In celebration of Indigenous History Month, the Art Gallery of Ontario welcomes Anishinaabe artist Cody Houle to Walker Court to create a live painting in response to Robert Houle’s Seven Grandfathers. We also are exciting to host Stephanie Hashie for an opening performance. Visitors are invited to observe the artist’s process and engage with this evolving work as it unfolds in the gallery.

This program encourages reflection on Mino-bimaadiziwin— “the good life”—and the ways the Seven Grandfather teachings guide individuals and communities toward living in balance and with respect. Through this live artistic response, audiences are invited to consider how these teachings inform our understanding of our place and responsibility within creation. 

Join us for complimentary tours throughout the night, featuring highlights from our Indigenous collection.

Cody James Houle (he/him) is an Anishinaabe (Saugeen First Nation) and French visual artist living in Brantford, Ontario. His creative process focuses on telling his family’s story and the healing power of representing intergenerational kinscapes. His artistic practice is rooted in honouring his ancestral connections, the land and the importance of telling one’s story beyond colonial parameters. Cody works to free his soul and to be an example for his daughter and all Indigenous youth of someone who is bravely transforming relationships—through his art—to identity, culture, and family who are no longer here and who did not get to make sense of or tell their own stories

Stephanie Hashie (she/her) is an Anishnawbe Kwe with roots in Wasauksing First Nation and Ginoogaming First Nation. Born and raised in Toronto, she has spent much of her youth involved with Toronto’s Urban Indigenous community organizations. With a passion for creating understanding of Indigenous ways of being and knowing, for family and for our nation building Stephanie continues to carry that message to Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples alike both as a professional and personal journey and path in life.

This event is free with admission, with complimentary admission to all Indigenous peoples.