Artist Info
Joane Cardinal-Schubert
Joane Cardinal-Schubert was an award-winning and internationally recognized Kainai artist, curator, lecturer, poet, and director of film and theatre. Born in Red Deer, her life and artistic practice honoured her Blackfoot identity. Cardinal-Schubert attended Alberta College of Art studying painting, printmaking, and multimedia before completing a 1977 Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Calgary. Her older brother is architect Douglas Cardinal.
Cardinal-Schubert’s art explores identity, spiritualty, and representations of Indigenous culture through a political lens. She was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts. Many works focus on the divide between Indigenous communities and museums. Her awards for art and advocacy include the Commemorative Medal of Canada in 1993, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2005, and the National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 2007. She was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Calgary in 2003.
The 2014 University of Lethbridge Art Gallery show “Night at the Gallery” included Cardinal-Schubert’s paintings. Her works within the ULAG collection were also included in the 2017-2020 retrospective touring exhibition “The Writing on the Wall: The Work of Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert, RCA”.
