July 8, 2018

Last week from July 4th-9th, AKA hosted artist Holly Schmidt as a Local’s Only artist in residence. Holly lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. Holly’s work with Locals Only is looking at the history of Riversdale and the different cultures that reside here.

Holly’s project research took her to the Frances Morrison Central Library’s local history collection to find out more about the history of Riversdale and how it came to be. On July 6th, Holly learned about the three different bread recipes from three cultures that have long-standing roots in Riversdale. She was joined by friends from the Heritage Wellness Society of Saskatoon and learned how to make Chinese steam buns. Sylvie Byron, owner of “Need Bannock, Don’t Panic” and infamously known as the “Bannock Lady” taught Holly how to make 1 of 20 varieties of Bannock. Then Holly made her way to Nestor’s Bakery where she learned from Teth how to make Ukranian Kolache.

During her stay, Holly joined the Locals Only youth artists out at the art carts in Victoria Park. Where they handed out the bread samples and created labels for the bread packaging. Community members dropped by to share a story and a slice of bread and the interactions were enjoyed by all.

With the help of Bryn, owner of the Night Oven Bakery, Holly created a bread recipe that combines the Chinese, Indigenous, and Ukrainian cultures of Riversdale – creating a new bread recipe that symbolizes the cultural identity of Riversdale. Once the new recipe was created, she created packaging for the bread with more details about the bread, and information about the three different cultures.

To find the Locals Only youth out in the community, check out our summer cart schedule or connect with us on Facebook and Instagram!