Proposal for the Hart House Centennial Commission: Tannis Nielsen

Tannis Nielsen
Simcoe Mural, 2017-18
Detail: Portrait of Grafton Antone

—

For its centennial celebrations in 2019, Hart House commissioned a major, permanent artwork by an Indigenous artist to transform its historic Great Hall. One step towards redressing settler colonial narratives, this permanent commission seeks to acknowledge the history, narratives and people who came before us, honour the land upon which we live and work today, and imagine other possible futures for current and future generations from an Indigenous perspective.

Learn more about Re-Imagining Place: Hart House Centennial Art Commission.

About the Artist
Tannis Nielsen is an artist, teacher, and activist of Métis, Anishnaabe and Danish ancestry. Her artistic commitments conjoin transgenerational teachings, anti-colonialism, and ecology. Nielsen holds a Master of Visual Studies and an Art and Art History Specialist degree from the University of Toronto as well as a Diploma in Art and Art History from Sheridan College. She has been a member of the Toronto Native Community History Project, the President of the Association for Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts, and an active contributor to the Toronto branch of Idle No More. For more than 20 years, Nielsen has been working professionally in the arts and culture community, contributing to several movements for Indigenous rights. She is currently a lecturer at OCAD University, where she has served as a member of the Equity and Diversity Committee.