Indigenous arts

^{Image credit: Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert. Photo by JustinJHCSchubert (own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (Open license)], via Wikimedia Commons.
Image cropped and combined with photo of Becca Taylor for this web page, and the AFA's 50th Anniversary branding has been added.
Photo of Becca Taylor is by Katy Whitt Photography}

On September 29, 2022, we marked the 50th Anniversary of the AFA Art Collection. As part of the celebrations, we are sharing snippets from the history of the collection.

Learn more about the celebrations!

In part two of our look back at the impact Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert has had on the AFA Art Collection, we look at the Fellowship for Indigenous Curators and the next generation of acquisitions by Indigenous artists. Read part one. 

AFA creates the Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert Fellowship for Indigenous Curators

In 2018, the AFA announced a one-time fellowship designed to support the growth and development of curatorial talent and enhance representation of Indigenous artists in the AFA Art Collection. 

The project’s intention was to bring a new perspective to art acquisition at the AFA and build on previous work undertaken by the late Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert, who provided curatorial consultation to the AFA in 2008 and 2009. The fellowship was named in her honour. 

After a competitive application process, the AFA was pleased to announce that Becca Taylor was awarded Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert Fellowship for Indigenous Curators.

About Becca

Becca Taylor is a curator and multi-disciplinary artist with Cree, Scottish and Irish descent. According to her application, her curatorial practice involves investigations of Indigenous community building, Indigenous feminisms, methodologies of gathering and ephemera of living actions.

She was awarded the Aboriginal curator-in-residence, from the Canada Council in 2015, a 12-month residency at Urban Shaman gallery in Winnipeg where she curated Traces (2016.) In 2016-17 she was the Indigenous Curatorial Research Practicum at the Banff Centre, curating A light left on (2016.)

Notably, Becca co-curated the 4th iteration of La Biennale d’art contemporain autochtone (BACA) with Niki Little, entitled níchiwamiskwém | nimidet | my sister | ma sœur (2018), co-led land-based residency, Common Opulence (2018), in Northern Alberta and curated Mothering Spaces (2019) at the Mitchell Art Gallery.

Becca is the Executive Director of Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective in Edmonton.

The project

Becca’s final report, Kahkekwask / From Here to There was completed in June 2019. It provided the AFA with a variety of recommendations to broaden the AFA Art Collection to represent more Indigenous artists and artworks through all acquisition programs, as well as to offer greater support for Indigenous artists, including through building relationships and trust with Indigenous communities. 

Since the report was completed, the AFA has acquired nearly fifty artworks by Indigenous artists through curatorial purchase, donation, and the Art Acquisition by Application program. Some highlighted artists and artworks include...

MJ Belcourt

2022.032.001 MJ Belcourt, First Fruits, n.d., smoked moose hide, glass seed beads, thread, fabric

MJ Belcourt is a certified Native Art Instructor, curator, and Indigenous artist residing in Treaty 6 territory. Her mixed Métis ancestry is Mohawk, Cree, and French with family ties to the Michel Band and the community of Lac St. Anne. Through a desire to build a closer connection and understanding of her Métis bloodline, Belcourt has remained naturally drawn to the traditional Indigenous arts of her ancestors.

She works in a variety of Indigenous art forms including beadwork, porcupine quill, fish scale, moose and caribou hair, and the art of creating natural dyes.

2022.032.002 MJ Belcourt, Pass System, n.d., smoked moose hide, glass seed beads, tin cones, thread

In 2022-23, the AFA acquired two artworks from MJ Belcourt: First Fruits and Pass System. Both are native tanned smoked moose hide pouches embellished with beading and other traditional decorative elements.

Lauren Crazybull

2019.035.002 Lauren Crazybull, Self Portrait, 2018, acrylic on board

Lauren Crazybull is a Niitsítapi (Member of Kainai First Nation), Dené artist. Lauren won the 2020 Eldon & Anne Foote prize, 2020 Lieutenant Governors Emerging Artist Award and was shortlisted for the Kingston Portrait Prize in 2019. In 2019, they were selected as the first Alberta Artist in Residence/Arts Ambassador. Lauren currently resides in Vancouver, having recently completed her MFA at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. 

In her work, Lauren considers Indigenous presence and multiplicity through paintings, creating worlds where honest portrayals trespass onto romantic representations of Indigeneity. Working primarily in portraiture, a long-standing genre that is often embedded with an imbalance of power between the artist/viewer and sitter, Lauren seeks to examine the relationship between herself as an artist and the individuals she paints. 

The AFA has acquired two artworks by Lauren Crazybull as of 2023.

Kablusiak

2021.017.001 Kablusiak, Piliutiyara (Saltwater Taffy), 2020, photograph with backlit film in lightbox

Kablusiak is a multidisciplinary Inuvialuk artist and curator who uses Inuk ingenuity to create work in a variety of mediums including, but not limited to, lingerie, white flour, soapstone, permanent marker, bed sheets, felt, acrylic paint, and words. Kablusiak holds a BFA in Drawing from the Alberta University of the Arts in Mohkinstsis, where they are currently based.

Their work explores the dis/connections between existence in the Inuitdiaspora while maintaining family and community ties, the impacts of colonization on Inuit gender and sexuality expressions, as well as on health and wellbeing, and the everyday.

2021.017.001 Kablusiak, Piliutiyara (Saltwater Taffy), 2020, photograph with backlit film in lightbox (alternate view)

In 2021, Kablusiak was part of a team of four Inuit curators who curated the inaugural exhibition for Qaumajuq, entitled INUA. In all of their creative work Kablusiak seeks to demystify Inuit art and create the space for Inuit-led representation of the diverse aspects of Inuit cultures.  

The AFA Art Collection holds 26 artworks by Kablusiak in 2023.

Dwayne Martineau

2021.013.001 Dwayne Martineau, Strange Jury #2, 2021, photograph on backlit film

Dwayne Martineau is an Edmonton based visual artist and musician. He is a treaty member of Frog Lake First Nation, descended from Plains Cree, Métis, and early French and Scottish settlers.

He enjoys seeing the world like a child full of discovery. Also, he approaches the world with a critical mind, seeking both truth and wonder. His visual arts practice began with experimental landscape photography, and has evolved to include videography and immersive large-scale art installations.

The AFA acquired Strange Jury #2 as part of the 2021 cycle of the Art Acquisition by Application program. This artwork is one of five artworks included in the Strange Jury Series. When installed in a gallery, five giant prints are hung in a circle off the ground to depict five characters of the forest with animistic faces.

Jessie Ray Short

2019.039.001 Jessie Ray Short, WAKE UP!, 2019, experimental film, 5:57 mins

Jessie Ray Short is an artist, filmmaker and independent curator of Métis, Ukranian and German descent whose cross-disciplinary practice involves memory, visual culture and Métis history.

She has shown her work nationally and internationally, including at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, at La Chambre Blanche in Québec City, Art Mûr Berlin (a satellite exhibition of the Contemporary Native Art Biennial/BACA) in Germany, and at the Wairoa Maori Film Festival in New Zealand.

As a curator, she has had the opportunity to work on various projects most notably Jade Carpenter: Mourn at City of Calgary Open Spaces Gallery and Mixed Berries: Amanda Strong and Bracken Hanuse Corlett at Gallery 2, Grand Forks, BC. She has worked for the Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective, based in Edmonton, and for TRUCK Contemporary Art in Calgary.

WAKE UP! is an example of media artwork included in the AFA Art Collection. In the film, a Métis woman explores identity by transforming herself into one of the only widely known Métis icons, a man named Louis Riel, who lived over 100 years ago.

Read Becca Taylor's 2018 curatorial statement for the fellowship:

Alberta has an expansive and diverse Indigenous community living in and outside of it.  The changing landscapes within Alberta have different pieces of knowledge and teachings reflecting across the terrains; with different Indigenous groups living either in rural or urban settings, or both, whose lived experiences are reflected within their work. Some artists have formal institutional education, some with education from the land and our ancestors; but we all have an inherent perspective and embodied knowledge of what it means to be an Indigenous person living in Alberta.

For the next 6-months, my curatorial research will be based on my teachings of the medicine wheel. Looking at artists from the different quadrants of Alberta, as well as, a range of professional experience within each quadrant, from emerging to established artists; learning from and listening to the different perspectives and insights from different regions, nations, ages and experiences.

I view this research project to be as informed and diverse as possible to reflect the extraordinary past, present and future of Indigenous contemporary art in Alberta. Through conversation and travel, I anticipate meeting many more artists whom I do not know at this moment. Using my resources and community in Alberta to expand my knowledge of artists working here and those who have lived here and made an impact while doing so.

Continuing legacy

Through the foundational work provided by Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert, built upon by Becca Taylor, and through continuing engagement with Indigenous artists, Elders and communities of practice, the AFA is pleased to continue to increase representation of Indigenous art in the AFA Art Collection.

See our current holdings of Indigenous artworks through the AFA Virtual Museum. 

See how the AFA cares for an exquisite new acquisition by Métis Cree visual artist, Sharon Rose Kootenay, and the different steps we take to document, catalogue and preserve her work for the benefit of all Albertans.

The artworks in the AFA Art Collection mean so much to the artists, to the staff that work with them, and to the many, many Albertans who have an opportunity to view them through exhibitions, art placement programs, or even online in our Virtual Museum.

Watch:

50th Anniversary of the AFA Art Collection

Established in 1972, the AFA Art Collection is a unique representation of the history, development and achievements of Alberta's visual arts community. Today, the AFA is proud to manage one of the strongest, most active provincial art collections in Canada.

On September 29, 2022, the AFA began celebration for the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the AFA Art Collection. Learn more about how we are celebrating throughout 2022 and 2023.

We are proud to diligently care and work with each of our more than 9,000 artworks in Alberta's public art collection. This is the second episode of a five-part series about the AFA Art Collection.

• Watch episode 1 of the series, Building a Collection, on YouTube

Videos produced by Hidden Story Productions.

To celebrate 25 years of the AFA, we’re taking a look back at how we came to be, favourite milestones, and some of the amazing artists we’ve encountered along the way. 

By Sarah Pocklington, former Indigenous Arts Development Consultant

In March 2005, the AFA initiated a three-phase consultation process to explore and understand the needs of Indigenous artists and arts organizations in Alberta. The first phase, completed in June 2005, focused on visiting Indigenous communities across the province to determine the needs of the communities in relation to arts funding. The second phase in October 2005 focused on secondary research and included interviews with service providers working with Aboriginal communities. The third and final phase focused on consulting and interviewing Indigenous artists and arts organizations throughout Alberta. The draft recommendations for phase three were completed in April 2006.

From this exploration, we arrived at the following key focus areas:

Outreach – building relationships and creating an Indigenous Outreach Strategy;

Capacity Building – Access to training and development opportunities related to grant writing, marketing, planning and communications for Indigenous artists and organizations;

Advocate – “Spreading the word” about Indigenous arts;

Support – allocating funding for amateur and professional Indigenous artists and arts organizations;

Networking – creating and supporting networking opportunities for Indigenous artists, organizations and service providers;

Continued Dialogue – Encourage and support dialogue with Indigenous communities through consultation and research processes, listening circles, events and conferences.

The AFA hired an Indigenous Outreach Worker on an eight-month contract as a part of the 2006-2007 AFA Action Plan. The plan introduced a pilot grant program for arts organizations, along with workshops targeted specifically to Indigenous artists with the goal of increasing awareness of AFA programming and encouraging applications. In 2006-2007 the AFA provided $95,205 to Indigenous arts organizations with $50,000 support from the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

Today, the AFA has a full-time Indigenous Arts Development Consultant who oversees the Indigenous Arts Individual Project Grant Stream and coordinates the Alberta’s Future Leaders Program for First Nations and Metis communities across Alberta. In 2015-16 the AFA provided $143,056.98 in project funding for Indigenous project grants. (Indigenous artists can apply to any project grant funding opportunity; however this project grant program provides specific support to Inidgenous artists).

Recently, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action included the recommendation of a renewed strategy to promote the arts as a fundamental aspect of reconciliation.

There has also been a demonstrated response on behalf of provincial arts organizations to engage with Indigenous communities in new and expanding ways. Major institutions like the Art Gallery of Alberta have initiated programming as part of their ongoing mandates to include Indigenous artists and their practices.

The City of Edmonton 2016 Arts and Culture Hall of Fame video

Indigenous artists are also receiving greater public recognition for their talents. Recently, Cold Lake’s Alex Janvier was inducted into the City of Edmonton’s 2016 Arts and Culture Hall of Fame. He also received an Honorary Degree, Doctor of Fine Arts from the Ontario College of Art and Design and will be featured in a 2017 solo retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada (which you can read more about in our next blog post!). In 2015 the AFA was pleased to announce the award of a public art commission to Cree artist Brenda Draney for the new Centre for Arts and Culture at MacEwan University, set to be unveiled in 2017 in Edmonton.

Meeting the needs of supporting Indigenous artists, arts organizations and communities is a high priority for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Arts Branch and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts is pleased to be a funding partner in this collaboration with Stone-Olafson and other community leaders to develop a long-term research investigation and evaluate how current conditions will reshape Albertans’ attitudes and behaviours towards social and group activities, across a variety of sectors. The purpose of this work is to give leaders of community sports, recreation, arts and culture, professional sports, active living, heritage, tourism or hospitality sectors relevant facts about local audiences that they will need to bring life back to our communities.

The initiative is being funded by: 

• ActiveCITY Collective
• Alberta Foundation for the Arts 
• Angus Reid
• ATB
• Calgary Arts Development 
• Calgary Foundation
• Edmonton Arts Council
• Edmonton Community Foundation
• Rozsa Foundation
• Stone-Olafson
• Travel Alberta

​This research is being conducted in six waves over the course of the next year. This is a community resource that is FREE to access and results from the second wave of research are now available. The second wave of research builds on the baseline established in May and June by delving into attitudes on comfort, spending, the impact of media, and audience expectations.

Findings and implications for Alberta organizations through Wave 2 results include:

• Support for the pace of re-opening grows but there are still lingering pockets of disagreement.
• Comfort levels are creating a new baseline of engagement.
• Increasing gaps are appearing between audience segments on the pandemic.
• As restrictions lift, Albertans are pulled by their social motivations and perceptions of safety outdoors.
• Engagement is (potentially) perishable.
• Staying connected will mean the development of innovative and hybrid experiences.
• In a crowded media space, audiences are still listening.
• Spending is obviously being impacted

The report makes the following recommendations for organizations:

• Comfort levels are not rebounding just because restrictions are lifting. Organizations need to temper expectations about reconnecting with audiences. You will not be reengaging them in the same you used to. It will take time and it will look different. Plan on it and prepare.
• Getting audiences comfortable enough to attend is vital. Some of this will rebound over time, and some will be addressed by government, but there are opportunities to build confidence in what you are doing to safeguard their health. Show the steps you are taking and the tools being employed to protect audiences. Building confidence with what you are doing will help increase comfort and, in turn, consideration.
• Audiences and markets are changing. There are new barriers to address and consider. Organizations will need to understand shifting mindsets of different target audiences in order to engage effectively. This could be a deep opportunity to engage for many organizations who can capitalize on their motivations and expectations.
• Find your voice. Audiences are listening closely for news around the pandemic and are eager for updates, information or promotions. They want to know when experiences will be available again and are receptive to traditional marketing messages again. In fact, they expect it.
• Adapting means developing new product and experiences to consume. Staying put or offering what you used to won’t necessarily work. Organizations that can move into hybrid offers (not simply digital alone or in-person alone) that still leverage intrinsic motivations will be well positioned to protect their revenue from competition.

Download the reports:

• Alberta Report
• Calgary Report
• Edmonton Report

You can subscribe to receive notifications when the new reports are available by visiting stone-olafson.com. 

This research is being conducted in six waves over the course of the next year. This is a community resource that is FREE to access and results from the fourth wave of research are now available. 

Findings for Alberta organizations from Wave 4 results include:

• Public perceptions reflect the low point of the pandemic at this time.
• Albertans are adapting to and following the rules.
• Change in habits during the pandemic appears to be additive, not alternative
• Contexts frame marketing in this environment - messages will need to be shifted, media strategies evaluated, and some types of voices changed.
• Engagement is on hold.
• Travel within the province is an option. 

What are the implications for Alberta organizations?

• When conditions permit, recognize you will be reconnecting with a weary population who are more anxious than before. Messages and offers will need to adjust to reflect this reality.
• As Albertans accept and get used to the restrictions, they expect others to follow them too. A large percentage of those surveyed indicate others not following protocols will dissuade them from attending events/participating in activities. The same applies for not seeing sufficient safeguards in place.
• As restrictions start to lift, Albertans are likely to start figuring out how to balance a new set of activities they enjoy with their usual activities they want to get back to. And for organizations, that means breaking through a larger competitive set to capture the attention of their audiences. For those that offer registered or directed experiences this may be an even bigger challenge now that people are also adding in more self-directed experiences.
• Organizations are likely going to need a multi-layered media strategy that can reach influencers who can help propel the message. To be clear, an influencer strategy doesn’t mean a pure social media strategy. It means a strategy of messages and media that are repeatable to others.
• Organizations have to be prepared to re-engage in stages. When current restrictions lift there will be some appetite to explore and potential opportunities to meet them online or outdoors. In a post-pandemic environment, audiences are very likely to get active again.
• Focusing on broad messages that reflect a drive to escape everyday stresses and deliver on social motivations will work well to help motivate intra-provincial travel. Reinforcing these main messages with reassurances about flexibility in booking and safety will also be helpful to finalize a decision.

Download the reports:

• Alberta Report
• Calgary Report 
• Edmonton Report

You can subscribe to receive notifications when the new reports are available by visiting stone-olafson.com. 

About the project

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts is pleased to be a funding partner in this collaboration with Stone-Olafson and other community leaders to develop a long-term research investigation and evaluate how current conditions will reshape Albertans’ attitudes and behaviours towards social and group activities, across a variety of sectors. The purpose of this work is to give leaders of community sports, recreation, arts and culture, professional sports, active living, heritage, tourism or hospitality sectors relevant facts about local audiences that they will need to bring life back to our communities.

The initiative is being funded by: 

• ActiveCITY Collective
• Alberta Foundation for the Arts 
• Angus Reid
• ATB
• Calgary Arts Development 
• Calgary Foundation
• Edmonton Arts Council
• Edmonton Community Foundation
• Rozsa Foundation
• Stone-Olafson
• Travel Alberta

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Shop at SAAG artist call

The Shop at SAAG Feature Artist program offers local artists and artisans a unique opportunity to exhibit and sell their work in a contemporary art gallery. Past feature artists include Nicole Riedmueller, Arianna Richardson, Cindy Baker, Lauren Kurmey, Jessica Colley, and more. 

As the feature artist, you will have the opportunity to exhibit a selection of your work in a prominent display in the Shop at SAAG for 12 to 13 weeks. Gallery staff will help you develop a unique design for the shop space to showcase your work. You’ll receive a special consignment rate and have the opportunity to work with Gallery staff to develop a public program based on your art practice. You will also be offered a free table at our Summer or Holiday Market. We will highlight your work on the Shop at SAAG’s website and online shop and through the Gallery’s social media and e-newsletter. The feature artist will also be recognized at the exhibition opening reception that aligns with your show. 
We are currently accepting applications for our Shop at SAAG Feature Artist for the following 2024-25 exhibition blocks:

• Oct. 12 2024 - Jan. 11 2025
• Jan. 25 2025 - Apr. 19 2025
• May 3 2025 - Jun. 21 2025

Eligibility

This call invites applications from artists from all backgrounds and in all stages of their career. Artists must be at least 18 to be considered and a resident of Alberta. We encourage you to consider submitting a body of work with a consistent theme or aesthetic. The Shop at SAAG aims to support the work of local artists, so artists from Lethbridge and the surrounding area will be prioritized.  

Key Dates

Call for Artists Opens: August 1, 2024
Submission Deadline: September 14, 2024 
Notifications sent by September 21, 2024

Fall 2024 Feature Artist: October 12, 2024 -January 11, 2025 
Installation: October 7-11, 2024
Take down: January 13-17, 2025

Winter 2025 Feature Artist: January 25, 2025 - April 19, 2025
Installation: January 20-24, 2025
Take down: April 21-25, 2025

Spring 2025 Feature Artist: May 3, 2025 - June 21 , 2025
Installation:  April 28 - May 2, 2025
Take down: June 22-27, 2025

Applications 

To apply, please complete the application form and provide up to 10 images of the work you wish to feature in the Shop at SAAG. Images can be emailed to kcashmore@saag.ca with the subject line “Feature Artist Call - [Name] Images”.

Applications are due no later than 5 p.m. on September 14, 2024. We thank all applicants for their interest. We will notify all applicants of the results by September 21, 2024 at the latest. If you have not heard back from us by that date, please check your spam folder. 

The Gallery is committed to continually working towards more equitable systems and practices. We welcome applications from candidates who identify as Indigenous, Black, racialized, LGBTQ2S+, d/Deaf and disabled, and from poor and working-class backgrounds. 

If you have any questions, feedback, or require support or accommodations to access this application process, please contact Keelan Cashmore, Visitor Services and Volunteer Coordinator, at 403.327.8770 x 21 or kcashmore@saag.ca.
 

The AFA is supporting a two-year research project conducted by Stone-Olafson on current engagement of arts audiences in Alberta. We are pleased to share the second set of results ("Wave 2").

This work was developed for the arts sector exclusively and is designed to provide specific, relevant, and reliable facts to support the leaders in the arts sector as they seek to understand their audiences and grow attendance.

Key topic areas for Wave 2 include:

• Exploring arts audiences' engagement and general perceptions
• Understanding audiences’ preferences for content, programming, and ticket purchasing
• Understanding opportunities for increasing support and engagement through fund development

Results

Watch the team from Stone-Olafson report on the findings from the first wave of research in the Spotlight on Arts Audiences project

Download the reports:

• Alberta
• Calgary Report
• Edmonton Report
• Regional Alberta

About the project

The AFA has partnered with the Rozsa Foundation, Calgary Arts Development, Calgary Foundation, Edmonton Arts Council, and Edmonton Community Foundation, to support the Spotlight on Arts Audiences research project. The work will survey arts-inclined audiences in Calgary, Edmonton, and across the province to provide data that is useful and timely for arts leaders and organizations three times per year over the next two years.