‘They really got the right guy’: Stoney Nakoda metal artist behind custom G7 pins

Andrew Holloway poses for a photo in his home studio in Calgary on Friday, June 6. (RMO PHOTO/Leah Pelletier)

Pulling up to his work bench with a hammer in hand, Andrew Holloway’s superpower is his ability to take a piece of metal and bring it to life.

Weaving technique and narrative together through his art, Holloway lets stories guide his work, whether creating custom jewelry pieces or a public sculpture.

When the Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda metal artist was asked to design and create pins for the G7 finance ministers’ meeting, his approach remained the same.

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“I always say a story always gives a piece a spirit,” said Holloway.

Setting the stage for the G7 Leaders’ Summit, finance ministers from across the world gathered from May 20-22 in Banff to discuss current financial challenges facing the global economy.

Each minister could be seen sporting a copper and bronze coloured pin fastened to their lapels.

“It was such a privilege and an honour that they asked me,” said Holloway.

“I started asking questions, I was like, ‘Who’s gonna be wearing these pins? … [It’s] the financial ministers of Italy and France and all these countries and I was like, ‘Oh, wow. They get to wear them?’ I feel so honoured and I was a little nervous too.”

Fusing both traditional craft and jewelry techniques in his work, it was back in November 2024 at the Îethka Nakoda Language Conference in Banff that Holloway had the opportunity to share his art practice with the broader community.

“From there, I really got to show everybody what I do in the community because there’s a lot of community members at that conference and a lot of them don’t really know what I do,” said Holloway.

His networking at the conference proved to be the launching point towards an opportunity to leave his mark on the momentous leaders’ summit.

“[Finance Canada’s G7 Logistics secretariat] were asking around the community and they were looking for something unique, something different, so one of my friends sent them my way,” he said.

After drawing up a few concept sketches and sending in examples of his past work, Holloway was asked if he would be interested in the project.

The answer was a resounding yes.

Collaborating on the project was fellow metal artist and Holloway’s former Alberta University of the Arts teacher, Jeff De Boer, along with Holloway’s younger sister, Margaret Holloway – who helped incorporate beadwork on the pins.

The assignment was clear: Three weeks. 50 pins. No problem.

“They really got the right guy. He brings kind of a storytelling and listens, and he tries to create something that checks off all the boxes of what somebody is looking for,” said De Boer.

“Being able to connect material and story in his own culture into a design that is right for a moment, that’s his special gift.”

Using techniques called repoussé and chasing, Holloway, with the help of De Boer, got to work engraving and manipulating the metal, building a story through every design choice.

The circular pins feature a letter ‘M’, a diamond shape holding the markings ‘G7’ and beadwork lining in the centre to honour Stoney Nakoda culture and pay homage to the landscape on which the leaders gather, according to Holloway.

“Because they’re in traditional Nakoda land territories – Banff, Kananaskis – I wanted to make a piece that ties into all that,” said Holloway.

“I wanted to use a circle because there’s a lot of leaders from all over the world coming together and when we have a round dance, it’s to celebrate and bring people together to work together.”

Representing the North Star, Holloway placed a diamond shape enclosing the engraving ‘G7’ in the middle of the piece.

“If you live on this side of the world, you get to see the North Star,” said Holloway. “I wanted to put that on there to share the North Star ... [to] kind of help them with direction, so when they work together, they can find a direction to work together.”

A metal letter ‘M’ peeks out from the top of the pin, doubling as a symbol for the mountain landscapes that characterize the Bow Valley and representing the community of Mînî Thnî.

Finally, Holloway chose green and blue beadwork to fill the centre as a symbol of First Nations culture, which proved to be one of the more challenging concepts to execute.

“With beadwork, you can only stitch it on soft material; you cannot stitch it on metal unless you make a million holes, I thought about that too,” he said.

“For the beadwork to work, you have to cut the metal so perfectly and make the right measurements to work.”

Each pin takes about six to seven hours to complete. The team pumped out 25 pins for the ministers and 25 for the central bank governors.

With diverse local and global issues up for discussion between world leaders during the June 15-17 summit, Holloway made the pins with the idea of unity in mind. In the same spirit as the round dance, he hopes leaders will work together to find solutions.

“What they do now is determining the future [and] what’s going to happen, so I want them to have good energy so they can have good ideas and work together,” said Holloway.

“There’s always negativity about politics ... but there’s a good way. Let’s find the good in it.”

Finance ministers and governors were allowed to keep their pins after the May meeting. Holloway hopes that one day he’ll come across someone wearing his pin.

“I took pictures of them all together before I gave it to them and there was kind of [something] magical about it because I was like, ‘This is the last time you’re all gonna be together in the same location. After this, you guys are gonna be all over the world. I don’t know where you’re gonna end up.’”