Josée Aubin Oullette is one of ten artists to receive a prestigious Edmonton Artists' Trust Fund Award. After completing her BFA in the University of Alberta's Art and Design department in 2007, Oullette relocated to Scotland where she continued to pursue her education. In 2012 she completed her Masters of Fine Art, Interdisciplinary Studio Practice, at the Glasgow School of Art. Ouellette has exhibited locally through Nextfest, the Works Festival and ArtsHab. From 2007-2010, she worked as the Visual Arts Curator for Nextfest and created many self-organised art projects under the name of Institute Parachute, such as The Portable Festival of Portable Art (2007-2010) and Cabinet Gallery (2007-2009).
Associate Professor Allen Ball comments: "Josée is fully deserving of this award as she demonstrates extraordinary promise as a visual artist. She has been a real force within the university and broader visual arts community, devoting her time and energy to many powerful community based curatorial projects, while maintaining her own extremely active studio practice. Josée is driven by a desire to understand and connect herself and her work to the world around her."
Ouellette's visual art practice examines the intersection between art making and curatorial production. She is particularly focussed on constructing systems of interdependence between groups of objects and the physical, narrative, or historical frameworks that contain them. She has most recently exhibited her work in Berlin, Glasgow and Dundee. Oullette is currently producing a new body of work and is looking forward to the opportunity to exhibit in Edmonton in the near future.
Blair Brennan, Art and Design Galleries and Exhibitions Manager comments: "Josée was very active in the Edmonton visual arts community after completing her BFA at the U of A. She then went on to complete her masters in Glasgow, Scotland. I'm pleased that she's come back to us. Grants like this and opportunities in Edmonton's visual art scene will help keep talented people like Josée in Edmonton."
The Edmonton Artists' Trust Fund (EATF), established in 1997, is administrated by the Edmonton Arts Council in collaboration with the Edmonton Community Foundation. The EATF is a significant award that acts as an incentive to encourage artists to stay in the community. Intended to offset living costs for practicing artists in all fields, including music, dance, film, theatre and visual art, ten applicants are chosen by a jury each year.
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