Visit the Southern Alberta Art Gallery on Friday, Sept. 1 for free admission for First Friday and the chance to help visiting artist Melanie Jewell paint a temporary mural on the front of the Gallery! All supplies are provided for this free drop in event.
Explore our current exhibitions featuring artists Nathan Eugene Carson, Ryland Fortie, and Sean Jena Taal and check out the Shop at SAAG’s feature artist Art of Ajet.
Melanie Jewell is a multimedia artist based in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. She studied at the Alberta College of Art and Design and the University of Victoria, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2012.
Melanie most often works with mixed media, utilizing a variety of surfaces such as panel, wood, walls, and canvas. Her process incorporates a range of traditional and digital drawing techniques, experimenting with ink, acrylic pens and gouache, spray paint, watercolours, and Procreate. Melanie’s work draws inspiration from her home in the North, Dene culture, and her familial histories. Recent projects have centered on learning about family members such as her Kokum (grandmother in Cree) through her art, as seen in her work My Journey Home at the 2022 Vancouver Mural Festival, where she was selected by Strong People, Strong Communities to represent the North. Melanie has also been commissioned by Purolator Holiday Boxes (2020) to represent the Northwest Territories. She was also selected by Strong People Strong Communities, a grassroots Indigenous mural project (2021) to work alongside Indigenous artists to create a mural that is located downtown Yellowknife, NT. Her latest project is a mural at the Paul William Kaeser High School (2023) in Fort Smith, NT. Which is unfortunately on hold until the community of Fort Smith can safely return home from the ongoing wildfires.
Photo by: Morgan Tsetta
www.morgantsettaphotography.com