Memory Strategy
Archive through Participatory Methods
These visual storytelling projects serve as living archives, co-created with community members or stakeholders. Participants contribute quotes, images, and narratives to help document the cultural, historical, or organizational memory of a place. Ideal for legacy initiatives, public history, and engagement, this approach builds a deeper emotional connection between people and place while producing a visually compelling and lasting resource.
How It Can Be Applied
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Visual oral histories
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Multigenerational story projects
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Milestone anniversaries
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Legacy initiatives
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Memory mapping
How The Process Works
Process
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Facilitated sessions combining dialogue, storytelling, and visual creation
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Workshops can take many forms: drop-in stations, World Café-style dialogue, structured facilitation, creative panels, or by integrating into existing events
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Participants explore key themes through guided prompts
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A timeline is developed alongside the artwork to map personal and collective stories over time
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Co-creation of a physical painting or digital collage representing shared insights and memory
Outputs
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Large-scale painting or digital mural for display in offices, events, or public spaces
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Participant quotes and visuals, curated to highlight key themes and values
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Short video or audio reels for internal communications or public storytelling
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Printable tools such as visual reports or coloring books to extend engagement
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Optional NFT, with royalties shared among participants to model equitable ownership
Project Feature: Brescia Centennial Story
Brescia Centennial Story
A co-created mural capturing 100 years of Canada’s only women’s university through stories from founders, students, alumnae, faculty, board of directors, and archives. The process fostered intergenerational connection and collective memory, now permanently installed on campus.
Past Collaborations
Our experience was amazing for the level of skill, engagement and passion for the project.
Bringing dreams to life takes dedication, and we felt ourselves in highly qualified hands to achieve our goals.
Noreen Allossery Walsh
Ursuline Sisters of Chatham
Working with Melanie is an absolute dream. Melanie is kind and sparkly, and has a quality about her that can only be described as magical. She is a dreamer, but also a doer, and that rare combo means that what she creates is infused with so much love and skill.
Michelle Peek
Founder, Art Not Shame
As an academic let me make clear that the value of the community experience in the process of collective art production cannot be measured. I see the huge benefits of this process of art co-creation for people in academia and beyond.
Gloria Perez
Professor, Mount Royal University
She was able to transform physical art into digital representations, enhancing the work so it works together as a whole while still preserving the individual contributions of each community artist.
Julie Ryan
Community Engagement Advisor,
Indwell
The community love, mindful hosting and deep engagement that I witnessed in how Melanie approaches social art projects was inspiring and illustrated connection through creativity.
Michelle Baldwin
Senior Advisor,
Community Foundations of Canada