{"id":108457,"date":"2026-09-03T08:17:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T12:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=108457"},"modified":"2026-09-03T08:17:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T12:17:22","slug":"fort-nelson-based-artist-empowers-indigenous-youth-with-mural-mentorship-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/03\/fort-nelson-based-artist-empowers-indigenous-youth-with-mural-mentorship-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Nelson-based artist empowers Indigenous youth with mural mentorship program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By\u00a0 Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT NELSON, B.C. \u2014 A local artist is empowering young members of the Fort Nelson Indigenous community through the Mural Mentorship program. The young artists will collaborate, converging on a wall at the Northwestel offices in Fort Nelson, to create a mural incorporating themes of reconciliation and technology. Francine Freeman is the executive director of the Northern Rockies Arts Council (NRAC) and has had a career which has spanned the globe. Freeman started out in eastern Canada, ventured to Australia, and eventually to northeast B.C., where she still works as an art teacher. \u201cI started in hyper-realism [artwork],\u201d Freeman explained to Energeticcity.ca. \u201cWhich is creating really realistic paintings.\u201d \u201cThen I just wanted to go big. I wanted to start doing really massive murals and&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F09%2F03%2Ffort-nelson-based-artist-empowers-indigenous-youth-with-mural-mentorship-program%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By\u00a0 Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT NELSON, B.C. \u2014 A local artist is empowering young members of the Fort Nelson Indigenous community through the Mural Mentorship program. The young artists will collaborate, converging on a wall at the Northwestel offices in Fort Nelson, to create a mural incorporating themes of reconciliation and technology. Francine Freeman is the executive director of the Northern Rockies Arts Council (NRAC) and has had a career which has spanned the globe. Freeman started out in eastern Canada, ventured to Australia, and eventually to northeast B.C., where she still works as an art teacher. \u201cI started in hyper-realism [artwork],\u201d Freeman explained to Energeticcity.ca. \u201cWhich is creating really realistic paintings.\u201d \u201cThen I just wanted to go big. I wanted to start doing really massive murals and... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F09%2F03%2Ffort-nelson-based-artist-empowers-indigenous-youth-with-mural-mentorship-program%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fort Nelson-based artist empowers Indigenous youth with mural mentorship program - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/03\/fort-nelson-based-artist-empowers-indigenous-youth-with-mural-mentorship-program\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fort Nelson-based artist empowers Indigenous youth with mural mentorship program - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By\u00a0 Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca FORT NELSON, B.C. \u2014 A local artist is empowering young members of the Fort Nelson Indigenous community through the Mural Mentorship program. The young artists will collaborate, converging on a wall at the Northwestel offices in Fort Nelson, to create a mural incorporating themes of reconciliation and technology. Francine Freeman is the executive director of the Northern Rockies Arts Council (NRAC) and has had a career which has spanned the globe. Freeman started out in eastern Canada, ventured to Australia, and eventually to northeast B.C., where she still works as an art teacher. \u201cI started in hyper-realism [artwork],\u201d Freeman explained to Energeticcity.ca. \u201cWhich is creating really realistic paintings.\u201d \u201cThen I just wanted to go big. 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