Liz Barron has been self-employed for the last 20 years. She is one of the original founders of Urban Shaman Gallery, an artist run centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba for contemporary Indigenous art. Founded in 1996, Urban Shaman continues to showcase Indigenous artists in all art practices.
Barron has curated media art exhibitions, programmed documentary and experimental film festivals and provided support to individual artists through career development, grant writing and mentorship.
Her skills in managing large scale projects with various Indigenous cultural practices has developed through two major historic initiatives. Liz was the Director for the Metis 10, a Vancouver Olympic project featuring ten Metis artists and a permanent installation and was the program manager for Close Encounters: The next 500 years, an exhibition featuring more than 30 Indigenous artists from around the world and working with four curators.
Liz is dedicated to building strategies and programs that target, motivate and engage Indigenous artists and organisations working in all cultural milieu. She is a sought-after resource to artist-run centres in Canada, having worked with galleries in Manitoba, British Columbia and Ontario. With close to 20 years of experience in governance and development, she has devoted years to supporting Indigenous artists and organisations within contemporary art.
Liz has created solutions and programs in six practice areas for artists: Writing your biography; How to price your art; Creating and working with a budget; Creating your artistic resume & Organising Curator studio visits; How to write a grant. She has facilitated workshops for various arts organisations, including the National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition, Independent Media Arts Alliance, Creative Manitoba and Mentoring Artists for Women Artists.
Barron’s connection to place is the homeland of the Metis. Her mother is from St. Francois Xavier, Manitoba and her father is from St. Francois Xavier/ Pigeon Lake, Manitoba. Her maternal grandparents are from St. Charles, Manitoba (Peltier / Pelletier) and Harperville, Manitoba (Miller). Her paternal grandparents are from St. Francois Xavier (Barron / Chalifoux). The Chalifoux were identified as Cree on the Canadian Census and claimed scrip.
Barron is a member of the Manitoba Metis Federation and a member of the Catfish Local, Winnipeg.
Liz is the Director of Operations of the Indigenous Curatorial Collective.
We are honoured to welcome Liz as our new Board Chair. Please join us in welcoming her!
https://www.indigenousprotocols.art/liz-barron
