Artist donates hundreds of originals to Allen Sapp Gallery
- Tiffany Head | May 26, 2015
Leah Dorion has donated more than a hundred paintings to the Allen Sapp Gallery in North Battleford, Saskatchewan.
Leah Garven, the Curator and Manager of the Allen Sapp Gallery, hosted a reception on May 12 to show their appreciation for the generous donation. It was also the grand opening of the storytelling room, where Dorion’s art was unveiled.
“We had a really nice turn out and unexpected turnout of people who really love Leah’s work and want to come meet her again. She’s a very strong speaker and people just really enjoy being around her. She exudes enthusiasm and a rich knowledge of her culture,” said Garven.
Leah Marie Dorion is a Métis artist and educator. She tells stories with her paintings, which are focused on Métis core values and belief systems, which includes the connection with the Creator and Mother Earth. Her paintings are layered with vibrant colours, energetic lines, form, and symbolism.
The paintings she donated are from her original illustrations from her three award-winning children’s books: The Giving Tree, Relatives with Roots, and The Diamond Walking Willow Stick.
Dorion knows that the Allen Sapp Gallery has a very strong education mandate to their program and felt it was a great place to leave her artwork for children to see the paintings and to learn from them.
“I just felt it was the perfect place to curate and look after all these illustrations from my children’s books. They would be used and enjoyed and protected for future generations,” said Dorion.
Along with her donations, Dorion also provided cultural and art education workshops to school children on May 12-14.
The gallery has numerous school tours throughout the year, and they have hands-on activities where the children paint and have fun while learning about art. Having Leah Dorion's artwork in the programming room has brightened it up.
“It’s a great opportunity for the kids to see original works; it’s made the learning room, the programming room a lively and inspiring place. Her art gives us a lot of examples to draw from to show the kids so they (the paintings) can become a really strong teaching tool,” said Garven
The paintings are children-based art forms and the illustrations tell really important stories - stories that Dorion wanted to share with the thousands of children that walk through the Allen Sapp Gallery every year.
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