Book Launch and Q&A with Artist and Authors
Lita Fontaine
Albert McCleod
Daina Warren
While Lita Fontaine is a contemporary visual artist, just as importantly she is a traditionalist in every sense of the word. She has been raised with a deep understanding her background in both Dakota and Anishinaabe cultures, which constitutes the core of her art practice. She is constantly exploring various facets of her contemporary visual arts knowledge to develop her traditional ideas, and suggest ways in which traditional teachings are continually relevant. The Art Gallery of South Western Manitoba (AGSM) and Urban Shaman (US) produced exhibitions on Fontaine back in 2013, we have now produced a full colour catalogue that illustrates both exhibitions and looks to other past works that have become known as her signature style of painting and found objects collages. Both galleries will be scheduling two book launches to take place in Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba.
Bio
Lita Fontaine is of Dakota, Anishinaabe, and Metis descent. Fontaine is a mother, sister, arts educator, and visual artist. In her late twenties, Fontaine, a single mother, decided to return to school and enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s School of Art in the Diploma program. She later pursued higher education at the University of Regina, Visual Arts Faculty, where she attained a Master of Fine Arts, specializing in Inter-media, Fontaine has exhibited her art in several solo and group exhibitions. Her work can be found on murals in Winnipeg, Manitoba and in personal and public collections.Fontaine currently works at the Seven Oaks School Division as Artist in Residence. Prior to this, she worked as an early childhood educator, youth-care worker, and paraprofessional. Fontaine’s current role as Artist in Residence is to collaborate with teachers, integrating art into the school division’s curricula. Fontaine’s practice is predominately studio based and her methodology in the area of arts education is hands-on, where creative processes play an integral role in learning. Fontaine believes the visual arts act as a catharsis that nourishes emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual growth.
Albert McLeod has ancestry from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and the Metis community of Norway House in northern Manitoba. He has over twenty years of experience as a human rights activist and is one of the directors of the Two-Spirited People of Manitoba.
Daina Warren is a member of the Montana or Akamihk Cree Nation in Maskwacis (Bear Hills), Alberta. She has a Masters in Art History from the Critical and Curatorial Studies program at the University of British Columbia. She is currently Director of Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art in Winnipeg, Manitoba.