Caring Art Crits & Conversation

Caring Art Crits and Conversation for Intermediate to Advanced Beaders
With Beading Experts Katherine Boyer, Sherry Farrell Racette, and Jennine Krauchi
Sunday, March 15, 1:00 to 4:00 pm
Wii Chiiwaakanak Learning Centre

Pre-registration required by March 2 at 11:59 pm. Priority to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists working with beads as their main material.

This free gathering will provide opportunities for intermediate to advanced First Nations, Métis and Inuit beaders to visit, share samples of their work, and receive feedback and encouragement from other Indigenous artists in a friendly and communal setting. Please bring samples of your beadwork and a willingness to share and speak about your work with others!

It is also an opportunity for registrants to apply for a short, one-on-one art crit from one of the following beading experts: Katherine Boyer, Sherry Farrell Racette or Jennine Krauchi. Advice on technical aspects, concepts, and beading design choices (tension, colour and size selection, choice of stitch, motifs, meaning, etc.) will be provided. A maximum of 15 beaders will be selected, and paired with one of the experts beforehand.

Light refreshments will be provided.

This event is presented in partnership with the Manitoba Craft Council in conjunction with Gallery 1C03's exhibition Beading Métis Resurgence. 

ABOUT THE BEADING EXPERTS

Katherine Boyer (Métis/white Settler) is a multidisciplinary artist, whose work is focused on methods bound to textile arts and the handmade - primarily woodworking and beadwork. Boyer’s art and research encompass personal and family narratives, entwined with Métis history, material culture, queer theory, and architectural spaces (human made and natural). Her work often explores boundaries between opposing things as an effort to better understand sides of a perceived dichotomous identity. This manifests in long, slow, and considerate laborious processes that attempt to unravel and better understand history, environmental influences, and personal memories.  Boyer is an MMF citizen and proud member of the Two-Spirit Michif Local. She has received a BFA from the University of Regina an MFA at the University of Manitoba and currently holds a position as an Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba, School of Art.

Sherry Farrell Racette is an interdisciplinary scholar with an active artistic and curatorial practice. She was born in Manitoba and is a member of Timiskaming First Nation in Quebec. Her work as a cultural historian is grounded in extensive work in archives and museum collections with an emphasis on Indigenous women and recovering aesthetic knowledge. Beadwork and stitch-based work are important to her artistic practice, creative research, and pedagogy. Farrell Racette has had an extensive career in Saskatchewan education, working at SUNTEP Regina (GDI), First Nations University of Canada, and the University of Regina. She has also held cross appointments to the Departments of Native Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Manitoba. Earlier this month, the National Gallery of Canada and the Audain Foundation announced that Farrell Racette will be the inaugural Audain Indigenous Curatorial Scholar in Residence, a new three‑year, research‑based residency in historical Indigenous art.

Jennine Krauchi is an internationally recognized Métis artist and citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation, whose work is profoundly rooted in her culture and community. As an artist, teacher, mentor and advocate, Krauchi has championed the shared inheritance of Métis beadwork, and her work connects its rich past to contemporary concerns. A descendant of Pierre McLeod and Jane Monkman, she learned beadwork from her mother and sewing from her father, and later spent many years learning from her Métis and First Nations elders. Her media include beadwork, quillwork, embroidery and textile design. Her work has been shown and collected by museums and galleries in Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland, France, United States, and Canada. Krauchi also works as a historical consultant for museums in both Europe and Canada.  Her art has been included in exhibits at the National Gallery of Canada, Remai Modern, Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Textile Museum of Canada and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, among many more. She was commissioned to design a commemorative silver coin honouring the Métis Nation for the Royal Canadian Mint. Krauchi is currently working on a major permanent outdoor beadwork façade for the Red River Métis National Heritage Centre in Winnipeg. In 2024, she received the Manitoba Arts Council Award of Distinction, the Winnipeg Arts Council Making a Difference Award, and an Indspire Award. She devotes significant time to leading workshops and mentoring emerging artists to share her expertise.

GETTING HERE AND ACCESSIBILITY
The Wii Chiiwaakanak Learning Centre is adjacent to the University of Winnipeg’s main campus. It is located on the main floor of the Helen Betty Osborne Building at 511 Ellice Avenue, marked with an “E” on campus maps. Free street parking is available on Ellice and adjacent streets. Building entrance is street level and accessible. A volunteer will be stationed at the entrance to welcome and assist participants to enter the building and Centre. with auto door opener. Accessible washrooms are located on the main floor.