ELORA – An Elora church has knitted an art installation using orange sweaters to honour the children who never returned home for Truth and Reconciliation Day.
Created by the Circle of Friends at St. John's Anglican Church in Elora, the orange sweater project features knitted orange sweaters created by various community members and stitched together in garlands to hang from trees, doors and other entranceways at the church.
Inspired by the church's annual poppy project, Rev. Canon Paul Walker said it's the first year of the project, which is intended to trigger community conversation around Truth and Reconciliation Day.
The church also hosts a similar event in June for National Indigenous Day where they decorate the church and grounds with orange and multi-coloured fabric feathers.
"It is unique and that's I guess what we want people to recognize just to sort've stop and take a moment," said Walker. "As you do with poppies, you stop and pause and you reflect on what this means so if we can bring that to people, it's worth it."
Starting to create the sweaters in May or June, coordinator Barb Dunsmore said her Wednesday group, the Circle of Friends, helped created some of the sweaters and kits.
"I call it my miracle bin- I put yarn in and sweaters come back," said Dunsmore, who has received sweaters from as far away as Amherst, Nova Scotia.
Approximately 450 sweaters are currently attached to the garland, ranging in shades of orange with varying stitching patterns- one lady even customized her sweaters with little crosses.
"(It's important) to make sure that we remember the children that didn't come home and to create a dialogue," said Dunsmore. "People might not know what (the sweaters) are but they question now what is the orange shirt for and it just creates a dialogue towards reconciliation."
Walker said reconciliation means different things to different people depending on their relationship to the legacy of residential schools and they're hopeful the project will engage people no matter the stage of reconciliation they're in.
"Some people will say oh I don't need reconciled but the reality is we do because this is part of our Canadian history that we're still bearing the fruit of that legacy," said Walker. "So if we're committed to help one another, this is a way we can help those who have been impacted by residential schools."
The garland was installed Thursday morning and will remain on and around the church until Monday – although Walker said they may hang around a bit longer.
If people see the garlands and want to add their own, they can reach out to the church for a sweater, feather or poppy pattern and/or supplies.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program
