The School of Social Work is honoured to be home to The Journey of the Vamp, a commemoration project developed by faculty member Deborah Young. Following the recovery of unmarked graves at Kamloops Indian Residential School in May 2021, Deborah extended a public invitation to create and contribute 215 baby vamps in honour of each of these children’s lives and stories. Over the following months, she received more than 350 vamps from contributors across Turtle Island and beyond. Joining with artist Michelle Thompson, the vamps were arranged into an 11-foot art installation that was unveiled at Carleton University on September 30, 2022 and displayed at the Ottawa School of Art before moving to its permanent location on the 5th floor of Dunton Tower.
We encourage our community to revisit CBC’s reporting on the project and to visit the vamps in person in the School of Social Work to witness their beauty and reflect on the many children they represent.
Further reading/viewing:
“Residential Schools: Community Art Project” (School of Social Work): https://carleton.ca/socialwork/residential-schools-community-art-project/
“Stitching Together Grief and Art” (Carleton Newsroom, Sep 27 2022): https://newsroom.carleton.ca/story/orange-shirt-day-beaded-vamps/
“Beading project honours ‘incredibly powerful’ stories of residential school children” (CBC, Sep 27 2021): https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/residential-schools-215-baby-vamps-1.6180455
“350 vamps later: Woman overwhelmed by beaders’ response, designs and stories” (CBC, Sep 30 2022): https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/beaded-vamps-chidren-residential-schools-1.6593827