Keeping It Real: Darren Weaselchild on Art, Elders, and Cultural Responsibility”

By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – For multi-disciplinary artist Darren Weaselchild, art is more than expression it is healing, education, and a responsibility to carry forward cultural knowledge in a good way.

“It’s been mostly about the journey of turning my life experiences into art,” Weaselchild says.

That journey became especially meaningful during a difficult season in his life, when creativity offered structure, purpose, and renewal.

“It was a tough year for me in 2025, but I was able to create a lot of great works around the city with the help of my collective, Apanii Art Collective,” he says. “It got me through the year staying busy, staying focused.”

Weaselchild says art became part of his healing process. “It helps heal,” he says. “It helped me heal.”

Now, through his residency at the Calgary Public Library, supported by TD Group, he continues to expand his practice while engaging directly with the public.

This opportunity with CPL has given him the space to create more works, he says.

The public studio space has become part of the artwork itself, with visitors regularly stopping to watch and engage.

“Folks from the Calgary area come in and we talk about art,” he says. “That helps my art and helps my creative flow keep going.”

Over the past several years, Weaselchild has worked across multiple mediums and scales, refusing to limit his creative direction.

Darren’s says, ” My artistic practice encompasses acrylic, oil, and watercolour. My work includes contributions to murals and large-scale installations, including the painting of tipis throughout Treaty Seven.”

Beyond technique, he says cultural responsibility and authenticity remain central to his work.

“Authenticity is very important when it comes to our traditional core beliefs and values,” he adds.

Weaselchild believes youth should seek knowledge directly from Elders and Knowledge Keepers, rather than relying on online sources.

“It’s really important that our youth go visit our elders and get the right stuff, the right information,” he says. “Don’t get your information off Facebook or online.”

Instead, he encourages learning rooted in presence, respect, and relationship. “Go visit living elders that have the right stuff, the right qualifications to teach you,” he says.

He adds that proper conduct is also part of that process. “Bring them gifts, food, take care of them,” he says.

That teaching is grounded in relationship, respect, and responsibility passed down through lived experience and cultural guidance.

Weaselchild also extends his teachings beyond the studio, visiting schools through programming connected to the Calgary Public Library. There, he speaks with the public about teepee life, the land, animals, and respect for creation.

“I’ve used this residency to share with Calgarians a little bit about our true history, the signing of the Treaty, about the animals in the area and respect for the land,” he says.

He reminds youth of their role in shaping the future. “You’re our future leaders,” he says. “You have to make sure you make the right choices in life and be good role models.”

As a teepee owner who went through the proper cultural processes and teachings, Weaselchild says he is careful and intentional about what he shares publicly.

He explains that his teachings focus on broader values of responsibility, growth, and family. “This means raising your children to be able to fly from the nest and be successful in life,” he says.

Weaselchild also draws inspiration from dreams, which he says have long held meaning in Blackfoot teachings.

“It’s always been a part of our culture as the Blackfoot,” he says. “We believe that the Creator gives us dreams to help us along our way for survival.”

After attending curator-led exhibitions and viewing significant Indigenous artworks including a walkthrough with artist Joseph Sánchez, Weaselchild says those experiences sparked vivid dreams that later became artworks.

“I would wake up and sketch them out as quick as I could before I lost it,” he says.

Several of those dream-inspired works are now part of upcoming exhibitions, including pieces shown at the Calgary Public Library.

Looking ahead, Weaselchild hopes audiences continue to engage with his work in person and take something meaningful from it. “I’m hoping people will resonate with the art in some way,” he says. “Some way to enjoy it as they look at it.”

Through art, education, and cultural responsibility, Darren Weaselchild continues to emphasize a central message: authenticity matters.

In his work and words, he returns to the same foundation keeping culture grounded, respectful, and real.