Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre

Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Ociciwan supports Indigenous contemporary art, and advocates for innovative, experimental creative practices and research.

💫 STAFF UPDATE 💫We are pleased to announce the appointment of our new Project Coordinator, Evan Robinson! Evan will be o...
03/12/2026

💫 STAFF UPDATE 💫

We are pleased to announce the appointment of our new Project Coordinator, Evan Robinson! Evan will be overseeing our programming and supporting the continued development of our projects and initiatives. We are excited to welcome him to this role and look forward to the leadership, insight, and expertise he will bring to our work. We are confident that Evan’s perspective and experience will help strengthen our programs and contribute to the continued growth and success of our future projects. Please join us in welcoming Evan to the team! 🎊

Evan Robinson is a Nisga’a artist of the Pacific Northwest Coast, born and based in amiskwaciwâskahikan. Working through printmaking and drawing, his work explores narrative, memory, and the traces stories leave in perception. His process often begins through carving, reflecting an ongoing interest in the traditional practices of his First Nation. Robinson’s practice draws from spiritualist histories and Nisga’a traditions, approaching these sources as lived or recorded experiences that continue to circulate through bodies and the land. Alongside his studio practice, he has spent several years in galleries as an educator and preparator, supporting exhibitions and public engagement with contemporary art. Robinson holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Alberta. He has exhibited at the Art Gallery of Alberta, SNAP Gallery and Printshop, and Access Gallery. In 2025 he was a Visiting Artist in Residence at St. Michael’s Printshop in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

📣✨ Deadline Extension! ✨📣 Join our team as the Project Coordinator! The Project Coordinator position is a part-time, sal...
12/12/2025

📣✨ Deadline Extension! ✨📣 Join our team as the Project Coordinator! The Project Coordinator position is a part-time, salaried position with health benefits after a 3-month probationary period. The Project Coordinator is responsible for organizing projects, overseeing all aspects of project administration, and ensuring the highest standards of programming are maintained. Reporting to the Director, the Project Coordinator oversees the artistic integrity of curated exhibitions, special projects and events at the Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre. If you or someone you know would be an excellent fit for this role, please share it with them!

Deadline to apply is Friday January 23, 2026.

Check out the link in our bio for the full job posting and information on how to apply! ✨

The artwork pictured in this post is Kokums Starblanket Sky by Michelle Sound 🌟

🌻Staff Update🌻 We would like to announce the departure of Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet from her position as Project Coordinat...
12/06/2025

🌻Staff Update🌻 We would like to announce the departure of Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet from her position as Project Coordinator.

Kiona has been a valued member of our team, holding various roles with us over the last few years. She first joined Ociciwan in 2021 as the Community Outreach Coordinator, and after some time away, returned in 2023 as the Gallery Attendant. She then moved into the Project Coordinator role in 2024. During her time here, she centred kindness in all her actions and always communicated thoughtfully with artists and community members. She contributed insightful and creative ideas and showed such care in working with kâmamak nihtâwikihcikan, the butterfly garden, over three summers. We want to thank Kiona for dedicating so much time and energy to Ociciwan. Though we will miss her, she will always be part of the Ociciwan family, and we can't wait to see the growth in her art practice!

Today is Kiona’s last day, so please join us in wishing her well in this next chapter! ✨

📣 Its your last week to see our current exhibition, Seasons!🌨 We're open this Wednesday- Saturday from 12-5PM, so make s...
12/03/2025

📣 Its your last week to see our current exhibition, Seasons!

🌨 We're open this Wednesday- Saturday from 12-5PM, so make sure to come and visit before the exhibition ends on December 6th.

Seasons features artists Faye HeavyShield, Jerry Saddleback, and Jennine Krauchi. We're so grateful to have spent these last few months with their artworks. Thank you to everyone who has come to see the exhibition! We're excited to spend one last week with Seasons!

Ociciwan will be closed today. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause. Please visit us when we reopen again n...
11/29/2025

Ociciwan will be closed today. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause. Please visit us when we reopen again next week on Wednesday, December 3.

📣✨ We're Hiring! ✨📣 Join our team as the Project Coordinator! The Project Coordinator position is a part-time, salaried ...
11/28/2025

📣✨ We're Hiring! ✨📣 Join our team as the Project Coordinator! The Project Coordinator position is a part-time, salaried position with health benefits after a 3-month probationary period. The Project Coordinator is responsible for organizing projects, overseeing all aspects of project administration, and ensuring the highest standards of programming are maintained. Reporting to the Director, the Project Coordinator oversees the artistic integrity of curated exhibitions, special projects and events at the Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre. If you or someone you know would be an excellent fit for this role, please share it with them!

Deadline to apply is Friday, December 12, 2025.

Check out the link in our bio for the full job posting and information on how to apply! ✨

The Women, paint, graphite, kraft paper, 2025. The red line II, beads and chord, 2022. Matriliminal, photograph series,...
11/21/2025

The Women, paint, graphite, kraft paper, 2025. The red line II, beads and chord, 2022. Matriliminal, photograph series, 2020. Each work is by Faye HeavyShield.
--

Faye HeavyShield is a member of the Kainai of the Blackfoot Confederacy. HeavyShield lives in her home community of Standoff. She is a grandmother of several, two of them cats.

Faye is a featured artist in Ociciwan's current exhibition, Seasons. Come and visit the artworks until December 6th! About Faye's work:

"The Women" is a collage of empty dresses configured in a random scape, each claiming their space. "The red line II" speaks to lineage through, land, language, stories and beads. "Matriliminal" is part of the Clan installation. Four portraits including HeavyShield's paternal grandmother, Kate Three Persons and Kate's great granddaughters posed in the same manner. This was them meeting each other.
--

🌨 Seasons
🍂 Featured Artists: Faye HeavyShield, Jennine Krauchi, & Jerry Saddleback
🍃 Exhibition Run: September 26- December 6, 2025
❄️ Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 12-5PM

We hope to see you soon!

Puts Meal on Table by Jerry Saddleback, Birch, Hickory and Maple woods, stained with leather grip/ 62” long x 2” width a...
11/15/2025

Puts Meal on Table by Jerry Saddleback, Birch, Hickory and Maple woods, stained with leather grip/ 62” long x 2” width at grip. Encased it is approximately 72” Wide and 14” long, December 2019.
–

Meet Master Bow Maker and Elder Jerry Saddleback, who is featured in Seasons! Jerry Saddleback was the Dean of Cultural Programs for a couple of decades and is Elder-in-Residence of the Maskwacîs Cultural College (MCC). This position was offered to him for his Lifetime by the 4 Chiefs of Maskwacîs, who sit as the Board of Governors for MCC. Elder Saddleback has a distinguished career as the Elder and Spiritual Advisor to many organizations, institutions and communities and individuals: Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Edmonton Arts Council, City of Edmonton, Canadian Research Initiative on Substance Matters, asked to offer the Opening Prayer of the United Nations in New York June 2019; to name a few. He is one of maybe 6 elders left who knows the full Story of Creation: The Long Story.

Jerry Saddleback is also an artist, an artist of many traditional implements and Cultural items. His passion is bows. He is a Master Bow Maker with a shop in Maskwacîs and one in Edmonton. He was taught by 3 main elders: his Father Joe Saddleback and traditional grandfathers, Francis Quin and Frank Cacwitts, the late Chief of Morley Reserve. The Bow asked most for is the Plains Cree Traditional Self-Bow, used extensively, for buffalo hunts, from the 1700s to today. Jerry’s bows are the intergenerational handed-down-replicated versions. Groups from England and as far away as Japan have come to Jerry to ask how to make bows: traditional Long English bow and Japanese hunting bow. Jerry Saddleback harvests the wood himself from traditional territories, with permission. His bows may be seen at Ft. Edmonton and was recently displayed at the Art Gallery of Alberta.

–

“This is a traditional Laminate Bow made with ceremony and song and love. He was tested for accuracy and speed; using physics and aerodynamics specifications tailored to Buffalo hunting.”

–

🌷Seasons runs until December 6th. Visit us Wednesdays- Saturdays, 12PM to 5PM!

🍃Volunteer with us! Help us build our volunteer program.🍃Are you passionate about art and community engagement? We’re ex...
11/13/2025

🍃Volunteer with us! Help us build our volunteer program.🍃

Are you passionate about art and community engagement? We’re expanding our team and building out our volunteer program, and we want YOU to be a part of it!

--

Responsibilities include:

-Welcoming and assisting visitors
-Providing information about exhibitions and artists
-Maintaining a safe, respectful, and engaging gallery environment
-Supporting setup and breakdown of exhibitions and events

Volunteer roles may include:

-Assisting at events and openings
-Supporting marketing and outreach
-Helping with installation and gallery upkeep
-Participating in educational or youth programs

--

Whether you can give a few hours a week or help during special events, we welcome your energy and passion. 🌞

Link to volunteer: https://tr.ee/H-O9qxdy7L

Beginnings by Jennine Krauchi, plant based roots, epoxy resin liquid, rocks, velvet, cotton, size 13 – 18 glass beads, t...
11/05/2025

Beginnings by Jennine Krauchi, plant based roots, epoxy resin liquid, rocks, velvet, cotton, size 13 – 18 glass beads, thread, and home-tanned hide (smoked), 2024.
--
Introducing Jennine Krauchi, whose work is featured in our current exhibition, Seasons! Jennine Krauchi is a Métis beadwork artist and designer. She creates clothing and does replica work for many organizations, such as the Manitoba Museum, Parks Canada, and The Canadian Museum of History, The Canadian Museum for Human Rights as well as for others in Scotland, France and the USA. She also teaches beadwork and quillwork as well as moccasin/mukluk making.

Jennine’s latest accomplishments include – participation in A Hard Birth; an exhibit at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and Radical Stitch; an exhibit at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan. Most recently Krauchi has been awarded the Manitoba Arts Council’s – Award of Distinction for 2024 and also the Winnipeg Art Council’s – Making a Difference Award for 2024.
--
"I create Métis beadwork. I use beadwork as a connection to my culture by exploring our lost art. Many of these works are found in the archives of several museums around the world. My method uses a two needle technique. My designs are a combination of the old and the new. This requires sourcing vintage beads, ribbon and wool (just a few of the materials) of several types and colours. The designs likewise are a combination of old and new but are always connecting from one flower to the next. Stories are told here that draw from our ancestors and our culture. When making something for someone, I will get information about that person and incorporate that information into their design which makes the object very personal.

In creating this mossbag I felt the birth of our Métis Nation.

All of my designs are derived from our Métis history and culture and strive to tell the story of our struggle and our ancestry. We are known as the “Flower Beadwork People.”"
--
🌷Join us this Saturday, November 8th, for a beading circle inspired by the florals in Jennine Krauchi's moss bag! RSVP in the link in our bio.

On Saturday, November 8th, we will be beading in the gallery from 1-3PM! Bead, snack, and visit while surrounded by our ...
10/30/2025

On Saturday, November 8th, we will be beading in the gallery from 1-3PM! Bead, snack, and visit while surrounded by our current exhibition, Seasons, featuring artworks by Faye HeavyShield, Jennine Krauchi, and Jerry Saddleback 🪡🧵

This beading circle will not be facilitated by a teacher, and will instead be mostly self-guided. Please bring a project with you, or join us in beading a pattern from Jennine Krauchi's moss bag. Jennine has generously allowed us to create patterns from the florals that appear in her work 🌷

We've prepped some patterns to pick from at the beading circle. We'll also have limited beading supplies available! ✏

Small snacks will be provided, but feel free to bring a lunch for yourself if you'd like. Space is limited, so please RSVP at the eventbrite linked in our bio. This is a free event!

Address

10124 96 Street NW
Edmonton, AB
T5H2G5

Opening Hours

Wednesday 12pm - 5pm
Thursday 12pm - 5pm
Friday 12pm - 5pm
Saturday 12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+17802445505

Website

,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre:

Shortcuts

Share

Category