Linda Brown stands next to her recreated artwork.
to include artwork in Glacier Run
complex, I mentioned that I really
that could help tell the story of the
wanted to create something like
Inuit people. Then, while walk-
one of the beautiful wall hangings
ing through the Churchill Town
I had seen. Linda Brown, a Louis-
Centre Complex (where the town
ville Zoo docent, volunteered to
library and indoor playground are
make one just like it. I contacted
found), I took pictures of large
the authorities in Churchill, and got
wall hangings that would
permission along with de-
be ideal for the Glacier
tailed information on how
"Did
Run classroom. These
the original was created.
large wall hang-
120 hours later, it was
their hands
ings were sewn
What a
move like mine completed.
by women in the
labor of love — and
area between
as they stitched? it was identical,
1972 and 1974.
material and
Were they taught felt
The images in
all! Linda told me
the hangings
the stitches by their as she made this
came from the
wall hanging, she
mothers and
daily life of the
couldn’t help but
Caribou Eskimo
grandmothers wonder about the
people of the Central
artists who created it.
as I was?" “Did
Barren Lands and their
their hands move
traditional legends. The
like mine as they stitched?
women who made garments
Did they gossip as they sewed?
from animal hides and sinew, their
Were they taught the stitches by
principal occupation, created the
their mothers and grandmothers as
wall hangings using traditional sew- I was?”
ing techniques. These pieces of art
Over the years, Zoo educators
truly convey the imagination and
have been able to use this wall
talents of the Inuit women working
hanging to connect students and
in their largest and most colorful
teachers to life in the Arctic Circle.
medium. They are considered to be
How is life there different or similar
one of the most expressive works of to ours?
art to come out of the Northwest
Next time you visit Glacier Run,
Territories.
go into the classroom (when not in
When I returned from the
use) and see this piece as well as
some of the other donated artwork.
One of the art pieces has a special
meaning to me and to my husband
as we bought it in a yard sale 45
years ago. The artist, Ouvianatuliak
Parr, was a well-known Cape Dorset
artist. Since the 1950s, Cape Dor-
set, which calls itself the “Capital
of Inuit Art”, has been a centre for
drawing, printmaking, and carv-
ing even into today. This particular
piece, “Man Among the Walrus” is
a stone cut print, invented in Cape
Dorset. With the stone cut method
every print is truly an original as no
two will be exactly the same. An-
other piece, donated by Margaret
Fonda and George Hebener (past
Louisville Zoo docents) is a mask
made out of walrus bone and hair.
These remarkable artifacts truly
demonstrate the life and culture of
the people living in these remote
places. And, while you may never
be able to visit faraway lands, we
hope the art inspires you to feel
a connection to the people and
animals from that part of the world
and consider how we can help
sustain those environments. The
future of animals and plants around
the world depends on all of us. Let’s
find a way to live in balance with
the natural world so that we all may
thrive and continue to share the
wonder of these beautiful places.
Louisville Zoo Trunkline • Summer 2017 • 13