The recreation office at Rama’s MASK Arena was recently redecorated and the people who work there couldn’t be happier.
A 26-foot long, 8.5-foot high mural welcomes visitors to the space.
In 2024 Danielle Simcoe, recreation team lead, and Aniston Deleary, youth council coordinator, were tired of the blank wall and discussed ways to enliven the space. With comfortable seating, instruments, and a pool table in the room it was a wonder why the wall remained vacant, they mused.
Inadvertently, word travelled quickly that they were looking for an artist to paint the mural. That’s how they found the perfect person for the job: Mel Williams.
“We were originally thinking about reaching out to a different artist, but it made more sense to go with a youth or someone that represents youth in general,” says Deleary.
Williams, 22, jokes that she has been painting “forever.”
Familiar with her artwork, the recreation staff were blown away when the young artist presented a slideshow with two different options for them. Williams was working three jobs at the time — including helping with summer camps in Rama.
Still, she was willing and found the time to paint at the recreation office — sometimes between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.
In her free time, Williams enjoys drawing and sketching anything from cartoon figures to realistic renditions of people’s pets. For holidays, she crafts cards to hand out. One friendly neighbour commissioned her to paint a statue of the family dog, which was met with awe.
The mural is a bit more traditional.
“We wanted something that represented the Seven Grandfather teachings, or something that represented our culture in general, to be there,” explains Deleary.
What Williams came up with is a vibrant forest image with a light blue skyline.
Each animal depicted represents one of the seven teachings; the eagle for love, the buffalo for respect, the bear climbing a tree symbolizes bravery, the deer for honesty, the beaver for wisdom, the wolf humility and the turtle for truth.
“Reflecting our culture in a beautiful way in this space that’s meant for youth, I think that’s nice, especially because once they go to high school, they don’t really get a lot of that cultural stuff,” explains Deleary.
During the process, Williams says, she had to adjust her work to the space. Because there are no windows in the room, she considered lighting and shadow and made sure the colours were not too dark.
“It just stood out: the colours, everything is just so bright and beautiful. I wouldn’t want it any other way,” says Simcoe of the mural.
Nearly $700 was spent on supplies and Williams spent over a year fitting the project into her schedule.
“I’m happy it’s done,” she says, noting there were times she didn’t want to look at it any longer.
The humble artist didn’t even request payment. But the recreation team was sure to provide her with an honorarium for her hard work.
Now, after completing her first mural, she says she would paint another, as long as she was given creative freedom with the imagery.
The Chippewas of Rama First Nation recreation department is at the MASK arena, 6147 Rama Rd. Visit https://www.ramafirstnation.ca/ for more information.
By Danielle Pitman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Apr 23, 2026 at 08:06
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