Tanya Lukin Linklater facts for kids

Tanya Lukin Linklater (born 1976) is a talented artist and choreographer. She is from the Alutiiq people, an Indigenous group in Alaska. Her art often involves live performances, videos, photos, and special art setups called installations.

About Tanya Lukin Linklater

Tanya grew up in Afognak and Port Lions, two places on Kodiak Island in Alaska. She is married to Duane Linklater, who is also an artist from the Omaskêko Ininiwak (Cree) people. Today, Tanya lives and works in North Bay, Ontario, Canada.

She has studied a lot! Tanya earned a Bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a Master's degree in Education from the University of Alberta. She is currently working on her PhD (a very advanced degree) in cultural studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Tanya's art explores many ideas. She looks at how bodies, history, poetry, and teaching methods connect. She also focuses on Indigenous ways of thinking, including Indigenous languages. A big part of her work is collaborating with other Indigenous artists.

Artist-in-Residence Programs

In 2017, Tanya was chosen as the first Indigenous Artist-In-Residence at All My Relations Arts in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This means she spent time there creating art and sharing her work.

Later that same year, she became an artist-in-residence at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). During her time there, she worked with dancers. They created a performance called Sun Force. This performance was a creative response to another art show at the AGO.

Wood Land School Project

Also in 2017, Tanya helped start something special called the Wood Land School. She co-founded it with her husband, Duane, and other artists and curators. The Wood Land School is a project that explores art and ideas in new ways.

One of their projects was an exhibition called Wood Land School: Kahatenhstánion tsi na’tetiatere ne Iotohrkó:wa tánon Iotohrha / Drawing Lines from January to December. This was a year-long art show that kept changing. New artworks and activities were added throughout the year.

In 2022, Tanya's art was featured in two big international art events: the Aichi Triennale and the Toronto Biennial of Art.

Awards and Recognition

Tanya has received several awards for her amazing work. In 2013, she won the K.M. Hunter Artist Award in Literature. She has also received many grants (money to help artists create) from the Ontario Arts Council.

In 2018, Tanya was given the first-ever Wanda Koop Research Fund. This award was presented by Canadian Art magazine, a well-known art publication.

Art Exhibitions

Tanya Lukin Linklater's art has been shown in many places. She has had both solo shows (where only her art is featured) and group shows (where her art is shown with others).

Solo Exhibitions

• Constellation/conversation (with other artists and a curator), ArtSpace, Peterborough, Ontario (2016).
• A Parallel Excavation (with Duane Linklater), Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta (2016).
• Determined by the River (with Duane Linklater), Remai Modern, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (2017).
• Slay All Day: Tanya Lukin Linklater, ma ma, Toronto (2018).

Group Exhibitions

• Reading the Line, Western Front (2015).
• Le Grand Balcon, Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec (2016).
• Traces, Urban Shaman, Winnipeg, Manitoba (2017).
• A Few Similar Things, Truck Gallery, Calgary, Alberta (2017).
• Wood Land School: Kahatenhstánion tsi na’tetiatere ne Iotohrkó:wa tánon Iotohrha / Drawing Lines from January to December, SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art, Montreal, Quebec (2017).
• Wood Land School: Under the Mango Tree, Documenta 14, Athens, Greece, and Kassel, Germany (2017).
• INSURGENCE/RESURGENCE, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (2017).
• Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas (2018).
• In Dialogue, organized by John G. Hampton, Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Brandon, Manitoba (2018).
• Inaabiwin (with other artists), Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario (2018).
• Indigenous geometries (with other artists and dancers), Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago (2019).
• Soft Power, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California (2019).
• Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts, Agnes Etherington Arts Centre, Kingston, Ontario (2019).
• Are You My Mother?, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan (2019).
• Larger Than Memory: Contemporary Art From Indigenous North America (2020).