This month we meet artist Annie Beach, a Cree/Saulteaux/Ukrainianvisual artist born, based and rooted in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They were curated by Kiana Compton of the AGO Youth Advisory. “Annie is a visual artist that truly walks in this life carrying the teachings from her culture and represents them in her art. Something that is super-admirable about Annie is that she stands up for what is right and always speaks up.  Annie is a proud Cree person and her culture is directly honoured in her work. Many Indigenous people can look at it and also see themselves.”

Artist Bio:

Annie Beach is a visual artist, born, based and rooted in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty One Territory. Beach is Cree/Saulteaux/Ukrainian, with relations from Peguis First Nation. Annie is a recent graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree (Honours) from the University of Manitoba’s School of Art. Beach has curated, designed and executed over a dozen mural projects throughout the city and works as an art instructor with a variety of youth, community arts and cultural-based organizations, to engage and uplift others, to imagine a more vibrant, radiant and tender world for the next seven generations. She is also one of three recipients of the 2019 Hnatyshyn Foundation Emerging Artist prize, and is currently exhibiting a new commission for the exhibition, Atautchikun | wȃhkôtamowin at the Remai Modern in Saskatoon, SK.

Curator Bio:

 Kiana Compton is an emerging visual artist born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Compton is Indigenous, specifically Saulteaux and Cree. Compton’s has roots from Keeseekoose, Saskatchewan and Beren’s River, Manitoba. Compton was raised in a family of artists and she also attended Art City Inc. programming almost daily as a kid. Compton’s family and Art City definitely shaped her into the artist she is today. Now as an adult, she has come full circle and now works at Art City Inc. Now it’s her turn to provide meaningful art programming to the community. She mostly does paintings but also does beadwork and sewing. Her paintings are inspired by her culture, family, nature, graffiti and her community. She participated in the Lavender Menace exhibit (September 2020) at the Plaza Skatepark at the Forks. She also painted her first mural which was for Indigenous Peoples Day in the West End neighbourhood of Winnipeg (June 2021).