Vanessa Dion Fletcher: Curiosity and Quillwork

Opening September 10, Vanessa Dion Fletcher's solo exhibition Curiosity and Quillwork demonstrates an appreciation for repetition and pattern-making using and diverging from traditional quillwork forms. The exhibition is a part of Vanessa's year-long residency at OCAD University. Curated by MFA Candidate Adrienne Huard. 

Vanessa Dion Fletcher: Curiosity and Quillwork

 Image: Shifting Focus, digital video, 10:00 minutes, colour, sound, no language, 2019
Tuesday, September 10, 2019 - 5:00pm to Friday, September 20, 2019 - 12:00am

Vanessa Dion Fletcher’s solo exhibition Curiosity and Quillwork demonstrates an appreciation for repetition and pattern-making using and diverging from traditional quillwork forms. As a mode of working through complicated limitations of colonial impacts, on language and limited access to traditional Indigenous knowledge. Dion Fletcher interacts with visual and creative means as a way of connecting to her ancestral relations and reclaiming her culture. The exhibition features three new works: Zigzag in twenty-nine parts (2019), a series of works on paper; Shifting Focus (2019), a microscopic digital video; and Advancing Colors (2019) a delicate installation of an ornate pattern that emulates the traditional practice of birch bark quillwork.

The exhibition and reception is supported by the City of Toronto’s Indigenous Arts and Culture Partnership Fund, the Ontario Arts Council - Conseil des arts de l'Ontario, Indigenous Visual Culture at OCAD University, the OCAD U Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers and the Delaney Family Foundation.

ASL Exhibition Blurb:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj5RFNgoK9c&feature=youtu.be

 

RECEPTION / ARTIST TALK

Tuesday September 10th from 5-7pm
ASL Interpretation provided.

Exhibition runs through Friday, September 20, 2019

 

GALLERY LAYOUT & ACCESS INFO

Accessibility: The Ada Slaight Gallery is located on the second floor of OCAD University’s 100 McCaul Street location. Curiosity and Quillwork is located in in room 225 of the Ada Slaight Gallery. Enter through 100 McCaul Street’s main doors located on the west side of McCaul Street, there is a ramp and a flight of stairs to enter the building. Inside the lobby one can get to the second floor by going up the spiral stairwell or elevator to level 2. There are two sets elevators in the lobby. Only the two west-facing elevators (behind the elevators facing the main entrance) will go up to level 2. On level 2 make a right turn down the hallway. The exhibition will be located to the left. Service animals may accompany visitors at any time. Visit www.ocadu.ca/about/hours for hours of operation.

Public transportation & Parking: OCAD University’s 100 McCaul Street location is accessible by the TTC via the Dundas Street Streetcar. The closest accessible TTC station is St. Patrick. Paid street and underground parking is available around the University.

The exhibition includes work that can be touched, and ASL interpretation at the opening reception.

Questions? Contact Shellie Zhang, szhang@ocadu.ca
416.977.6000 x3706

 

ARTIST BIO

Vanessa Dion Fletcher graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2016 with an MFA in performance. She has exhibited across Canada and the US at spaces such as Art Mur in Montreal, Eastern Edge Gallery Newfoundland, The Queer Arts Festival Vancouver, and the Satellite Art show Miami. Her work is in the Indigenous Art Centre in Gatineau, Quebec, Joan Flasch Artist Book collection, Vtape and Seneca College. Over 2019, Vanessa received support from the City of Toronto Indigenous partnerships fund to be Artist in residence at OCAD University.

 

CURATOR BIO

Adrienne Huard is an Anishinaabekwe born in so-called Winnipeg and is currently based in Tkarón:to/Toronto. She is registered at Couchiching First Nations, Fort Frances, Ontario. After graduating in 2012 from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in photography, she decided to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in art history at Concordia University in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. Huard graduated from Concordia in April 2018 and is currently attending OCAD University’s graduate-level Criticism and Curatorial Practice program.
 

Venue & Address: 
Ada Slaight Gallery Room 225, 100 McCaul St. OCAD University Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5T 1W1
Website: 
http://bit.ly/CuriosityandQuillwork
Cost: 
N/A

INVC students receive Ontario Heritage Award 

Tuesday, February 26, 2019 - 11:45am

Eight undergraduate students from OCAD University’s Indigenous Visual Culture Program (INVC) received Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Awards for their project Uncover/Recover. A joint web-based project with the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), the students, led by Professor Bonnie Devine, worked with curators and others to create an educational, interactive, accessible and informative multimedia exhibition to celebrate Indigenous peoples’ creative legacy – past, present and future. 

Award recipients (Michael Crawford, Ana Morningstar Cisneros, Megan Feheley, Shawn Johnston, Mariah Meawasige and Karalyn Reuben) with Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Harvey McCue, Chair, Ontario Heritage Trust, and Professor Bonnie Devine.

Students learned new digital and creative processes, engaged with senior Indigenous scholars, knowledge keepers and museum workers, and analyzed their chosen objects. Their work uncovered and recovered the objects’ original purposes and re-engaged them in the work of Indigenous social reconstruction and restoration. The resulting artistic responses range from humorous to poignant, analytical to emotional, and provide a unique picture of contemporary Indigenous thought and creation. 

The awards were presented at a ceremony led by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario on Friday, February 22. Established in 2007, the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Awards are annual juried awards administered by the Ontario Heritage Trust to recognize exceptional achievements in heritage conservation. Presented each year in a ceremony at Queen’s Park, the awards are part of the Trust’s annual celebrations marking Heritage Week

Poster: 
Karalyn Reuben with her beaded thunderbird panel, photo by Martin Iskander.

Upcoming Events | Artist-in-Residence | Vanessa Dion Fletcher

Vanessa Dion Fletcher Artist in Residence
Tuesday, February 12, 2019 - 12:00pm to Thursday, April 18, 2019 - 12:00pm

UPCOMING EVENTS | ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE VANESSA DION FLETCHER

Interested in connecting with Artist-in-Residence Vanessa Dion Fletcher?
Faculty, students, grads and members of the public are invited to connect with Vanessa during her time here at OCAD University.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

OPEN STUDIOS
Drop in and see what’s happening.

Room 303, Level 3
Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers
Rosalie Sharp Pavilion, 115 McCaul Street, OCAD University

Thurs, Feb 28, 4:00 – 7:00 PM
Thurs, March 28, 4:00 – 7:00 PM
Thurs, April 18, 4:00 – 7:00 PM (ASL Interpretation Provided)

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RESPONSE EXCHANGE
Between you and the Artist

Response Exchange is an opportunity for you and Vanessa to exchange ideas and comments about your creative practices. Come prepared to share artwork, idea or writing that you would like a response to. In turn, Vanessa will ask for your thoughts on Art she is developing during her residency.

To book an appointment for Response Exchange, email Vanessa.

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ARTIST TALKS IN CLASSES
Invite Vanessa to join your class.

Faculty are encouraged to invite Vanessa to their classes for guest artist talks
To schedule a class visit, email Vanessa.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

VANESSA DION FLETCHER

Vanessa Dion Fletcher employs porcupine quills, Wampum belts, and menstrual blood to reveal the complexities of what defines a body physically and culturally. She links these ideas to personal experiences with language, fluency, and understanding. All of these themes are brought together in the context of her Potawatomi and Lenape ancestry, and her learning disability caused by a lack of short-term memory. Her work is held in the Indigenous Art Center Collection in Gatineau, Quebec, and Seneca College. In 2016, Dion Fletcher graduated from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago with an M.F.A in performance. She is the recipient of the 2017 Textile Museum of Canada Melissa Levin Emerging Artist Award.

OCAD University is proud to announce an inaugural residency with artist Vanessa Dion Fletcher at the Rosalie Sharp Pavilion. Vanessa will complete an in-situ six-month Visiting Artist residency, which will be followed by a six-month post-residency to disseminate the results with their guidance and support. Funded by the City of Toronto’s Indigenous Arts and Culture Partnership Fund, the residency will be hosted by OCAD University’s Centre for Emerging Artists and Designer and the Indigenous Visual Culture program.

www.dionfletcher.com

________________________________________________________________________________________________

ROSALIE SHARP PAVILION

OCAD University’s Rosalie Sharp Pavilion is the home of the Experiential Learning Centre. The building’s refurbishment is a milestone in the Creative City Campus project, boldly re-imagining the use of space to expand studio, digital and work-integrated-learning learning.

Located on level 3, the Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers (CEAD) is OCADU’s Career Development office and Experiential Learning Program. The CEAD supports the early-career advancement of all OCAD U students and recent alumni.

Access Info: 115 McCaul St is located at the corner of Dundas St and McCaul St on the southeast side. The entrance to the building is on McCaul St and has an electronic door with a punch button. The building is undergoing construction and there is scaffolding over the entrance. Level 3 can be accessed via an elevator or stairs. The floor is an open concept space and direction to the studio or other questions can be asked at the reception desk. There are gendered wheelchair accessible washrooms. 

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CONTACT

We encourage students and faculty to set up a time with Vanessa for mentorship, critique and conversation.

Please email Vanessa directly to set up a time.

 

Venue & Address: 
Centre for Emerging Artists & Designers, Leve 3, 115 McCaul St OCAD University
Website: 
https://www.ocadu.ca/services/centre-for-emerging-artists-and-designers.htm

Vanessa Dion Fletcher | Welcome Lunch & Artist Talk

Vanessa Dion Fletcher in her studio (left), Artwork right: Vanessa Dion Fletcher, Colonial Comfort, 2016 (right)
Monday, February 4, 2019 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm

OCAD University is proud to announce an inaugural residency with artist Vanessa Dion Fletcher at the Rosalie Sharp Pavilion. Vanessa will complete an in-situ six-month Visiting Artist residency, which will be followed by a six-month post-residency to disseminate the results with their guidance and support. Funded by the City of Toronto’s Indigenous Arts and Culture Partnership Fund, the residency will be hosted by OCAD University’s Centre for Emerging Artists and Designer and the Indigenous Visual Culture program.

Indigenous vs. western capitalist models separate communal relationships; artists vs. students vs. teachers/scholars and create economic barriers and social hierarchies. This model is antithetical to Indigenous placemaking, economic, and creative expression. My residency time at OCAD U is an opportunity to interrupt and shift these Western institutional values, boundaries, and hierarchies embedded in the arts. I chose to partner with OCAD because decolonization is critical to OCAD University’s forward thinking, I will be able to create great alliances for social change/justice.

Vanessa Dion Fletcher

________________________________________________________________________________________________

WELCOME LUNCH & ARTIST TALK

Monday, February 4th, 12:00 – 1:30 PM
Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers, Level 3, Rosalie Sharp Pavilion, 115 McCaul St.
Lunch catered by Nish Dish
Facebook Event

Vanessa’s residency will run from January 2019 to mid-June 2019. Her time with OCAD University will open with a welcome lunch and artist talk to take place at the Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers. All are welcome.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

VANESSA DION FLETCHER

Vanessa Dion Fletcher employs porcupine quills, Wampum belts, and menstrual blood to reveal the complexities of what defines a body physically and culturally. She links these ideas to personal experiences with language, fluency, and understanding. All of these themes are brought together in the context of her Potawatomi and Lenape ancestry, and her learning disability caused by a lack of short-term memory. Her work is held in the Indigenous Art Center Collection in Gatineau, Quebec, and Seneca College. In 2016, Dion Fletcher graduated from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago with an M.F.A in performance. She is the recipient of the 2017 Textile Museum of Canada Melissa Levin Emerging Artist Award.

www.dionfletcher.com

________________________________________________________________________________________________

ROSALIE SHARP PAVILION

OCAD University’s Rosalie Sharp Pavilion is the home of the Experiential Learning Centre. The building’s refurbishment is a milestone in the Creative City Campus project, boldly re-imagining the use of space to expand studio, digital and work-integrated-learning learning.

Located on level 3, the Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers (CEAD) is OCADU’s Career Development office and Experiential Learning Program. The CEAD supports the early-career advancement of all OCAD U students and recent alumni. The Rosalie Sharp Pavilion is a wheelchair accessible space.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

CONTACT

We encourage students and faculty to set up a time with Vanessa for mentorship, critique and conversation.

Please email Vanessa directly to set up a time.

Venue & Address: 
Centre for Emerging Artists & Designers Level 3, Rosalie Sharp Pavilion, 115 McCaul St, OCAD University
Cost: 
N/A

OCAD University Welcomes Artist-in-Residence Vanessa Dion Fletcher

Vanessa Dion Fletcher in her studio (left), Artwork right: Vanessa Dion Fletcher, Colonial Comfort, 2016 (right)
Friday, January 25, 2019 - 11:45am

OCAD University is proud to announce an inaugural residency with artist Vanessa Dion Fletcher at the Rosalie Sharp Pavilion. Vanessa will complete an in-situ six-month Visiting Artist residency, which will be followed by a six-month post-residency to disseminate the results with their guidance and support. Funded by the City of Toronto’s Indigenous Arts and Culture Partnership Fund, the residency will be hosted by OCAD University’s Centre for Emerging Artists and Designer and the Indigenous Visual Culture program.

Indigenous vs. western capitalist models separate communal relationships; artists vs. students vs. teachers/scholars and create economic barriers and social hierarchies. This model is antithetical to Indigenous placemaking, economic, and creative expression. My residency time at OCAD U is an opportunity to interrupt and shift these Western institutional values, boundaries, and hierarchies embedded in the arts. I chose to partner with OCAD because decolonization is critical to OCAD University’s forward thinking, I will be able to create great alliances for social change/justice.

Vanessa Dion Fletcher

________________________________________________________________________________________________

WELCOME LUNCH & ARTIST TALK

Monday, February 4th, 12:00 – 1:30 PM
Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers, Level 3, Rosalie Sharp Pavilion, 115 McCaul St.
Lunch catered by Nish Dish
Facebook Event

Vanessa’s residency will run from January 2019 to mid-June 2019. Her time with OCAD University will open with a welcome lunch and artist talk to take place at the Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers. All are welcome.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

VANESSA DION FLETCHER

Vanessa Dion Fletcher employs porcupine quills, Wampum belts, and menstrual blood to reveal the complexities of what defines a body physically and culturally. She links these ideas to personal experiences with language, fluency, and understanding. All of these themes are brought together in the context of her Potawatomi and Lenape ancestry, and her learning disability caused by a lack of short-term memory. Her work is held in the Indigenous Art Center Collection in Gatineau, Quebec, and Seneca College. In 2016, Dion Fletcher graduated from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago with an M.F.A in performance. She is the recipient of the 2017 Textile Museum of Canada Melissa Levin Emerging Artist Award.

www.dionfletcher.com

________________________________________________________________________________________________

ROSALIE SHARP PAVILION

OCAD University’s Rosalie Sharp Pavilion is the home of the Experiential Learning Centre. The building’s refurbishment is a milestone in the Creative City Campus project, boldly re-imagining the use of space to expand studio, digital and work-integrated-learning learning.

Located on level 3, the Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers (CEAD) is OCADU’s Career Development office and Experiential Learning Program. The CEAD supports the early-career advancement of all OCAD U students and recent alumni. The Rosalie Sharp Pavilion is a wheelchair accessible space.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

CONTACT

We encourage students and faculty to set up a time with Vanessa for mentorship, critique and conversation.

Please email Vanessa directly to set up a time.

 

"Too Much Not Enough" by Kaia'tano:ron Dumoulin Bush: INVC BFA Exhibition

Monday, December 3, 2018 - 10:45am to Friday, December 7, 2018 - 10:45am

Please join us for INVC student Kaia'tano:ron Dumoulin Bush's BFA exhibition “Too Much Not Enough.”

 

December 3rd-7th 2018

Ada Slaight Gallery, OCAD University

100 McCaul Street, 2nd Floor

Artist Talk/Reception: Wednesday, December 5th 4:30pm – 6:30pm

 

Venue & Address: 
Ada Slaight Gallery, OCAD University 100 McCaul St. 2nd Floor
Website: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/553689608424908/
Cost: 
FREE
"Too Much Not Enough" scrawled repeatedly in black on a gritty off-white background with a red outline of a dress behind title

OCAD U’s INVC program hosts Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership meet-and-greet

Ryan Rice, Associate Dean, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School with participants. Photo by Martin Iskander.
Friday, November 9, 2018

OCAD U’s Ryan Rice, Associate Dean, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, formerly Delaney Chair, along with The Inuit Art Quarterly/Inuit Art Foundation (IAF), hosted a meet-and-greet with partners of the Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq/Pijariuqsarniq Project.

The project is a partnered research training initiative (PRTI) that will support Inuit students studying to become academics and cultural leaders working to build capacity for Inuit to work in the arts.

INVC/OCAD U and IAF are the Toronto partners in the project. Two Master of Arts Indigenous students from OCAD University  ̶  Emma Steen and Adrienne Huard  ̶  have been hired as research assistants for the project.

Led by a group of Inuit advisers, this project seeks to address the longstanding absence of Inuit leadership across the humanities by establishing a culturally, socially and geographically relevant PRTI to provide meaningful opportunities for education and advancement. Pilimmaksarniq/ Pijariuqsarniq are the Inuit societal values of developing skills and knowledge through "observation, mentoring, practice, and effort."

The meet-and-greet included all of the partners working on the research project and upper administration, deans, chairs and Indigenous faculty.

Poster: 
Participants at INVC meet-and-greet. Photo by Martin Iskander.

The Laxgiik Convocation Robe: Luke Parnell & Selected Prints by Working Title Press

Friday, October 26, 2018 - 5:00pm to Saturday, October 27, 2018 - 5:00pm

The Laxgiik Convocation Robe: Luke Parnell & Selected Prints by Working Title Press

Curated by Erica Crisobal

The Laxgiik Convocation Robe is an installation created in the style of a Northwest coast Indigenous Chilkat blanket. This project is capturing the spirit in which these prestigious blankets are given: the spirit of reciprocity. Prints will be sold and removed from the installation one by one; the Robe will be ever changing until the last print is sold. 

Proceeds will be donated to Printmaking, Publications, Sculpture/Installation & Indigenous Visual Culture programs at OCAD U. 

Ada Slaight Gallery, OCAD University

100 McCaul Street, 2nd floor

Opening: 5:00-9:00pm Friday, October 26

Artist talk: 6:00pm Friday, October 26

Ongoing performance and sale: Friday, October 26 5pm-9pm; Saturday, October 27th, Noon-5pm

 

Venue & Address: 
Ada Slaight Gallery, OCAD University 100 McCaul St. 2nd Floor
Website: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/2237564426479696/
Cost: 
FREE
Right: "The Laxgiik Convocation Robe" black text on white background. Left: orange, yellow and pink Northwest coast style image

Flux Refusal - Indigenous Student Association Exhibition

Wednesday, May 2, 2018 - 11:00am to Sunday, May 6, 2018 - 5:00pm

Flux Refusal assembles artistic explorations of Indigenous cultural trajectories, futurities, approaches, and outcomes previously ignored by the Western world. Through the questioning and rejection of norms established by institutions, the epistemology of Indigenous Transmotion is recentred in how we assert our own futures

Location: Indigenous Visual Culture Student Centre, room 410, 113 McCaul. 

Dates and hours: May 2-6th, 11am-5pm 

Opening reception: Thursday May 3rd, 6-8 pm 

Venue & Address: 
Room 410, 113 McCaul Street
Keywords: 

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