-tailed grouse, also known as “prairie chickens,” which were an important food source for both First Nations and settlers after the bison were decimated. Photo by Todd Vaughan, City of Lacombe.

The City’s public art committee enthusiastically endorsed the proposal for Miweyihtowin (Cree for “affinity for each other”), which was created over the summer by Eileen Firingstoney (grade 11), Tessa Potts (class of 2020), and Mike Willing (vice principal, junior and senior high school). The artists invested 450 hours in the welded steel sculpture that was installed adjacent to the traffic circle at the intersection of College Avenue and Calgary-Edmonton Trail.

Mike Willing addressed the unveiling attendees on behalf of Eileen Firingstoney (centre) and Tessa Potts (right), who designed the sculpture and were the primary welders.

Firingstoney and Potts, upon learning of unexpected costs for COVID-19 measures mandated this fall, donated a significant part of their commission proceeds to MANS, thus becoming the school’s first major donors from currently-enrolled students and recently-graduated alumni.

Growing Up and Giving Back: Eileen Firingstoney and Tessa Potts not only demonstrated welding skill and worked long hours to deliver Miweyihtowin on schedule, the MANS student and recent graduate also donated a major gift from their commission proceeds to help fund new COVID-19 safety measures at MANS.

Go to mans1.ca to watch the video of the event, which includes interviews of the student and alumna artist, as well as Willing’s speech. Firingstoney and Potts also talk about their connection to welding in two short videos, First in My House (Potts) and Eileen’s Gift (Firingstoney) in the site’s video section. Willing’s speech is posted in the “Impact Stories” section of the website.