Three Alberta-born international artists will be at the Lac La Biche Portage College Campus this Thursday to discuss three new exhibits being officially welcomed to the college’s Museum of Aboriginal Peoples’ Art and Artifacts.
Jason Carter and Stewart Steinhauer and Order of Canada recipient Dr. Jane Ash Poitras are the guests of an Artist Talk panel at the college. The panel will be hosted by the museum’s chief curator Joseph Sanchez, one of the last two living members of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc — an artistic think-tank of Aboriginal artists created in the 1970s and referred to as the Indian Group of Seven.
“It’s rare to have the opportunity to meet one of these three artists let alone all three, and then to add on meeting the living legend Joseph Sanchez as well, is amazing,” said Donna Feledichuk, the museum’s director.
Museum additions
The Artist Talk is to commemorate the unveiling of three commissioned pieces for MOAPAA’s “Celebrating New Dawn” project. This project was awarded to the Portage museum in April 2018 by the Alberta Government through the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) and provided an opportunity to mark the 50th anniversaries of Portage College and 40 years for the museum. Each piece by each of the artists on display celebrate the rich Indigenous cultural and natural heritage that are at the roots of Portage College’s organization, community and province.
Feledichuk said the artists were asked to consider the importance of the context of the organizational history, the location in Treaty Six territory and the natural and human heritage of the area as central to the creation of their artwork.
Historic art
Poitras, an artist known for her collage work, prints and oil paintings has a large, wall-mounted piece called Preservation Reservation 2020. With images and documents placed over a blackboard backing, Poitras says the piece ties in the residential school era and the reconciliation that has followed.
“It brings back the blackboard because of the idea of residential schools,” she said in a recent interview to explain the piece. “We repatriate and take back the blackboard.”
The piece, she continues, shows the people, the history and the spirituality of Indigenous life.
Steinhauer’s work shows a bear; an animal he has been carving almost exclusively for decades. The bear holds a great meaning for the artist, who has been carving for more than 45 years.
“I made a carving for my first child,” he said, explaining that his son is now 45. “I’ve been carving ever since.”
A quest into the mountains several years ago brought the Saddle Lake-based stone carver to the world of the bear. A spiritual journey and fast brought him face-toface with a bear in what he said may have been a dream. After having what he called “mind-to-mind communications” with the animal, he was taken to see his family’s homestead with his father. The event caused the artist to focus on bear sculptures.
The sculpture at Portage College is titled “Newokatew-ayisiyin’ “(Four-legged Spirit Being) and bears the caption : We are all related.
Carter’s painting is a large mural that has created a lot of attention since it was installed at the campus. With bright colours, the large, horizontal canvas entitled Crusaders of the Land shows bison on a bright green pasture.
When he was interviewed by the POST in March of this year as the artwork was installed, Carter, a Canmore-based sculptor, painter and illustrator, said the painting was a tribute to the Aboriginal culture of the area and the fighting spirit of the college.
“(It is) a reflection of the inspiration and creativity that Portage College ... has fought very hard to preserve ... At one point, the college was threatened to be closed — that source of inspiration and livelihood compromised. The battle that ensued, the selfless protests that followed for months, and then the ultimate reclaiming and opening of the school that has benefitted so many, that is the inspiration of this piece.”
The artists are expected to offer more insights in their work, along with the importance of art in all cultures.
The Artists Talk is just one part of the event, that features a museum tour and a chance for autographs.
Free visit
The free event starts with the panel discussion at 6:30 pm in the McGrane Theatre at Portage College’s Lac La Biche campus.
A meet and greet with Carter, Poitras, Sanchez and Steinhauer will follow in the main foyer where guests can receive autographs. Museum tours will be available throughout the evening. The Portage Bookstore will stay open late so visitors may purchase items and gifts inspired by artists within the museum’s collection.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, not to be missed,” said Feledichuk.