Creatures in Our Midst
The Dunlop Art Gallery Literacy Project
Helen Marzolf, Director, Dunlop Art Gallery

It is an act of faith to pursue an idea from its first glimmer through to its realization. For the team working on "Creatures in Our Midst," the test of faith was one of the worst winters on Saskatchewan's meteorological record. The team shivered its way through the Regina's downtown core in January and February to develop a selfguided family tour that searches for creatures in the city's surprising architectural heritage. Walkers/viewers will be able to spot animals, plant life, gargoyles and geese,eagles and monsters that represent an absorbing chapter in the city's social and visual history.

A variety of people made up the project. Learners from the Regina Public Library 's award-winning literacy program worked with their families to write the parents' guide for the tour. A local artist with an avid interest in architectural detail contributed to the design of the materials. The library's literacy coordinator planned writing workshops, a children's specialist brought her experience as a storyteller and a local historian researched the buildings' historical past. Staff from the Dunlop Art Gallery which is housed in the library, coordinated this exciting venture.

Searching for a way to make stone, masonry and steel animals come to life was a challenge for the learners. Their mission, which they eagerly accepted, was to write a clear, pragmatic and fun guided tour that would bring life to architectural history. This task assisted them in improving various literacy skills, from writing tour instructions that are both practical and entertaining to incorporating information about history, mythology, and visual art and participating in decision making with the entire team.

At the outset the team agreed on four motivating principles:

• It wanted to develop an awareness of visual culture, with the aim of repeating the ideas behind the most banal and overlooked aspects of everyday life and the built environment. Learner Peter Kiraly says the project opened his eyes to architecture. "I never thought of looking at buildings for details, for animals. Our family usually looks for animals in nature, in the countryside."

• It wanted the tour to be fun.
• It wanted people to feel comfortable in the downtown area.
• It wanted to create a tour that would encourage autonomous learning, creative problem solving, speculation and questions, including why do architects decorate their buildings with animals? As a learner explains: "Actually, being part of the Creatures project has been a learning pleasure. We could see all aspects of the project graphics, history, architecture, literature, art and creative writing."

The collaboration provided a new understanding of the similarities between museums and libraries. The project also extended the idea of literacy, by including visual and verbal aspects, together with an attention to local history and the built environment. For example, the determining factor for including a site was that the creatures needed to be permanent and that the kids, helping their parents develop the tour, had to look for things that would be around "forever." Try to imagine the literacy exercise in convincing them not to include a "Pheasants Forever" billboard!

The "Creatures in Our Midst" tour will be launched on June 8 during Museums Week. Everything required for the tour will be available at Children's Services, at the Regina Public Library, in handy, walking-tour backpacks. The kit will contain a clear, detailed walking-tour map, a set of binoculars for easy viewing, a well-written, accurate and easy-to-follow "cheat sheet/booklet" for adults on the tour, a take-home guidebook with activities for kids, such as stickers or stamps, and coupons for free goodies at downtown restaurants.