Contributor

Adrian Stimson is a member of the Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation, Treaty 7 Territory, in southern Alberta. Stimson has a BFA with distinction from the Alberta College of Art and Design and an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan. He is an interdisciplinary artist and exhibits nationally and internationally.

He has completed and continues to work on several public art projects including: Bison Sentinels, a memorial to murdered and missing Indigenous women, First Nations University, Regina; Spirit of Alliance, a War of 1812 monument, Saskatoon; Bison Heart, Sweetgrass Bison, and Kowa’pomahkaiks: Animals that Roam the Prairie, Calgary; and Peace, Northern Lights Cemetery, Edmonton. Stimson was shortlisted for The Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan, Ottawa.

Stimson’s performance art looks at identity construction. His Bison paintings are monochromatic, evoking melancholy, whimsy, cultural fragility and resilience. His installation work examines the residential school experience and speaks to loss, resilience, and conciliation. He was a participant in the Canadian Forces Artist Program, which sent him to Afghanistan in 2010.

Stimson received the Alumni of Influence Award in 2020 from the University of Saskatchewan, the Governor General’s Award for Visual and Media Arts in 2018, the REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award from the Hnatyshyn Foundation in 2017, the Blackfoot Visual Arts Award in 2009, the Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005, and the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2003.