KILLALOE – The first known permanent monuments recognizing survivors of sexual violence took a step closer to completion on September 14 and 15, 2016.
More than 40 people attended open studio sessions at the CRC in Killaloe, to build the pebble mosaic monuments that will be located in Eganville, Killaloe, Pikwakanagan and Pembroke.
Workshop sessions are also being held in the other centres.
The funding for the monument came from a grant proposal written by Women’s Sexual Assault Centre of Renfrew County (WSAC) and Red Dress Productions of Toronto, under the provincial government’s program, It’s Never Okay: Ontario’s Action Plan to Stop Sexual Violence and Harassment.
WSAC and Red Dress have collaborated with Ottawa Valley Creative Arts Open Studio (OV-CAOS) to engage with members of the public, municipalities and artists in the four communities to devise images and concepts for the monuments. Public meetings and workshops produced over a hundred images.
The final designs for the monuments have come after extensive public consultation.
Anna Camilleri of Red Dress Productions has shepherded the project throughout. Describing the studio sessions at Killaloe, Camilleri said, “It was really vibrant, a dynamic environment with probably five generations represented, which is really hard to believe. It was really something.”
Get your September 21, 2016 edition of The Valley Gazette to read the full story.