Norval Morrisseau Announcement of Arts Bursary and selection of artists' work

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@ National Gallery of Canada
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New education bursary honours Canadian icon

OTTAWA, MEDIA ADVISORY (Marketwire - March 31, 2008)

What: Norval Morrisseau Announcement of Arts Bursary and selection of artists' work
Where: National Gallery of Canada - Great Hall
When: 1 pm, Monday March 31
Who: National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation CEO Roberta Jamieson and National Gallery Curator Greg Hill

To honour the memory of iconic visual artist Norval Morrisseau, the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation is pleased to announce a new arts bursary.

The Norval Morrisseau Arts Bursary in the amount of $5,000 will be awarded on the basis of artistic merit to an emerging visual artist pursuing the development of his/her career.
The official announcement will be made at the National Gallery of Canada on March 31st in Ottawa at 1 pm in the Great Hall. In recognition of Norval Morrisseau's great contributions to art in Canada, a selection of works from the National Gallery of Canada's collection will be installed in the contemporary galleries until 8 June 2008.

Norval Morrisseau was awarded the 2008 National Aboriginal Lifetime Achievement Award this year.

"We are honoured to know Mr. Morrisseau before his passing," said NAAF President and CEO Roberta Jamieson. "We are happy that Mr. Morrisseau was able to be with the other Achievement Award recipients in the gallery of the House of Commons when this recognition was announced in November 2007 and to witness a standing ovation from all members of the House of Commons in honour of the 2008 recipients. He also was able to be present at the reception afterwards hosted by the Speaker of the House."

A member of The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts since 1970, Norval Morrisseau is the celebrated founder of the Woodland Indian School of Art which revitalized Anishnaabe iconography, traditionally incised on rocks and Midewiwin birch bark scrolls. A self-taught painter, Norval Morrisseau created an innovative visual vocabulary which was initially criticized in the Native community for its disclosure of traditional spiritual knowledge, previously passed down orally. He acquired his knowledge from his grandfather, who taught him about Midewiwin scrolls which provided him with a source of powerful images and meanings.

The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF) is a nationally registered non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds to deliver programs that provide the tools necessary for Aboriginal youth to achieve brighter futures. Since 1985 the Foundation has awarded more than $27.3-million in scholarships and bursaries to First Nations, Inuit and Métis students across the country in all disciplines, including law, medicine, education, psychology, fine arts, business and computer sciences. Over $3-million was distributed in the last year.

For further information:

Claire Schofield
Manager, Communications and Media Relations
National Gallery of Canada
613-990-7081

Josée-Britanie Mallet
Senior Media and Public Relations Officer
National Gallery of Canada
613-990-6835
bmallet@gallery.ca

Jamie Monastyrski
Communications Director
National Aboriginal Achievemnt Foundation
416-903-4331
jmonastyrski@naaf.ca
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Source: Marketwire

* Detailed information about the painting in this posting unknown: © c. 1990s Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/