Taiaiake Alfred
Jane Ash-Poitras
Herb Belcourt
Tony Belcourt
Bernd Christmas
Myra Cree
Billy Day
Andrea Dykstra
Wendy Grant-John
Shirley Firth Larsson
Jim Sinclair
Gladys Taylor Cook
George Tuccaro
James (Sakej) Youngblood Henderson
Jane Ash-Poitras:
Alberta artist receives Aboriginal honor
Article by Heather Andrews Miller
Jane
Ash Poitras has become known internationally for her multi-media
creations. Now her artistic career of more than 20 years has
been recognized at home. She has been awarded the prestigious
National Aboriginal Achievement Award for arts and culture.
"I was shocked and honored to hear that I'd received the
award... "As an artist I'd rather stay in the background,
so I'm not always comfortable in the limelight."
Despite humble beginnings, Poitras has successfully developed
a stellar career as a visual artist and lecturer. The mother
of two was born in the remote northern Alberta community of Fort
Chipewyan, and was orphaned at an early age. She grew up in the
city of Edmonton, fostered by Marguerite Runck, then 65 and a
devout Catholic. Poitras did not participate in any aspect of
her Aboriginal culture. She did, however, begin to develop a
love of drawing, coloring, cutting and pasting.
Despite her obvious talent in artistic endeavors and an ever-growing
collection of impressive paintings and collages, she was advised
that it would be difficult to make a living as an artist, so
she attended the University of Alberta, graduating with a bachelor
of science degree in microbiology, while attending art classes
in the evenings.
"But I always really wanted to go back to university and
get a degree in fine arts. Friends and acquaintances who had
seen my work encouraged me to put together a portfolio and submit
it to the department of art and design. Within hours of doing
so I was told that I'd been accepted, and I could pursue my first
love. I've never looked back."
Following her graduation with a bachelor of fine arts in printmaking
in 1983, she was accepted by the prestigious Columbia University
in New York City and earned a master's degree in 1985. At the
time she was coming out of a ...
PEOPLE OF HONOUR INDEX