Loyalist co-hosts a painting event to raise awareness about gender-based violence

By: Arshia Kochar 

BELLEVILLE – Loyalist College co-hosted a painting night at Shark Tank Pub to honour 16 days of activism leading up to the anniversary of Montreal Massacre. 

Students gathered on Nov. 28 to paint white hydrangea flowers to commemorate the death of 14 women at Ecole Polytechnique on December 6, 1989. Usually, white roses are used to honour the women and others injured during the attack. 

The 16-days leading up to the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women was organized by student government.

The Sip and Splash event provided a step-by-step guide on painting the flowers. 

Loyalist students painting during the Sip and Splash event at Shark Tank Pub

Olivia Millard, the manager of student experience and engagement, said it was important to raise awareness about such an important issue. 

” It is traditionally white roses but white roses take far too long to paint and lead in this type of lesson,” she says 

While some students were aware of the theme, others were not. 

Jasbir Kaur, a biotechnology student, participated just because of her love of painting. 

“I don’t know much about it. I heard there was a painting event, and I used to be an art and craft student. So, I came.” she says 

Gender-based violence has a different meaning for each individual. 

Alex Johnston, a chemical engineering technology student, believes that this has a really huge impact on the lives of people who have witnessed this. 

“It’s one thing for something to be bad when it happens, but when you know half a dozen people that have been through it and still four or five people are affected by it, you know it is serious,” he said.