See the video of The Art of Hide Tanning: commissioned Indigenous artworks featuring the traditional hide tanning process taught at Portage College.
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The Art of Hide Tanning - Tradition Inspiring the Present and Future is a series of commissions to link the past, present and future of Indigenous art.
This project features new works by Amy Malbeuf and Ruby Sweetman created through the traditional thirteen-step Woodland Cree hide tanning process taught at Portage College in Lac la Biche, Alberta. The completed works will be exhibited at the Museum of Aboriginal Peoples' Art and Artifacts at Portage College. Learn more about the hide tanning process on Portage College's website.
Ruby Sweetman is of mixed Cree ancestry and has been a professional artist and an instructor in the Native Arts and Culture Program for over 20 years.
Amy Malbeuf is an award winning Métis multidisciplinary visual artist from Rich Lake, Alberta who works in a variety of mediums such as caribou hair tufting, beadwork, installation, performance, and video.
Scroll through the slideshow above to see images of the artists and their works.
If you cannot make it up to Lac la Biche to see the exhibition in person, fear not; you can see a preview of the artworks and the hide tanning process in the video below.
The AFA sits down with artist Peter Hide for a Q&A.
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On Monday, October 30, the AFA installed Peter Hide's Squashed Freemason sculpture in its new location outside the Misericordia Hospital's revamped emergency department in Edmonton. Artist Peter Hide was on-site to assist with the installation and made some time for the AFA to ask him few questions about the artwork and his career.
Q: As an artist you want as many people as possible to engage with your work. How would you describe what it's like to have your artwork available to so many people?
A:You like it because lots of people can see it. Maybe it will stay there for ages and ages. These days things don't always last but the AFA has quite a few of my sculptures all over the place and I'm very grateful for that.
Q: The artwork that was just reinstalled at the Misericordia Hospital was started in 1983. Would you say your artwork has been able to stand the test of time?
A:Yes. That artwork has been in several different places. I think at one point it was in a private collection back in 1986.
Q: How much does the artwork weigh?
A:One ton. Roughly one ton.
Q: Is it difficult for you to part with an artwork after spending so much time working on it?
A:Not really. Do I treat them like children and I don't want to let them go? No, not really. I like it if it goes to someone. So, no I like when they go. I mean, I quite like having them and if they are around I tend to keep working on them, refining them. So, in a way, I'm a bit of a slow worker but I have made quite a few sculptures.
Q: How many would you say you've made?
A:Four or five hundered. My teacher and mentor Anthony Caro was much more famous than I. I think he's made about 8,000. He works in a different way. He works with quite a lot of technicians but he's quite a great sculptor.
Q: Can you describe what it was like the first time one of your sculptures was selected for public display?
A:The first one that was on public display was when I was student at St. Martins in London. It was in an art gallery but it was also a chemist shop I think. It was in Chelsea though and it sold for 33 pounds that was in 1966. It was great. I thought maybe just maybe I might make it.
Q: Are you currently working on anything?
A:I'm working on tons. I have two warehouses and they're both full. You know, art is difficult: it's open to fashion. When I was 25, I was very well known in England and I sold quite a lot of sculptures there but it passed.That's why I came over the pond. Then it all happened all over again.
Q: Your artwork is part of the AFA Art Collection. Can you describe what that means to you as an artist?
A:I'm very pleased about that. They've really looked after the work. I think they've been very good for me.
Q: Do you have any advice for artists when it comes to large scale sculptures?
A:I think people have to find their own way. When I was an art student, I followed Anthony Caro and he made large spreading sculptures, so I tried to make that as a student. My problem was trying to find out how small I could go. Making sculptures as large as a room didn't suit me very well. Caro would stretch things out. He would stretch sculptures and I wanted to compress the sculpture. I was more traditional in a sense, more like I was a wood carver to start. I had a carver's idea about sculpture.
Q: You've been working as an artist for a long time, can you describe one of your favorite moments as an artist living in Alberta?
A:Oh, that's hard. That's a difficult one you know. I think the first public thing I had was in the Edmonton Art Gallery (now the Art Gallery of Alberta) as it was in those days. I had an exhibition there after I had been here for nine months. That was very pleasing and I thought that I might want to stay here. Everything was new. In New York and London things had moved on and in Edmonton it was fresh. There were many good artists and there was quite a range of people creating. Painting and making sculptures.
Q: You did a bit of maintanence on Squashed Freemason before the re-installation, what was it like to work on it again?
A:It was quite interesting. It's changed. It's been outside for many years and I liked that it got more and more rust on it and it looked like a big monument that was made out of stone or granite. It feels like a monolith.
Q: The artwork has been installed at the Misericordia for a number of years. Now it has been moved in front of the new emergency room. So, something old will be part of something new. What are your thoughts on this?
A:It will get a lot of traffic where it is now. Before it was a bit tucked away. A lot of people will get to see it and I like the idea of that.
Q: What was it like to be part of the installation?
A:It was cold!
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A Q&A with artist Peter Hide
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The AFA sits down with artist Peter Hide for a Q&A.
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A Q&A with artist Peter Hide
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The AFA sits down with artist Peter Hide for a Q&A.
A message of acknowledgement of Truth and Reconciliation Day from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts board of directors.
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Click on the arrows above to scroll through images.
Featured artwork: GRANDE ENTRY By Jessica Desmoulin – 2019 – felted wool, beads and leather Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
A message from Paul R. Baay on behalf of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA)
On this third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (also known as “Orange Shirt” Day), on September 30, 2023, I will take some time to reflect on how the AFA can support and advance the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Calls to Action, published in 2015.
At the AFA, our mandate is to support, encourage and promote artistic activity for all residents of Alberta, which includes lands that are parts of Treaty 4, Treaty 6, Treaty 7, Treaty 8 and Treaty 10, as well as eight Métis Settlements. We primarily work in the area of contemporary artistic activity which, as the legacy of colonization and Canada's residential system continues to be brought to the fore, will be more and more reflected, examined, and resonated by artists of all backgrounds and disciplines in contemporary practice.
Our job is to continue to encourage and help increase participation and arts education by Indigenous artists. Our job is to continue to celebrate the unique artistic and cultural expressions of the mosaic of Indigenous peoples that reside in Alberta. And, our job is to continue to promote the exchange of ideas and artistic collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists and arts workers to help build mutual respect and understanding in our arts community.
That's why our board decided to nurture and promote Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility through arts-related programming by Indigenous, visible minorities, or deaf and disability artists to engage audiences in and through the arts through the 2023 cycle of our Organization Activation Projects grant program. While the AFA will provide up to $20,000 for projects by a single organization, we will increase that maximum amount to up to $50,000 for partnership projects.
We at the AFA encourage all Albertans to be more informed about the history and legacy of residential schools, and to explore the rich culture and artistic expression of Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island.
About the featured artwork: Grande Entry by Jessica Desmoulin
This artwork was acquired through the AFA's Art Acquisition by Application program in 2020. This program is designed to acquire contemporary works of art by any eligible Alberta artist through a competitive application program.
This artwork, as well as Autumn Sky, were both part of 38 artworks purchased through this program in 2020.
At the AFA, we actively support Indigenous Arts as a unique, distinct arts discipline. We also collect artworks by Indigenous artists through the AFA Art Collection to preserve, exhibit and promote. I continue encourage everyone reading this message to visit the AFA Virtual Museum and view the Indigenous collection as part of your learning and reflection on Truth and Reconciliation Day.
About the Artist
Jessica Desmoulin is Ojibway of the Pic River First Nation. As a child, she lived in Rochester, AB and later in Sparwood, BC. She currently lives with her family in Edmonton, AB.
After the birth of her second child, Desmoulin developed an illness that left her unable to work outside the home. She took this opportunity to approach her art seriously and began to paint canvasses and occasionally buffalo skulls in the new Woodland style. Her works, which connect her to her ancestral memories, explore the essential role colour plays in creating a design and reflect nature and the patterns in its creations, such as the rings of a tree, the waves in the ocean, the cracks in the earth and the petals on a flower.
Animals often appear in her paintings, both as symbols and reflections of her family and loved ones and as the totems she approaches for spiritual guidance. Her use of copper, silver, gold, and bronze reminds viewers of the precious materials in our environment and that we need to cherish our world.
Desmoulin has participated in several regional exhibitions, including "Patterns in Nature", "Animal Speak", and "Nurturing the Spirit" at Edmonton’s Bearclaw Gallery (2013, 2014, 2016). Her artwork has been featured on the covers of Alberta Native News (November 2014, September 2016), used as the logo for the Spirit Runner app, which promotes positive lifestyles for aboriginal youth and is held in the collection of the AFA.
Work of the Week shines a spotlight on Ukrainian artist Oksana Movchan
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Pendulum intends to show a personal story about healing by using intuitive and symbolic language, which can be interpreted in many different ways by different viewers, depending on how they relate to it.
Oksana Movchan's goal is to create an environment that resonates with viewers in ways that help them to open up and look deeper inside. Her aim for the artwork is to be a guide and facilitator for the process of healing. Art has a way of inspiring people to explore their real but perhaps unknown ability to build or change their own future.
Did you know? Alberta is home to more than 345,000 people of Ukrainian descent. Ukrainian Albertans have contributed immensely to our province’s communities and culture.
Hundreds of thousands of Albertans of Ukrainian origin help build and enrich our province. Ukrainian art can be one thing to help bring us together and lift our spirits during this challenging time.
About the artist
Oksana Movchan studied in Kyiv, Ukraine and obtained a bachelors, masters and doctorate. Throughout her career, she has been working in various fields and medias including printmaking, painting, public art and as a glass artist.
Her artwork investigates personal memory, metaphor, cultural iconography and history through poetic narrative and abstract storytelling. Her artwork has exhibited nationally and internationally in various public and private collections, including the AFA Art Collection.
The next deadline is April 1! Check out the guidelines if you’re interested in submitting your artwork to have it be considered for acquisition to the AFA Art Collection.
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The abstract artwork displays numerous hair-like coils woven in different geometric shapes around a black and grey pendulum in the centre of the image with a grey ball swinging side to side. The coils are twisted together on either side of the pendulum in different shades of grey, silver, brown and gold.
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Work of the Week: Pendulum by Oksana Movchan
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Work of the Week shines a spotlight on Ukrainian artist Oksana Movchan
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Work of the Week: Pendulum by Oksana Movchan
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Work of the Week shines a spotlight on Ukrainian artist Oksana Movchan
May is Asian Heritage Month, a time to celebrate and recognize the achievements and contributions of Asian and South Asian communities across the country, and throughout the province.
The AFA is pleased to recognize a few individuals that have enriched, supported and diversified the arts within our province.
Artists featured in Here & Now
We are pleased to share artist profiles of two of the 12 artists featured in the AFA exhibition, Here & Now, at the Royal Alberta Museum.
Born in Hong Kong and raised in Canada, Raeann Kit-Yee Cheung is a photographer who leans on a dual heritage to create work that is both personal and universal. Having immigrated almost five decades ago, Raeann has come to accept she is neither Chinese nor Canadian, but rather someone who embodies a rich ambiguity that helps her confront melded identities to resolve inner complexities.
Wei Li is a Calgary-based emerging Chinese Canadian visual artist, whose experience as an immigrant to Canada, provides her with crucial inspiration in her artistic practice. Her dual cultural background challenges her to integrate different cultural perspectives in her works and creates tensions through the contradictions inherent in forming a new hybrid cultural identity.
Get to know Wei as she shares the stories behind her new digital series, Vessels, and a bit about herself in her AFA Artist Spotlight.
AFA Board Directors
The AFA Board of Directors includes arts champions from across the province, appointed by the Government of Alberta.
Le Bo is the Vice Chair of the AFA's Board of Directors. He has a passion for learning and volunteerism.He actively organizes and leads community events and participates in cultural events and exhibits. Le Bo is a successful entrepreneur who founded and served as the CEO and Chairman of an oil and gas company that was eventually listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after 15 years of operation. In addition, Le Bo has founded multiple private companies in IT, robotics, and software.
Hear Le Bo speak on the importance of creating diversity in the arts. Watch
Nabil Malik a Member of the AFA's Board of Directors. A resident of the Wood Buffalo region, Nabil is a progressive and creative contributor to the cultural fabric of his community. In his work as a community development planner by day and an active volunteer by night, he advocates for the vital role the arts play in placemaking, creating vibrant communities, and fostering a sense of identity and belonging.
Hear from Nabil on the importance of the arts and the role of the AFA. Watch
Shana Yang is a Member of the AFA's Board of Directors. She is a passionate and active member of Calgary’s music and arts communities. Shana received the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal, and has over 20 years of experience in vocal training and choral conducting. She is currently the Artistic Director of an Alberta registered non-profit choral organization she founded in 2004, and a music instructor at the Mount Royal Conservatory. Shana looks forward to helping local art communities strengthen and flourish.
Hear from Shana as she shares how the arts can grow in Alberta.
As we celebrate those that have supported and enriched the arts in Alberta, we encourage you to take part in any and all events recognizing and honouring Asian Heritage Month.
After serving for 15 years as a Traveling Exhibition (TREX) Curator and Manager, Shane Golby retired in December 2023. During his tenure, he curated more than 60 exhibitions, showcasing over 120 artists in over 500 venues. The AFA interviewed Shane as he bid farewell, discussing his experiences with TREX, his artistic career, and his aspirations for the arts in Alberta.
Shane also featured in, Episode 3: Sharing the Collection, part of the five-part series highlighting the history of the AFA Art Collection.
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The AFA conducted a farewell interview with former TREX Curator/Manager, Shane Golby.
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Recognizing 15 years of curation
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The AFA conducted a farewell interview with former TREX Curator/Manager, Shane Golby.
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Recognizing 15 years of curation
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The AFA conducted a farewell interview with former TREX Curator/Manager, Shane Golby.
George Littlechild Cross Cultural Examination #2 2007 ink jet print on paper Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
The AFA is pleased to share the virtual exhibition, Cross Cultura, curated by Indigenous curator, visual artist and archaeologist, Autumn Whiteway (Night Singing Woman) is now on Google Arts & Culture.
Autumn Whiteway (“Night Singing Woman”) is a Saulteaux/Métis visual artist, traditional craft worker, curator and archaeologist based in Calgary, Alberta. She explores Indigenous themes from a contemporary perspective through painting, digital art and photography.
Her painting and digital art is primarily focused on the heavily symbolic Woodland Style of Indigenous art, while her photography is used as a form of activism to highlight Indigenous issues. Her work has been exhibited at locations such as Arts Commons, cSpace King Edward, ATB Branch for Arts and Culture, and Calgary Public Library.
Autumn recently joined the Glenbow Museum as their new Curator, Indigenous Art.
Autumn’s degrees include an M.A. in Anthropology from University of Manitoba (2017), a B.Sc. in Archaeology, and a B.A. in Greek and Roman Studies.
Her curatorial work has focused on elevating the voices of Indigenous creatives through a series of Indigenous focused exhibitions. Autumn’s curatorial repertoire includes three group exhibitions held at multiple Calgary venues between 2020-2022, known as “Indigenous Motherhood and Matriarchy.”
About the exhibition
Cross Cultura is a group exhibition comparing Indigenous and non-Indigenous aesthetics and epistemologies, with the latter centered on Eurocentric settler colonial perspectives. Download the exhibition catalogue.
The exhibition comprises 13 artwork pairings (one for each moon of the lunar calendar that is traditionally utilized by Indigenous peoples). Each pairing features an Indigenous and non-Indigenous artist portraying conceptually similar subject matters from different worldviews.
Subject matters range from community and family relations, to work and social life, the cosmos and human-animal interactions. Additional pairings focus on gender-based representation in portraiture, and the medium of stone carving.
Through the Fellowship for Emerging Curators, the AFA invites individuals and/or groups of individuals to submit a proposal for an online exhibition of Albertan visual art. Funded exhibitions are uploaded to Google Arts & Culture. Autumn was the AFA's 2021-22 Emerging Curator Fellow.
Watch Autumn describe her exhibition in "Curating from the Collection"
Autumn describes the Cross Cultura starting at 6:25 of the video below:
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"Cross Cultura" is curated by Indigenous curator, visual artist and archaeologist, Autumn Whiteway (Night Singing Woman).
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Tour "Cross Cultura" on Google Arts & Culture
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"Cross Cultura" is curated by Indigenous curator, visual artist and archaeologist, Autumn Whiteway (Night Singing Woman).
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Tour "Cross Cultura" on Google Arts & Culture
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"Cross Cultura" is curated by Indigenous curator, visual artist and archaeologist, Autumn Whiteway (Night Singing Woman).
Colin Smith's Bow Lake is this week's Work of the Week. Smith turns his 1976 Boler trailer into a homemade camera obscura. Smith builds on location camera obscuras and creates projections that produce highly saturated, breathtaking imagery.
World Photography Day is the global celebration of all types of photography. Each year features an optional theme to focus on. The World Photography Day 2023 theme is Landscapes.
World Photo Day is founded by Korske Ara to commemorate the patent of the daguerreotype process and to inspire others to take meaningful photos.
About the artist
Quietly embedded in Alberta’s film community for over 20 years. As a Film technician and stills photographer Colin has worked on numerous projects for local and international productions.
Congruently working as a self taught photographer. Recognized with awards for travel and fine art photography, including multiple project grants from Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
Colin has proudly exhibited his photography in several galleries including:
Celebrate International Dance Day! Established in 1982 by UNESCO International Theatre Institute, International Dance Day falls on Apr 29 every year.
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Today is International Dance Day! Established in 1982 by UNESCO International Theatre Institute, International Dance Day falls on April 29 of every year, commemorating the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre, a distinguished French choreographer that brought about significant changes in ballet production.
Check out what's happening from Alberta Dance Alliance calendar of dance-related events.
About the artwork:
The drawing was acquired by donation to the AFA art collection from the estate of Steven Mack. The AFA was approached by the estate in 2009 to review the holdings and offered first selection. The AFA purchased five artworks at the time including a painting of a dancer posed by the artist’s favourite model, named Kathryn.
In 2016 the AFA continued to work with the estate and reviewed artworks from a commercial gallery that had closed. The artworks were from the same Dancer Series, including two paintings and two drawings that were preliminary studies for the paintings.
The painting that is featured in the slide was an AFA purchase. The painting was part of the interdisciplinary performance piece he executed with the model and musician Amir Amiri at The Grand Theatre in Calgary.
Check out 13 artworks by the artist showcasing the mediums of painting and drawing, ranging in date from 1993 – 2007 on the AFA's Virtual Museum (click button below).
About the artist:
Steven Mack studied at University of Alberta, Universitty of Calgary, Sorbonne University in Paris, and completed graduate work at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts. Mack occasionally taught at Mount Royal College, and the Alberta College of Art & Design. Mack passed away on August 26, 2009 at the age of 46.
The AFA's collected works by Steven Mack collection reference the moments when objects become brushstrokes, and brushstrokes become identifiable objects.
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The first image shows a black and white sketch drawing of a dancer. The dancer is wearing a short sleeve shirt and pants where she has one arm raised up as she is posing.
The second image is a colour painting of the same dancer. She has short, tied-up black hair, and is wearing a green tank top and dark greyish-blue pants. She is in a dance studio and has one hand holding onto the wooden ballet barre (handrail). The background is a mirror showing her reflection and a black rope hanging from the ceiling.
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Work of the Week: Happy International Dance Day
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Celebrate International Dance Day! Established in 1982 by UNESCO International Theatre Institute, International Dance Day falls on Apr 29 every year.
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Work of the Week: Happy International Dance Day
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Celebrate International Dance Day! Established in 1982 by UNESCO International Theatre Institute, International Dance Day falls on Apr 29 every year.
Spatial Rythms by Henri van Bentum marked a major transition in his artistic practice.
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Former Alberta artist, Henri van Bentum, passed away peacefully in Victoria at age 92.
Immigrating from the Netherlands to Canada in 1957, Henri practiced in Alberta, Ontario, and B.C., as well as internationally. His work is included in more than 200 private and public collections, and he has had solo exhibitions in galleries in Paris, New York, Banff, Mexico City, Toronto and Montreal.
An obituary is published on the McCall Gardens website. Our condolences to his wife Natasha van Bentum, and his family and friends.
About the artwork
The AFA has one artwork by Henri van Bentum in the AFA Art Collection: Spatial Rhythms(1982). This artwork is representative of a major transition in the artist's practice, as explained in his obituary:
While painting ‘en plein air’ at Moraine Lake, two faculty members of the Banff School of Fine Arts came upon him unexpectedly. When they saw what was on his easel, Henri was invited to attend the school’s summer session (which he didn’t know existed). Having no money, they waived the usual fees.
Ironically it was in the Rocky Mountains that Henri discovered he was a born abstract painter, and left representational art behind, never turning back. (...)
Later, back in the Rocky Mountains 1980-85 where [his wife] Natasha worked at The Banff Centre, Henri embarked on a new series in watercolour, “Spatial Rhythms” and gave a solo exhibition at the Peter Whyte Gallery.
In the AFA's 2020-25 Collection Development Plan, one of the selection criteria of artwork by artists assessed to be core to the collection, includes "strong example of the artist's work [...] reflecting the pinnacle of a transition or paradigm shift in an artist's oeuvre..." (page 11).
In this respect, Spatial Rhythms is a good example of how the AFA uses its collection to help tell the stories of the artists who have lived and practiced here, and contributed to the development of visual arts in Alberta.
Five rows of pink, purple, lavendar and blue painted lines on a light pink background. While the lines on the top row are mostly vertical, the rows below include lines painted at different angles, giving the impression of movement or of falling.
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Henri van Bentum, 1929 - 2022
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Spatial Rythms by Henri van Bentum marked a major transition in his artistic practice.
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Henri van Bentum, 1929 - 2022
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Spatial Rythms by Henri van Bentum marked a major transition in his artistic practice.
Autumn Whiteway (“Night Singing Woman”) is a Saulteaux/Métis visual artist, traditional craft worker, curator and archaeologist based in Calgary, Alberta. She explores Indigenous themes from a contemporary perspective through painting, digital art and photography.
