Two Rivers Gallery

Healing Through Art, Stories, and Community 🔥🧡

Two Rivers Gallery’s Indigenous Programmer Crystal Behn set up a welcoming art table, inviting everyone to explore their creativity, express themselves and experience the healing power of art. It was a beautiful gathering filled with meaningful conversations, shared stories, good food, creativity, and connection. A space where people could come together, feel welcomed, and simply be present with one another.

“Art is more than something we create. It is a way to express our emotions, share our stories, honour our experiences, and find healing”

Sometimes, the most meaningful connections happen when we sit together, create something with our hands, and share space with open hearts.

A heartfelt Mahsi Cho to everyone who joined us, shared their stories, created art, and helped make Two Rivers Gallery’s first Healing Fire so meaningful. Art is connection, art is community, art is healing.

We wanted to highlight the sculpture installation created by Izzy Georgoulas for this years National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, for those who didn't get a chance to see it in person.

Here's what Izzy had to say about her work: "My name is Izzy Georgoulas. I am a Greek, Cree, and Sekani artist who enjoys experimenting, exploring, and discovering new ways to work with materials.

For this piece, I created a material I call “liquid paper.” I take something as simple as recycled, shredded paper and transform it using white glue and acrylic painting to a material I can draw with. Using a squeeze bottle, I slowly build the piece by hand, one line at a time.

There is no perfect line and no exact way to control the material. The process takes patience, experimentation, and a willingness to let the work unfold naturally.

At the centre of this piece is the word LOVE. I chose this word because it is simple, yet it can hold so much meaning. Love can represent connection, family, culture, kindness, respect, healing, and belonging.

When I think about Truth and Reconciliation, I think about how we treat one another, how we listen to one another, and how we carry these important conversations forward with care and respect.

Creating the word LOVE from discarded pieces of paper also carries meaning for me. Each piece of paper has its own shape and its own history, but when those individual pieces come together, they become part of something larger and something new.

In many ways, that reflects what this piece is about: connection, transformation, and the possibility of creating something meaningful together."