Judy Chartrand facts for kids

Judy Chartrand is a talented artist from the Cree nation. She was born in 1959 in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. Judy grew up in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighborhood. Her art often explores important topics. These include how Indigenous people are affected by history. She also looks at fairness, women's rights, and traditional Indigenous knowledge. She uses different art forms like ceramics and found objects. She also uses old photos and traditional techniques. These include beadwork, moose hair tufting, and quillwork.

Judy Chartrand: An Artist's Journey

Judy Chartrand taught herself how to work with ceramics. She was first inspired by Maria Martinez. Maria was a famous potter from the Pueblo San Ildefonso. Judy learned from Maria's teaching videos.

Judy's early artworks were about her own life. They focused on the differences between Indigenous and European cultures in Vancouver. When she was younger, she visited the Vancouver Museum. It was located at the Carnegie Community Centre. There, she learned about the designs and paintings on ceramics. This helped her develop her own art style.

Art Styles and Messages

An early style Judy used in her art was based on Mimbres bowl forms. These are old designs from a past culture. She has used this design language many times in her work. She has made her own versions of historical Mimbres pots. She also created a public art piece for the Olivia Skye Public Housing Building. This piece showed illustrations of women in the Mimbres style.

Her art series, "If This is What You Call, ‘Being Civilized’, I'd rather go back to Being a ‘...’", grew from the Mimbres pots. It kept the same bowl shape. But Judy added her own special designs to the surface. This series is now part of private and public art collections. These include the collection of Bob Rennie and the Surrey Art Gallery.

Judy's artworks have also been collected by other museums. These include the Glenbow Museum, the AMOCA, the Gardiner Museum, and the Museum of Anthropology. Her work is also in the Crocker Art Museum and the Saskatchewan Arts Board. Her art has been featured in books about arts and crafts. One such book is Utopic Impulses: Contemporary Ceramics Practice.

Education and Learning

Judy Chartrand studied art at Langara College. She earned her Diploma in the Fine Arts Program there. Later, she was accepted into the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She graduated with her BFA in 1998. She then continued her studies. She earned her master's degree in Fine Arts in Ceramics from the University of Regina in 2003.

Exhibitions and Shows

Judy Chartrand's art has been shown in many exhibitions. Here are some of them:

• Hot Clay: Sixteen West Coast Ceramic Artists, Surrey Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC, 2004
• Playing With Fire, Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC, 2019
• the poets have always preceded, Griffin Art Projects, North Vancouver, BC, 2019
• Bad Stitch: Audie Murray, Judy Chartrand, and Jeneen Frei Njootli, Macaulay & Co. Fine Art, Vancouver, BC, 2018
• What a Wonderful World, Bill Reid Gallery, Vancouver, BC, 2016-2017
• Métis Soup, Macaulay & Co. Fine Art, Vancouver, BC, 2016
• Judy Chartrand 1999–2013, AKA Artist Run, Saskatoon, SK, 2013
• Malaysia-Canada Indigenous Communities Applied Arts Exhibition, Pendulum Gallery, Vancouver, BC, 2012
• Lost & Found: Haruko Okano, Judy Chartrand, and Wayde Compton, Access Gallery, Vancouver, BC, 2006