Work of the Week celebrates Bold Women and International Women's Day
Faye HeavyShield
blood, 2004
cotton, cotton string, acrylic
In celebration of International Women's Day we are proud to share, blood—the work of Kainai artist Faye HeavyShield.
Bold Women
Two of HeavyShield’s installation artworks, blood and homecoming, from the AFA’s Art Collection have been selected for Bold Women, a landmark exhibition at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas.
The show features over forty primarily Indigenous, Black, Newcomers and LGBT women artists as well as those of gender non-conforming identities whose visionary ideas and experimentation demonstrate the concept of boldness through challenging dominant institutional, cultural and social boundaries and reshaping historical narratives.
Set to open February 18 and running through to July 6, 2025, the exhibition includes 75 artworks from various disciplines including photography, sculpture, textiles, paintings, video, installations and is organized across four galleries each exploring one element of boldness:
- Portrayal / Resistance: ways that portrayals can deny visibility
- Collective Preservation / Liberation: women preserving, healing, and liberating communities across generations
- Nature / Erasure: the erasure of women’s contributions, in conversation with nature
- Wisdom / Knowledge-keeping: transmitting knowledge and women as connectors
The exhibition was curated by Susan Earle, the Spencer Museum’s curator of European and American Art, along with a team of diverse curatorial collaborators from across North America including the Brooklyn Museum’s Curator Dr. Kimberli Grant and Wanda Nanibush, an Anishinaabe curator from the Beausoleil First Nation in Ontario among others.
About the artist
Faye HeavyShield is a member of the Blood Nation. She graduated from the Alberta College of Art in 1985, and continued her studies at the University of Calgary. Gaining prominence and recognition in the past few years, her work has been the subject of many solo shows including major exhibitions of First Nations contemporary art. HeavyShield's work is a fusion of highly evolved personal and powerful imagery influenced by her Christian and Blood upbringing. Her minimalist installations are metaphors of the human body and a reflection of her personal experiences.
Bold women accelerating action at the AFA
Meet the bold women of the AFA's Board of Directors that are passionate about the arts and work steadfastly to support a vibrant Alberta arts community that sparks innovation, bursts with creativity, fosters understanding, and promotes belonging.
Click the names of the board members and watch as they share their personal takes on the importance of the arts in Alberta.
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About International Women's Day
International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8 around the globe. IWD has been celebrated globally since 1911 and is an important day that highlights the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
This year’s IWD theme focuses on accelerating action for gender equality. We encourage you to take part in an IWD event within your community and continue supporting women in the arts throughout the year.
Two of Kainai artist Faye HeavyShield’s installation artworks, blood and homecoming, from the AFA’s Art Collection have been selected for Bold Women.
Two of Kainai artist Faye HeavyShield’s installation artworks, blood and homecoming, from the AFA’s Art Collection have been selected for Bold Women.
Two of Kainai artist Faye HeavyShield’s installation artworks, blood and homecoming, from the AFA’s Art Collection have been selected for Bold Women.
