In memory of Vanessa Yasintha Wambura (August 2003 – August 2023).

On Wednesday November 11th (Remembrance Day), all of the Grade 6’s in our school embarked on three separate buses to make our way downtown and explore the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). It was an amazing experience that I can’t wait to share it with you all.

First, I would like to start off by saying that it was the perfect day to go on a field trip. Other than the fact that we were to miss our Remembrance Day assembly, it was a nice warm day, the sun was shining and the mood was just delightful. As soon as the bell rang for school to start. Our teachers lined us up outside the school wall. We did the attendance and we went to the buses. Now there are five grade 6 classes in the school but there were only three buses. Meaning that two classes were going to have to split up. Our class, being the only uneven numbers of students in the grade, didn’t have to split up, we all embarked on the buses and soon, we were off!

It took roughly one hour to get to the Gallery, due to traffic. But the ride was bearable because I was sitting with my friends and the scenery was breath taking. We passed the CN Tower and The Rogers Center. My teacher even pointed out her condo to us! Also, since AGO was in China Town, there were many colorful buildings all around us.

AGO itself was beautiful. It had glass windows that reflected because of the sunlight and there were so many people! We sorted ourselves out into different groups since each class was allowed three adults including the teachers, then we ate quietly outside. Once we had finished, we walked into the building, we walked upstairs and believe it or not, walking up the stairs was fun because there where really cool 3D clay faces on the walls. Some people thought it was creepy or odd, I just found it very unique.

Once we got on the second floor, we hung up our coats and bags on the racks and sat down at one the tables, all the girls in my class automatically sat at one table and the boys at the other (typical) we ate the rest of our snack, while the adults handed out green bracelets that we had to wear to signify that we were students. Then, a young bearded man came to our tables and told us that he was our tour guide. I think his name was John, any who, John led us up a flight of stairs and we went on an elevator. The elevator was HUGE, I could make it into a bedroom, and it was very luxurious.

After our elegant elevator ride, we were whisked into a beautiful exhibit that was token down the Tuesday November 18th and will be open at another gallery. The exhibit was a Native American exhibit. Now, Native Americans liked to draw with lots of colors has shown with the picture below

We had an opinion-filled discussion about the meaning of one of the pieces drawn by Norval Morriesau, We talked about how the Aboriginals were one with nature. Then, John handed pieces of paper and told us to write a poem about the art piece. We had a ninety minute tour of the art pieces by the aboriginals and the last one we saw was my absolute favorites.

This painting was called Pow Wow Princess by David Bradley, I thought that the picture showed us how First Nations lives have changed tremendously since the start of their time. If you look closely at the picture you’ll see some things that are not supposed to be invented yet during the time of the First Nations, like the cigar, the watch, the pageant sash, the makeup, the bill, her earrings, the highway, the scenery on the left of her, her nail polish, the ring etc. Did you also notice that on the background on the left side is todays scenery and the background on the right side is the scenery from their time. Also, she is posed like Mona Lisa the picture that was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. I liked this picture because it was really interesting and Thought-Provoking.

After the tour, we headed back to the tables ate and talked. Then our teacher handed us a double sided papers that had questions about different paintings scattered around the Gallery that we had to answer. The only thing is, we only had half an hour to finish the mini scavenger hunt before we had to be on the bus and heading back to school. Quick as a flash, my best friend and I raced around the gallery trying to find the answers to the questions. We managed to finish just in time, before we headed back downstairs and got ready to leave.

I got ready as fast as possible and my friends and I walked off to the Gift Shop, were my friend bought me a yummy pack of popcorn. As we got on the bus, everyone had a smile on the face. We were beaming, bickering and singing the whole ride back to school.

But the journey didn’t end that day, for the past week, our class has been talking about the contribution First Nation art made to Canadian lives and their lives. I hope we get to back to the art gallery again, because it was one of the best field trips ever!

Vanessa Wambura