Michelle LaVallee

Michelle LaVallee
Born	1977 Newmarket, Ontario
Nationality	Canadian
Education	York University
Known for	Acrylic paint, mixed media

Michelle LaVallee (born 1977 in Newmarket, Ontario) is a Canadian artist of Ojibway ancestry and a member of the Nawash Band in Cape Croker, Ontario. She is known for her work with acrylics, mixed media and incorporation of traditional Aboriginal iconography. Her more recent works include experimentation with three-dimensional works using the "traditional materials of the Anishnaabe." She has BFA (2000) and BEd (2004) degrees from York University in Toronto, Ontario. Her most recent degree is an MA in Art History and Curatorial Studies from the University of Regina in Regina, Saskatchewan, with a special focus on the complex, contextual, and interactive nature of Aboriginal curatorial practices in the development of curatorial and art historical research models. She has been in various curatorial roles at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan since 2007. 2013, at the Mayors' Arts and Business Awards in Regina, Saskatchewan, Lavallee won the award for Excellence in Arts Related Service.

Career

LaVallee was Assistant Curator (2007-2012), and is now Associate Curator at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan. She has curated several shows exploring colonial relations, including a retrospective exhibition of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., known as the “The Indian Group of Seven,” which included First Nations artists Jackson Beardy, Eddy Cobiness, Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Carl Ray, and Joseph Sanchez. The exhibit opened at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan on September 21, 2013, and was accompanied by a catalogue titled 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc, which won 3 2015 Saskatchewan Book Awards(University of Regina Faculty of Education and Campion College Award for Publishing in Education, First Nations University of Canada Aboriginal Peoples' Publishing Award, Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport Publishing Award). he exhibit also travelled to the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Winnipeg, Manitoba (May 9 to August 31, 2014), Kelowna Art Gallery in Kelowna, British Columbia (October 11, 2014 to January 4, 2015), and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario (May 10 to August 16, 2015).

LaVallee was also a delegate with the Canadian Aboriginal Curators to the 2011 Venice Biennale, and the 2010 and 2008 Biennale of Sydney. She received the 2006 Canada Council for the Arts Assistance to Aboriginal Curators Grant for Residencies in the Visual Arts. She was a speaker at the University of Manitoba's School of Art 100th Anniversary Symposium in 2013, which had a theme of Indigenizing the Campus Through Art.

Exhibitions

LaVallee's work of native iconography has recently been displayed in different group exhibits across Canada:

2012: Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3, Museum of Arts and Design, New York City, New York

2010: Love, Saskatchewan, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario

2009: Flatlanders: Saskatchewan Artists on the Horizon, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

2008: Myths of the Land, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario (show included art from members of the Canadian Group of Seven (artists) and contemporary members of the Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated (PNIAI), aka "The Indian Group of Seven," including Norval Morrisseau and Ron Noganosh)

Sources

• "7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc." MacKenzie Art Gallery. Retrieved 28-02-2016.
• Commanda, Erica. (09-02-2015). "THE INDIGENOUS GROUP OF SEVEN." Muskrat Magazine. Retrieved 28-02-2016.