Tania Willard facts for kids

Tania Willard (born 1977) is a talented Indigenous artist, graphic designer, and curator from Canada. She is known for blending traditional Indigenous art with modern ideas. Tania is part of the Secwepemc nation, which is located in the interior of British Columbia, Canada.

She helped organize a big art show called Beat Nation: Art Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture. This show traveled to many major art galleries across Canada.

About Tania Willard

Tania Willard was born in 1977. She grew up in Armstrong, British Columbia. She also spent time on her father's Indian reserve. A special moment happened when she was 16. She was selling fruit at a powwow and saw kids breakdancing. This experience was important for her.

Tania's Art Career

Tania Willard is an artist, graphic designer, and curator. A curator is someone who chooses and organizes art for exhibitions. Tania often mixes old Indigenous art styles with new ideas. She connects her art to the land and her ancestors. She believes everything is connected, like the roots of a plant.

Tania uses many different art forms. These include oil and acrylic painting, printmaking, drawing, and collage. She also creates public art. One example is the Neskonlith Mural from 2013. She worked on this mural with artist Guillermo Aranda and the Secwepemc Native Youth Network.

From 2013 to 2015, Tania was the Aboriginal Curator in Residence at the Kamloops Art Gallery. This means she helped choose and display Indigenous art there. She also won an award for her excellent work as a curator. In 2017, she had her own art show called dissimulation at the Burnaby Art Gallery.

Tania's Curatorial Work

Tania Willard has organized several important art exhibitions. These shows help people learn about Indigenous art and culture.

Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop, and Indigenous Culture

Tania helped create the Beat Nation exhibition. It started as an online project for grunt gallery. The project featured visual art, videos, music, and writing. The Beat Nation exhibition then toured across Canada. It visited cities like Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal.

Tania said it was important for the exhibit to travel. It showed how Indigenous artists today use modern art forms. They also share ancestral ideas and respond to social and political issues.

BUSH gallery

BUSH gallery is a special art project. It's an outdoor, Indigenous-led art space. It takes place on Tania's land in the Secwepemc Nation in British Columbia. It's a place where artists gather to talk about art, land, and Indigenous art history. It's a way to explore new ideas about art and culture.

#callresponse

#callresponse is a big project that Tania helped organize. It includes a website, social media, a touring exhibition, and a book. The project highlights the important work of Indigenous women artists across Canada.

Five Indigenous women artists created new art for this project. They also invited other artists to respond to their work. This project helps share their voices and ideas with many people.

Art Exhibitions

Tania Willard's art has been shown in many galleries. She has also helped curate (organize) many exhibitions.

Tania's Art Shows

• 2009 – Lore, a group show at Bishop's University and Gallery 101 in Quebec.
• 2009 – Claiming Space, her own show at the Kamloops Art Gallery.
• 2013 – Witnesses: Art and Canada's Indian Residential Schools, at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery in Vancouver.
• 2017 – Tania Willard: Dissimulation, at the Burnaby Art Gallery.
• 2019 – Hexsa'am: To Be Here Always, at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at the University of British Columbia.

Exhibitions Tania Curated

• 2012 – Beat Nation: Art Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture, a traveling show that started at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
• 2014 – unlimited edition, at the Kamloops Art Gallery.
• 2016 – Unceded Territories: Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.
• 2016 – Nanitch: Early Photographs of British Columbia from the Langmann Collection, at Presentation House Gallery.