Land Trails

Land Trails, Sharron Labatt's multi-media art show exploring Saskatchewan's history and celebrating our centennial.
Upstairs at Roca Jack's Saturday and Sunday, Homecoming Weekend.
July 30: 12:00 to 5:00
July31: 12:00 to 4:00

“Land Trails” is a multi-media show exploring part of our history and celebrating our province’s centennial. The first showing was held at the Cumberland Gallery in the Saskatchewan Legislative Building May 1 to 31, 2005. It will be shown in Fort Qu’Appelle upstairs at Roca Jack’s on July 30 and 31.

For the past 2 years I have travelled across the province photographing and video taping historic sites along the old cart trails, now known as the Carlton Trail. During the fur trade a busy network of trails connected the numerous pemmican and fur posts and forts throughout what is now Saskatchewan.

“Encompassed in the story of these trails is the history of Saskatchewan from territory to province, in the period from approximately 1840 - 1905.” (Historic Land Trails of Saskatchewan. Shillington, p10).

The art show and video focuses on 6 areas of the province: Cypress Hills/Ft. Walsh/Swift Current; Yorkton/Fts. Livingstone & Pelly; Qu’Appelle Valley/Ft. Qu’Appelle; Touchwood Hills/Humboldt; Batoche/ Duck Lake: Fts. Battleford & Carlton/Gabriel’s Crossing.

There are 30 pieces in the show: 6 collage paintings (30” x 36”), a number of archival photos of original forts, current color photos of existing trails on canvas (16” x 20”), and large landscapes in oil on canvas.

The collage paintings include historic timelines, photos, painted images, words in various languages, a leaf from each site, and wool to signify for example, the stripes on a Hudson’s Bay blanket or the 8 nooses used to hang “traitors” following the Northwest Rebellion.

The video is a tour along the old trails including Forts Walsh,Carlton and Battleford; a tour of privately owned ranch land in the Cypress Hills to a quarter section near Qu’Appelle which has been declared historic property. It also includes historic information, dates and anecdotes.