Community Outreach Services has been out in force over the past few weeks, canvassing the community to rustle up participants for its diversity project.
You might have seen them set up around town: local photographer Brian Van Tighem snapping pictures of Jasperites posing with hand-written signs, and community outreach worker Melissa Woodcock rounding up subjects and handing out waivers.
The idea behind the project is to provide a platform for the citizens of Jasper to celebrate what makes them unique, said Kathleen Waxer, director of community and family services.
Participants of all ages, colours and creeds have stepped in front of Van Tighem鈥檚 camera, where they have been encouraged to write something that makes them unique on a blank sheet of paper.
鈥淲e love being average,鈥� reads the sign of one couple. 鈥淢y nerdiness makes me awesome,鈥� wrote another woman, while a third penned in neat handwriting, 鈥淢y smile brings joy to the world.鈥�
鈥淭he basic tenant is celebrating what makes each of us unique instead of feeling ashamed or uncomfortable with it; to recognize it as something to celebrate,鈥� said Waxer, explaining that the project began when some people raised concerns about bullying in town.
Waxer said COS wanted to organize a campaign to help curb bullying, and decided to take the unique approach of getting people to take ownership of their differences, rather than sending out a negative 鈥渁nti-bullying鈥� message.
鈥淲e had this idea of just celebrating diversity more than taking the negative approach,鈥� she said. It鈥檚 about 鈥渙pening people鈥檚 minds鈥攜outh, adults, everyone鈥攖o thinking about diversity and respectfulness and empathy. Just to think about those things a little bit more, and have a different spin on it.
鈥淲e can feel isolated and different very easily, and that鈥檚 the roots of bullying, feeling different. So I鈥檓 hoping to open up people鈥檚 minds to have a more empathetic response to differences.鈥�
The project is still in its earliest stages, so Waxer and her team aren鈥檛 entirely sure what the final product of the hundreds of pictures will be, but Waxer already has ideas. One possibility is to put on an exhibit at the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives featuring some of the portraits; another is to use them to create a mosaic on a blank space on the outside of the Community Outreach Services building.
鈥淲ith the rich collection of local people celebrating their differences, I think the sky鈥檚 the limit as far as possibilities,鈥� she said.
Van Tighem, who has been snapping pictures for the project from the beginning, said he thinks the project is a great idea, and has been surprised by how many people have come out to participate.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a lot of fun. I鈥檝e got to meet a lot of people who I鈥檝e seen around town but never talked to before,鈥� he said.
Van Tighem and COS staff will likely be out for the next couple of weeks collecting more photographs, and Waxer said she hopes to capture as much of the town as possible. The more people who participate, she said, the greater the impact the project can have.
Helping to fund the project is the Active Creative Engaged Communities (ACE) program, an initiative of the Alberta Parks and Recreation Association that aims to get people active in their communities.
Trevor Nichols
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