Description
Me Artsy is the 2015 new release by renowned Ojibwe playwright and humourist Drew Hayden Taylor. Extending his previous anthology concepts (Me Funny and Me Sexy) Taylor selected fourteen artists' pieces about their selected artistic disciplines, including the fine arts, theatre, music, cuisine, fashion and film. Their essays contribute to our understanding of contemporary Indigenous career choices, identity, and achieving social change through traditional and contemporary arts. The essays answer questions such as how does one get started, where do you find inspiration, and how does one make a living? The individuals include actor/playwright Monique Mojica, painter Marianne Nicolson, fashion designer Kim Picard, painter Maxine Noel, blues pianist Murray Porter, scholar Karyn Recollet, dancer/choreographer Santee Smith, director/actor Rose Stella, traditional drummer Steve Teekens, chef David Wolfman, filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk, writer and storyteller Richard Van Camp, manga artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, and playwright Drew Hayden Taylor. Each artist chose their own style of writing from the poetic, biographical, graphic novel format, and theoretical in order to express their influences and the role of art in their lives. This important collection provides secondary, adult, and post-secondary readers with insight into the scope of First Nations arts and artists. Highly recommended.