BYOBeads Indigenous ONLINE Beading Circle
Online Using Zoom. Register on Google HERE
Biweekly Thursday evenings, May 2 – July 11th, 2024
7-8:30pm – tune in any time!
FREE
REGISTER HERE FOR THE LINK!
BYOBeads is an Indigenous-led Beading Circle hosted by East End Arts with support from Native Women in the Arts. It’s a no-cost online space where creative people from across Turtle Island can sit together chatting, laughing and sharing our experiences while beading/creating together. Whether you are a full or part-time bead artist, or someone who is interested in beading, we welcome you to join us. This season’s BYOBeads is again led by Mel Bartel, a talented Toronto-based, 2 Spirit, Nishinaabe artist whose work lives at the intersection of colourful abstract art and traditional Anishinaabe beadwork.
We are thrilled to again be presenting an amazing selection of Indigenous Guest Artists as part of BYOBeads! Throughout the season, we will welcome talented Indigenous beading artists to share their work at one of our beading circles. Come and be inspired by the artistry, and bring questions that you’d like to ask. Scroll down to learn more about this season’s Guest Artists.
We hope to see you online!
NOTE: Sensitive and/or mature content may come up in BYOBeads programming. If at any time you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, or if you require support, please let the facilitator Mel Bartel or any of the East End Arts staff know and we will be more than happy to assist you.
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR:
MEL BARTEL: Toronto-based Nishinaabe artist Mel Bartel believes that all art is healing and therapeutic. It doesn’t matter if you are viewing it or creating it, the effects are the same.
She is known for her expressive and intuitive ability to capture emotion, personality and spirit. Her mediums are acrylic paint on wood cradled birch panels and bead work. She studied Art and Graphic Design at Claude Watson School of the Arts, George Brown College and briefly at Ontario College of Art & Design.
Mel grew up as a child in the Manitoba prairies and was raised by a Mennonite family. She is Sixties Scoop and her home community is Lac Seul First Nation.
Her Nishinaabe name is Nendowaaamjiget which means Seeker. This name is particularly fitting for Mel as it seems she has been seeking most of her life – for identity, her culture, her place in the world. She is a member of the Wolf Clan.
Following a successful period as Graphic Designer for Loblaw Brands Company designing President’s Choice product packaging, she has returned to expressive art as her primary focus.
UPCOMING BEADING NIGHTS:
- Thursday May 2nd, 2024 | 7-8:30pm – Welcome Back Session!
- Thursday May 16th, 2024 | 7-8:30pm – Lizzy Hill joining as Guest Star!
- Thursday May 30th, 2024 | 7-8:30pm – Mickenzie Martin joining as Guest Star!
- Thursday June 13th, 2024 | 7-8:30pm – Cher Chapman joining as Guest Star!
- Thursday June 27th, 2024 | 7-8:30pm – Elyse Indaig joining as Guest Star!
- Thursday July 11th, 2024 | 7-8:30pm – Krysta Furioso joining as Guest Star, and Closing Session!
REGISTER:
Be sure to register for BYOBeads by visiting our registration link HERE!
CIRCLE SCHEDULE:
BYOBeads is a very casual vibe, but for those of you looking for a bit of structure this is the approximate schedule for the evening:
7:00-7:05 – Ease into Space
7:05-7:15 – Welcome, Introductions
7:15-7:30 – Show and tell/update on Beadwork Projects
7:30-7:45 – Conversation with Guest Artist
7:45-8:25 – Open Discussion and Beading Time
8:25-8:30 – Closing Thoughts & Goodbye
A note to settlers interested in attending BYOBeads:
1) This is primarily an Indigenous circle, which is open for non-Indigenous folks to attend. Please don’t ask questions about culture, history, or politics. Lots of folk come here to unwind, and your questions are likely loaded in ways you may not understand. Hang out, listen, laugh, and be mindful of not taking up too much space.
2) If you are a settler looking to learn about beading, we strongly encourage you to seek out artists who offer workshops and classes, or who have made videos teaching – or heck, you could just offer somebody whose work you admire money to share what they know with you. The worst that could happen is that they say no, and one of the easiest ways that we can be allies is with our dollars.
This is a space that strives to be inclusive of all identities, but we don’t always get it right. Let us know if we can do anything to bring you in.
2024 GUEST ARTISTS:
Lizzy Hill – Thursday May 16, 2024
Lizzy Hill is an Ojibwe beader from Bay Mills Indian Community, located in the upper peninsula of Michigan on the shores of Gitchi Gami (Lake Superior). She was called to teach herself to bead as a way to connect with her ancestors in 2016, but began to really develop her craft in 2019 with the help of her twin sister, who is also a self-taught beader (@ajijaak.creations on Instagram if you want to check out her incredible work!). Lizzy believes that beadwork is a powerful medicine, and a sacred act. She creates each piece with deep-rooted love for her community and a passion to share her culture with others. She loves to create traditional pieces, like florals and bone chokers, while also adding a modern flare and a touch of nostalgia.
Mickenzie Martin – Thursday May 30, 2024
Mickenzie Martin is the contemporary beadwork artist behind the designs of Bead and Bloom (@bead.and.bloom). She is a member of the Mohawk Nation and bear clan from Six Nations of the Grand River where she was born and raised. Mickenzie learned her love of beading and design from her mother. She also had the privilege of learning beading techniques from community elders that taught at the Red Barn, a community summer program focused on teaching youth traditional and contemporary crafts. Mickenzie earned her Bachelor’s of Science with an Honours Specialization in Biology from Western University. She is currently a full-time PhD student studying the underlying mechanisms in the development of pancreatic cancer. Art, creativity, and beadwork has helped Mickenzie through many obstacles over the journey of her education. Mickenzie loves that through beadwork she can honour her family, culture, and community while also being able to express and center herself.
Cher Chapman – Thursday June 13, 2024
Cher Chapman is a bead artist from Fort William First Nation and a proud mother of Chloe. She specializes in intricate beadwork using the two-needle method with tiny beads, reflecting her Anishinaabe culture through floral and geometric design.
Elyse Indaig – Thursday June 27, 2024
Elyse is a mixed-Mohawk artist from Tkaranto. During her youth, she spent lots of time with her grandmother, hailing from the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve. Elyse was taught how to embroider from her grandmother and enjoyed the artistic aspects of her family’s Indigenous heritage. Over the last decade, Elyse has plunged head-first into an array of cultural activities, with her mother and grandmother’s memories serving as inspiration. Elyse’s primary focus is beading. For her, it is a methodical process allowing a duality of deep focus and a passive meditation. Beading has also been the opportunity to push the creativity that she had never previously found an outlet for, and serves as a way of connecting and sharing with peers within her community.
Krysta Furioso – Thursday July 11, 2024
As a beadweaver for more than 30 years, I’ve come to think of this ancient craft as an outlet for my many visual inspirations. From customary patterns of the Indigenous Peoples of North America, to contemporary design elements, I revel in the shapes and colours with which we decorate our lives.
In many cultures and families, beadwoven pieces are made, worn, mended, and cared for with great respect, often passed down through generations. The craft itself is also passed down mother to son, father to daughter, and grows and survives with each new beadweaver.
I am Anishinaabe from Fort William First Nation, and growing up near the Great Lakes, I was introduced to beadwork by the Anishinaabe. I was struck by the obvious time invested in each piece of carefully woven beadwork, and the way each shape or colour might communicate something about the culture within which it was created. This beautiful melding of history and craftsmanship has remained my creative outlet to this day.
PAST GUEST ARTISTS:
Visit our 2021 BYOBeads page to check out the past guest stars we’ve welcomed to BYOBeads!
FUNDERS:
A big thanks to Native Women in the Arts for continuing to fund this program!
