Rankin Inlet (Sep 13/06) - The fourth piece in a unique Canadian art project was unveiled in Rankin Inlet this past month.

Jim Kogelheide of London, Ont., spent two weeks in Rankin preparing for the unveiling and staging a three-day workshop for aspiring young artists in the community. Kogelheide started his Canada: Glorious to Be project about eight years ago.

Once completed, a piece of artwork will be placed in every Canadian province and territory. To date, pieces have been unveiled in Nunavut, Manitoba, B.C. and Ontario.

A nice crowd came out to see Kogelheide unveil the Nunavut piece at the Siniktarvik Hotel, and the work the youth produced at his workshop.

Not only did Kogelheide supply materials free of charge for the workshop, he also bestowed a gift of one of his own pieces to each student who completed the three-day program.

Kogelheide said he enjoyed his time in Rankin and would like to return for another visit sometime in the future.

"Everywhere I go, I always enjoy working with the kids," said Kogelheide.

"The kids were just fantastic in Rankin.

"They showed a lot of enthusiasm for both their artwork and writing poetry, and they made the friendship centre a really fun place to be for three days."

Kogelheide donated his Nunavut creation to Maani Ulujuk high school for display.

When he finally gets around to making all of his stops during the next 12 years, the 13 renderings of Canada: Glorious to Be will become the biggest cross-continental, inter-connected and animated rendering series in the world.

Each mural is of the same scale to create an animated film on the people, history, landscape and future of Canada when all 13 are placed in sequence and set in motion.

But, for now, it's back to the real world for Kogelheide while he prepares for his next unveiling.

"I figure it will be sometime in 2007 before I'll finally have my Rankin trip paid for.

"But, I have a job with a wonderful courier company that allows me to pay the bills.

"So, it's back to work until I'm able to plan out the next segment of my journey."