THINKING WITH PAINT: TROUBLING SETTLER COLONIALISMS THROUGH EARLY CHILDHOOD ART PEDAGOGIES

Abstract

In this paper we think with the specificities of paint to tell stories about entanglements of settler colonialism and paint and painting in early childhood art education. We see to become implicated (Razack, 1998) within settler colonialism in the context we now call Canada. We paint a messy non-linear picture of our work with children through a process of storytelling. Through complex pictures of how we are attempting (even if partially and imperfectly) to respond and stay with the trouble our stories bring forward, we gesture toward hope and decolonizing strategies. Our work takes inspiration from contemporary artists and from anti-racist and Indigenous scholars.

Keywords

• early childhood art pedagogy
• settler colonialisms
• paint
• contemporary art
• storytelling