Birds of a Feather project
Art Is Freedom
Doug Brinkman, X
2013, Social Art Projects, 2025
Faith - Democracy - Nature
XLife
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Tribute đď¸Birds of a Feather, XLife
đVirgil Abloh â Chicagoâs Fashion Architect. Born in Rockford, Illinois in 1980 to Ghanaian immigrant parents, Virgil Abloh grew up in a household where creativity was stitched into daily lifeâhis mother was a seamstress who taught him how to sew. He earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin and a masterâs in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology, where the works of Rem Koolhaas and Mies van der Rohe sparked his interest in design. Virgilâs journey into fashion began at a Chicago print shop, where he met Kanye West. That connection led to a creative partnership that included an internship at Fendi and eventually the founding of Off-White in 2013. In 2018, he became the first Black artistic director at Louis Vuitton, blending streetwear with luxury in a way that redefined fashionâs future.
âď¸ Dennis Edney â Edmontonâs Freedom Fighter. Dennis Edney was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1946, the son of a lorry driver. He left home at 17, played semi-pro soccer in San Francisco, and worked as a truck driver and carpenter before pursuing law at Northumbria University in England. He immigrated to Canada and settled in Edmonton, where he practiced criminal and human rights law for over four decades. Edney became internationally known for defending Omar Khadr, a Canadian detained at Guantanamo Bay as a teenager. His work spanned Canadian and U.S. courts, and he was appointed Foreign Attorney Consultant by the Pentagon. Despite public backlash, Edney stood firm, believing in justice even for the unpopular. He lectured globally on the rule of law and received numerous accolades, including the Canadian National Pro Bono Award and the Human Rights Medal from British Columbia.
đŤ Dr. Darren Markland â Critical Care Crusader. Raised in Stony Plain, Alberta, Darren Markland attended Memorial Composite High School and earned his medical degree from the University of Calgary, later training at the University of Alberta. He began as a nephrologist but shifted focus to critical care, serving as an ICU physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and University of Alberta Hospital. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Markland became a public voice for science and compassion. Through social media and interviews, he shared raw, poetic reflections on life and death in the ICU. He challenged political decisions, advocated for equity, and worked grueling hours to save lives. Outside the hospital, he was an avid cyclist and community advocate. His tragic death in a mountain biking accident in 2025 left a profound void in Edmontonâs medical and cycling communities. Microsoft AI, Copilot.
HOMME MADE -Â DUNDEE LAW
đ Virgil AblohÂ
Chicago's Fashion Designer
âď¸ Dennis EdneyÂ
 Edmontonâs Freedom Fighter
Bring Abdulrahman Home â Dennis Edney Profile
đŤ Dr. Darren Markland
Edmontonâs Critical Care Crusader
WordTrail â Dr. Marklandâs Legacy
2007, Citizen Free News, 2025
đUS/ them: Art Show & Tell, of a Point of Order, add a little ice cream, my just reward. A young woman, lingering with a tattooed crowd in downtown Edmonton near the library, complimented my artwork. After finishing my rapidly melting ice cream in the 24°C heat, I walked over to her gang to show the backside, titled Disorder. Suddenly, a young man lunged at me. "Get the f*** away from here!" he snapped. Before I could react, the group's matriarchâMama Tattooâspoke up. "I like your painting," she said, her voice steady. The young manâs demeanor shifted. He looked at the artwork again, his expression softening. "That's an amazing piece of art," he admitted.
The Selfish Pursuit of Artistic Truth
đ¨Selfishness often gets a bad rap. Itâs branded as greedy, thoughtless, a trait best left on the villainâs shelf. But peel away the stigma, and youâll find that in art, selfishness can be revolutionaryâespecially when itâs paired with vision, vulnerability, and integrity. Take the Group of Seven: A.Y. Jackson and Lawren Harris didnât have their fame handed to them, even though Harris had wealth from the Massey-Harris fortune. They worked hard, committed deeply, and âselfishlyâ pursued an unshakable ideaâthat Canadian landscapes deserved their own voice in art.Â
đ¨By rejecting European traditions, they carved out space for a uniquely Canadian aesthetic. Their boundaries werenât barriersâthey were a declaration: We paint what we believe. Contrast that with the Indian Group of Seven (Professional Native Indian Artists Inc.). These artistsâNorval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, and othersâhad no silver platter, no institutional warmth. What they had was fierce resolve. Their âselfishnessâ wasnât about egoâit was survival. They refused to be typecast as cultural artifacts and instead demanded recognition as contemporary creators. They built their own galleries, funded their own shows, and shaped a legacy that fought erasure with artistic defiance.Â
đ¨And then thereâs Jack Bush. Trapped in the commercial art world for decades, he suffered anxiety and depression. He longed for a life of emotional honestyâone where color, not corporate briefs, spoke for him. Inspired by the Group of Seven and later mentored by Clement Greenberg, Bush âselfishlyâ chose abstraction, ditching safety for soul. His art didnât chase trendsâit chased feeling. And in doing so, it soared internationally. đ¨Mindful selfishness, the kind that: Defies conformity to pursue personal truth. Sets boundaries that guard mental, emotional, and cultural health. Turns pain into inspiration. Gives others permission to be unapologetically themselves. Yes, privilege played a role. Yes, systemic barriers shaped outcomes. But at the core, each story is a testament to how âselfishâ choicesâwhen made with integrityâcan spark transformation in not just the artist, but the world they paint...
Rare White Bird Gallery
