The Player of the Game award for the 2023 World Para Hockey Championship is a limited-edition piece of artwork created by local Indigenous artists
A representation of unity will be front and centre during the 2023 World
Para Hockey Championship thanks to a collaboration between two local
Indigenous artists.
Brandy Jones is an Inuit artist who moved to Regina from British Columbia
when she was 12 years old. Her work involves mixed mediums of native arts,
representing unity among all Indigenous peoples. Rodger W. Ross is of
Métis/Cree descent and a member of the George Gordon First Nation in
Saskatchewan. He is a multi-disciplined artist and an international
award-winning documentary film producer, whose career spans four decades.
Read on to learn more about Player of the Game artwork. Answers have been
slightly edited for clarity and length.
Hockey Canada (HC): How did this collaboration come together for the
2023 World Para Hockey Championship?
Rodger Ross (RR): I’ve worked with the Moose Jaw Warriors
in the past. I did a cultural presentation to them first, and then I created
an orange shirt design for them. When the situation came up with the World
Para Hockey Championship, one of the ladies that I worked with reached out
and gave my information. […] Seeing how Brandy’s [art form] works so well
for these forms, it just seemed like a perfect collaboration. So, when I was
asked [who I would recommend], she was the first name [I suggested].
Brandy Jones (BJ): Rodger has always been a very big
support of my work. Not just on giving me advice, but sometimes when it
comes to collaboration with the work as well, there’s things that he sees in
my work as I’m going along. He has a very good eye for it. For example, in
the hockey helmet, at first it was connected to the feather that was
attached there. And he was like, “You should put a white line to separate
that.” That’s something that I hadn’t even seen yet. I’m always willing to
work with Rodger because he always has the coolest jobs… I’m always very
happy to oblige.
Captain Marc-André Plante and squadron aircraft maintenance engineering officer Nadia Kang of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds present Dominic Cozzolino with the player of the game award on May 29, 2023.
HC: What is the inspiration behind the design of the Player of the Game
artwork?
RR: When we first got approached, I wanted to know more
about the game because I haven’t watched a lot of [para hockey]. But…
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