Join Alberta Craft and the artists of the Portage College Native Arts and Cultural Program: Legacy of Graduates Exhibition for an in person Symposium and Exhibition Reception on Saturday, September 23, 2023. The Symposium starts at 1 pm in the Theatre (bottom floor, cSPACE - Marda Loop), followed by a reception for the exhibition from 3 - 5pm, upstairs in the Alberta Craft Calgary Gallery (#280).
Artists Joseph Sánchez, Ruby Sweetman and Coral Madge will be speaking at the Legacy of Graduates Symposium. Joseph Sánchez is a member of the Professional Native Indian Artists (Native Group of Seven) and Chief Curator for the Museum of Aboriginal Peoples’ Art and Artifacts at Portage College in Lac La Biche. Ruby Sweetman is of mixed Cree ancestry and has been a professional artist, instructor and program coordinator in the Native Arts and Culture Program for over 25 years. Coral Madge is a Two Spirit Deh’cho Dene and Métis-Cree Traditional Artist, graduate of Portage, and Steward of Indigenous Collections at the Royal Alberta Museum, Edmonton. The speakers will present about their work as artists and their experiences at Portage.
The Legacy of Graduates exhibition takes place in the Alberta Craft Gallery cSPACE Marda Loop from Saturday, September 9 - Saturday, November4, 2023, with the works of eight artists: Promise Beauregard, Lana Gal, Jamie John-Kehewin, Coral Madge, Celina Merasty, Tanya Mustus, Tessirae Sasakamoose and Amber Weasel Head.
The graduate artists are showing their works in traditional materials such as birch bark baskets and quill work, beaded and ribboned garments, embroidery, fish scale artworks, ceramics, basketry, and stone and metal sculpture. Legacy of Graduates is a celebration of the beautiful, sustaining, traditional arts of our region. The artists approach their works from contemporary perspectives, taking inspiration from the rediscovery and preservation of traditional arts, language and cultural knowledge, spirituality and the natural world. The exhibition is curated by Coral Madge.
‘In my culture we know that when we do what our ancestors did it creates a path to them, a way to access generational healing in a world of generational trauma. My work allows me to not only create and develop my skill but also my relationship with my ancestors. Keeping my culture at the center of my creativity. Learning the quill weaved and beaded motifs of my family and caring for my ancestral artwork. Aligning the old with the new as traditional doesn’t mean only one thing. Bright glass on smoked hide. Wool applique designs. Quills carefully folded. Where fur and hide collide. All of it is my inheritance to create a fresh new tradition.’ - Coral Madge
These are free public events.
The Alberta Craft Gallery Calgary is located at #280, 1721 - 29 Avenue SW. Free parking is available in the parking lot on the North side of the building with access from 29 Avenue SW and additional street parking around the building.
Event Funder
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
