The final episode of this season’s Callings podcast introduces listeners to Christi Belcourt, a Métis artist, whose painting “Reverence for Life” appears on the cover of the most recent volume from the NetVUE Scholarly Resources Project. In her interview with Erin VanLaningham and John Barton, Christi reflects on this painting and many others—as well as other facets of her life’s work—as powerful points of departure for insights into her own personal vocation as a visual artist and a community and environmental activist.
As an indigenous artist, Christi incorporates the Métis tradition of floral beadwork into her paintings, paying homage to the beauty of the natural world and its centrality in Métis culture and spirituality. Many public and permanent collections across North America feature her paintings, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. She has also used her platform as an artist to organize projects within indigenous communities to address significant gender-based and environmental issues that they face.
In her conversation with Erin and John, Christi situates her individual calling within the indigenous beliefs and practices that she has inherited from those in her community who preceded her, emphasizing themes of cultural obligation and care for the natural world in all its interconnectedness. She explains how walking gently on this earth is part of learning responsibility and leading a life of integrity.
“I have responsibility to my community with my art,” Christi says, “because I’m borrowing off of the patterns” and “the artistic legacy that’s been handed down to me and others from our ancestors.” Because she paints within this tradition, she insists, “I have a responsibility to my community to always be giving back.”
For Christi, a vocation calls us to make use of the gifts we are given in relation to the mystery of life, the wonder of the natural world, and the sacred obligation of community. As Christi explores the techniques, the historical and cultural narratives, and the social justice causes that inform her artistic process, she reminds us that “our hope is in each other.”
She also anchors this hope in a profound and playful humility. A mentor once challenged her to value people intrinsically, rather than for what they do, and to eschew the narrative of individual success. “Never get caught up in the clapping of hands,” this mentor cautioned, urging her to see beyond her own ego and accomplishments and value of her life and work in relation to the flourishing of the entire community.
Click here to listen to the episode featuring Christi Belcourt titled “Art Saved the Mountain.”
Geoffrey W. Bateman is the editor of Vocation Matters.