Emma’s art has a message.
Gedakina is thrilled to be celebrating one of our own youth — and one of Gedakin’s youngest staff members.
Below, her school shares the news.
“We are thrilled to share some fantastic developments happening at our school for our students. One of our standout students, Emma, from our art program, deserves special recognition. We are incredibly proud to announce that her artwork will be showcased at the Capitol building in Augusta. This is an extraordinary achievement for Emma and a testament to her immense talent and dedication.
Emma’s art not only reflects her creativity but also her hard work and passion for expressing herself through this medium. It is a remarkable milestone, as this is the very first time a student from Calais High School has earned recognition in the prestigious Maine Excellence in Art Education competition.
… Her success is an inspiration to all of us and highlights the incredible potential of our students. Emma's artistic talent is truly something to celebrate, and we look forward to seeing her continue to shine in the world of art!”
Calais Middle/High School administration
Drawing by Emma Levesque.
In the center of the drawing is an Indigenous woman, eyes staring straight ahead at the viewer. A brown headband wraps her forehead and a feather is tucked behind her hair pointing straight upward all in pencil. A red hand is drawn across her face hiding her mouth and part of her nose. The red hand is symbolic of MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman Girls and Two Spirits - May 5th is the National Day of Awareness (officially recognized in Canada). The young woman’s braids curve down and to the left with one of her braids forming part of the blue-colored river. Her other braid forming part of a fence that frames the words, Kill The Indian Save The Man (a statement attributed to Captain Richard Henry Pratt made in a speech in which he used the now well-known phrase to describe his philosophy of assimilation and methodology of indoctrination away from Indigenous culture and community). Above the words are at least 14 faces drawn in graphite crying and tortured looking up. Above the faces is an Indian boarding school also lacking in color, drawn in pencil. A pencil-drawing of an eagle flys in the sky above the boarding school. The sky fills half the page sectioned by strong black lines segmented into shades of strong reds, pinks, oranges and yellow shards. A graphite drawn tree with few leaves is left colorless with green moss-like image growing in its crevices. An arrow pierces the hollow in the tree. The tree alludes to the Creation story when the legendary figure Gluskabe (or Glooskap) shot an arrow into a brown ash tree, and from its bark, the Passamaquoddy people emerged, singing and dancing, thus beginning their existence and the tradition of basketry.