'X' marks the spot: Downtown Brandon art installation will highlight Manitoba treaty boundaries

When John Hampton moved to Brandon, Man., and became the executive director of the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba about a year ago, he noticed something missing from the city's downtown.

"There's a very large concentration of Indigenous people here in downtown Brandon but I didn't see that reflected on the buildings in the visual sphere," he said.

That will change on Thursday with the unveiling of a new outdoor exhibit on the side of the art gallery's downtown building.

A billboard measuring roughly 3.65 metres by 9.1 metres (12 feet by 30 feet) fixed to the building will showcase local Indigenous art for the next two years. 

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It's the biggest project the art gallery has ever undertaken. 

If we didn't know where the boundary between Manitoba and Saskatchewan was, that would be pretty perplexing.- John Hampton

"It seemed like it was a very important to get that Indigenous culture out there, visible on the streets," Hampton said. 

The first work to be displayed — The Crossing by local artist Colleen Cutschall — will give a visual representation of the boundary between the areas covered by Treaty 1 — which includes much of south-central Manitoba — and Treaty 2, which includes southwestern Manitoba, according to the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba.

It will also identify a natural crossing point in the Assiniboine River that was a key marker in locating the treaty boundaries. 

"It's an important piece of Brandon's history that's just not quite as visible as I think it should be," said Hampton. "Currently there's no landmark for it. There's nothing signifying where it is."

The historical boundary was recently rediscovered by local historian Tom Mitchell. However, it is still unmarked. 

"If you could imagine ... if we didn't know where the boundary between Manitoba and Saskatchewan was, that would be pretty perplexing," Hampton said. 

"It's the first time in probably 100 years that we've really actually known these boundaries, which is pretty phenomenal." 

3 other works 

Cutschall's piece will be displayed on the north side of the art gallery's exterior for six months. Three other works by emerging artists from Manitoba and Canada that showcase Indigenous culture will be displayed over a two-year period. 

The art gallery will host a block party in downtown Brandon on Thursday evening to officially unveil the billboard, which was being installed Wednesday afternoon. 

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Hampton said the art gallery worked closely with the Manitoba ​Métis Federation, the Brandon Friendship Centre and other groups in designing the project and selecting the art that will be displayed. 

An exhibit called Confluence — a series of portraits by Meryl McMaster that explores her own sense of identity as a woman of Plains Cree and Euro-Canadian heritage — will open inside the gallery at the same time. 

As for the outdoor exhibit, Hampton hopes it makes people stop and reflect.

"I hope the Indigenous culture can look at this map and see themselves reflected, see themselves named," he said.

"I hope everyone sees this and remembers the treaties of this territory, of that spirit of coming together and sharing that land as sovereign nations as long as the river flows."