Barbara Meneley facts for kids

Barbara Meneley is a modern Canadian visual artist and teacher. She lives in Regina, Saskatchewan. She is known for her new media art, which uses different types of media, installation art, and performance art. Her art has been shown in many solo and group exhibitions across Canada.

About Barbara Meneley

Barbara Meneley studied at several universities. She earned degrees from Simon Fraser University, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, University of Regina, and Queen's University.

Today, she teaches at the University of Regina and the First Nations University of Canada in Regina.

How She Creates Art

Barbara Meneley uses a special way of creating art that mixes research with her artistic projects. She often combines different elements like media, installation art (where art is set up in a space), and performance art (where the artist performs).

She also uses cultural mapping ideas. This means she talks with people, looks at history, and studies ideas to help her art. For example, when she is working on a project, she asks for ideas and comments from the public. This helps her research and artwork grow from what people think and say.

Barbara believes that everyone has creative abilities. She wants her art to help people find their own ways to express themselves. She has said that her art process often involves solving problems. This helps her make sure her ideas, materials, and practical parts of her art are clear and strong.

Art Projects

Many of Barbara Meneley's projects explore her own experiences and how they connect to bigger ideas. She often looks at topics like colonial history, how institutions work, and land ownership issues. Here are some of her projects:

I Have a Secret (2007)

This short experimental film was shown in cities like Toronto, Calgary, Kingston, and Saskatoon. People described it as "remarkable for its linear innocence."

Luminance (2009-2010)

Barbara created Luminance while she was an artist-in-residence at the Isabel Johnson Shelter in Regina. She worked with people staying in shelters to make ice lanterns that were displayed all over the city. This project helped raise awareness about domestic violence. It showed that everyone can help make spaces safe.

The Breathing City (2010)

As an artist-in-residence at the Saskatchewan Arts Board, Barbara worked with visitors at the Queen City EX 2010. Together, they created a collaborative art installation called The Breathing City.

The Whispering City (2010)

This artwork was part of a group show called Natural Forms. Barbara's piece, The Whispering City, looked at city planning and the "City Beautiful" movement. She used city plans and maps to create a mobile made of light paper strips. These strips moved with the slightest air currents or movements from people watching.

Barbara wanted viewers to feel like they could make a difference. She wanted to show that "Everyone makes a mark on their city, each person can change the city fabric." She also believes it's important to connect buildings with their local environment.

Unofficial Apology (2011)

In her performance piece Unofficial Apology, Barbara used red and white maple leaf flags to physically spell out the word "apology" using semaphore signals. She created this piece after the Canadian government apologized to Indigenous people for the history of residential schools in 2008. It also questioned the government's decision to cut funding for the First Nations University of Canada in 2010.

Unsettling the Last Best West (2012-2015)

For her PhD project, Barbara created Unsettling the Last Best West: Restorying Settler Imaginaries. In this project, she explored her own background as a "settler" and "treaty person." She wanted to encourage conversations about anti-colonial ideas and reconciliation. This project looked at how art was used to promote colonial ideas and bring settlers to Canada in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

This big project included five smaller parts:

• Leaf Forever, a video animation (2012).
• Unsettling, a performance (2015).
• A Complicated Hole, a performance video (2014).
• Unmapping Assiniboia, paper and digital artworks (2014).
• Unsettling the Last Best West, a book (2014).

Barbara's work challenges these old ways of thinking. She takes old colonial images and ideas, then changes them to create new meanings.

Prairie History Redux (2016)

Barbara displayed Prairie History Redux at the Regina Public Library. This project explores the history of the prairies from long ago to today. She traced parts of her previous artworks onto see-through paper. These fragile artworks move with the air and with people walking by, creating a close connection between the art and the viewers.

Barbara didn't follow a strict plan for this project. She chose images and texts that interested her. She then traced and grouped them, sometimes putting together ideas that seemed to contradict each other. This encouraged people to think and talk about the many overlapping histories of the area. Just like in her other works, Barbara shows how art can be used to help people change and to comment on social and political issues.

Images for kids

• Barbara Meneley A Complicated Hole video still 2014.jpg

  Barbara Meneley A Complicated Hole video still 2014.