Jennie Emery Elementary School recently had the pleasure of hosting Soft Stories, a captivating travelling art exhibition made possible through the TREX Program, an initiative of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. The exhibit features the vibrant and evocative textile work of Alberta artist Nicole Riedmueller, who has ties to the Coaldale Education community as a teacher at Prairie Winds Secondary.
Longtime Learning Commons Facilitator Sue Wells has been booking these TREX exhibitions for years. “I’m always ready as soon as they open their bookings,” she shared. “You can see in real time how quickly the exhibits get snapped up,” so she was particularly pleased to book ‘Soft Stories’ and connect with Nicole.
What made this year's exhibit particularly special was Riedmueller’s in-person visit to the school. She spent time with the Grade Two classes, leading a hands-on workshop that brought colour, texture, and storytelling to life. “It was wonderful to have a teacher lead the session, Nicole really knew how to connect with the students,” Wells said. “But honestly, the artists are always engaging, even if they aren’t trained teachers. They bring such passion and connection to their work.”
During the workshop, students explored colour, geometric shapes, and fabric patterns as tools to create their own “visual language.” The goal was to tell a personal story, not through writing, but through textile art. Educational Assistant Dani Lawrance noted how the open-ended nature of the project brought out unexpected creativity in many students.
By the end of the session, all 66 students had completed their own unique “story square.” These individual pieces will soon be stitched together into a single collaborative tapestry, which will hang proudly in the Learning Commons story corner, a fitting place for a piece of art made from the unique stories of JEES students.
A heartfelt thank-you goes out to Nicole Riedmueller for her inspiring mentorship and to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts for supporting the TREX Program. Since 1980, TREX has helped bring professionally curated visual art exhibitions to communities across Alberta, including schools like Jennie Emery. It's a powerful way to engage with Alberta’s rich artistic landscape.
Stay tuned for the unveiling of the finished tapestry, a vibrant testament to the stories that create the fabric of a school’s culture and community.
Textile Art at Jennie Emery
