The Stories from the Land installation consists of native plants and art panels woven together by seating to draw attention to the beauty and intelligence of the land. It will be located along the Bow River pathway West of Eau Claire.

Visitors are invited to sit, learn and experience the land and territories where Calgary is located. The work encourages people to explore how to be a good guest based on Indigenous protocols. With consultation and collaboration at the heart of the process, the project reflects on what it means to create space for Indigenous storytelling in Calgary's public spaces.

Stories from the Land actively seeks to dissolve the colonial nature of public space by affirming Indigenous belonging. For those originally from this land, and for Indigenous peoples who've come to the city from other territories, this installation provides a space of representation, cultural grounding and celebration of relationships to the land.

This project was funded through 2020 public art microgrants which supported artists impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. We invited Calgary and area artists to submit their project ideas to create art in public spaces. Professional artists of all experience levels were encouraged to partner with community associations, businesses or private landowners to explore any form of public art in any part of the city.

The successful artists were asked to consider three things:

• Connection to place: How does your artistic idea connect to the location and its history?
• Engaging the community: How is your artwork connected to the community and the people in it?
• Fostering dialogue: How will your artwork create dialogue about diversity, empathy, accessibility, equality, social justice and/or the environment, as well as Indigenous history and creating a path towards reconciliation?

Meighan, Arynn and Michayla King are a collective of visual artists and designers. The three sisters have spent most of their lives growing up in Calgary.

They are members of the Kwickwasut'inuxw Haxwa'mis First Nation and are of Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw, Métis and European descent. In their art, they seek to explore the meaning of process and making in relation to their own identity.

As guests living in Treaty 7 territory, they practice coming with good hearts and striving to create good relationships with the land, the people and the places where they're grateful to live and work.