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Native Women in the Arts has announced the organization’s new artistic producer. Ariel Smith has been chosen for her artistic, creative, administrative and presentation experience with Indigenous arts organizations.
Ariel Smith is an award-winning nêhiyaw and Jewish filmmaker, video artist, writer, and cultural worker.
Having created independent media art since 2001, much of her work has been shown at festivals and galleries across Canada and internationally.
Smith is largely self-taught, but honed many of her skills by becoming heavily involved in artist-run centres in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa.
She has worked as the technical director of SAW Video Media Arts Centre in Ottawa from 2006 to 2014, was the director of the National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition from 2013 to 2016 and, most recently, was the executive director of imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival where she oversaw the 2016 and 2017 festival editions.
Smith has worked as a programmer for such organizations as Galerie SAW Gallery, the Ottawa International Animation Festival, Reel Canada, and imagineNATIVE. She is currently a guest curator for an upcoming International Indigenous Quinquennial exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada.
“NWIA is thrilled to have Ariel join us at this time. NWIA is at the height of it’s activity in terms of delivery of community and arts-focused projects, and we were looking for a strong leader to build on the momentum that Erika Iserhoff and the NWIA team had established,” said Kerry Potts, chair of the Board.
“I worked with Ariel at the National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition years ago, and was familiar with her ability as an advocate of Indigenous artists and organizations. I also knew the wealth of experience she gained as executive director at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. Ariel is someone who brings many skills to this position, creatively and administratively, and combines skill with her vision and commitment to issues pertaining to gender and cultural diversity, women and Indigenous peoples, and how these are supported through artistic practices.”
“I am so happy to join the NWIA team and look forward to working in this new capacity within the community. I deeply connect with the mandate of the organization and am honoured for this exciting opportunity,” said Smith.