Wpg Free Press: Honouring her history

As the Winnipeg Free Press reports:

Lori Blondeau is a “bit overwhelmed” now that her Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts is public knowledge.

“I think my phone started ringing at seven o’clock this morning… I’ve had colleagues congratulating me, friends, my family,” she said on Tuesday morning, several hours after the 2021 winners were announced.

Blondeau is one of eight artists recognized this year by the Governor General of Canada and the Canada Council of the Arts for their contributions to contemporary visual art, media and fine craft. Winners are selected by a peer committee and each receives a medallion and a cash prize of $25,000.

Blondeau, 56, is a photographer and performance artist of Cree, Saulteaux and Métis background originally from Saskatchewan. She moved to Winnipeg in 2018 and is an assistant professor in the School of Art at the University of Manitoba.

She’s had to keep news of the award under wraps for a while — teaching and preparing for a new exhibition at the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art have been welcome distractions — but was in a state of shock when she first learned about the recognition.

“And very, very honoured,” she says. “It’s a national award and to be included with the people in the past who have received it and the people who were awarded this year with myself, it means quite a bit.”

Read the full Free Press story here.