Chief Lady Bird

Chief Lady Bird (also known as Nancy King) is a Chippewa and Potawatomi artist, illustrator, educator and community activist from Rama First Nation and Moosedeer Point First Nation, who currently resides in Toronto, Ontario.[1] Chief Lady Bird (Ogimaakwebnes) is her spirit name, which she uses professionally as an artist.[2][3] Her art is focused on foregrounding the experiences of Indigenous women.[4]

Chief Lady Bird
Born
Nancy King

1993
NationalityChippewas of Rama First Nation, Canadian
Alma materOCAD University
Known forArtist, Illustrator, Activist
StyleWoodlands school
Websiteinstagram.com/chiefladybird

Career

Chief Lady Bird is known for her collaborative murals, digital illustrations, children's book illustrations, and contributions of Indigenous art to local spaces in Toronto. Her work can be found around Toronto including murals on Queen Street West,[5] Beverley and D'Arcy Street,[6] Ravina Gardens,[7] Withrow Public School,[8] Ryerson University and Underpass Park under the Don Valley Parkway.[9]

Chief Lady Bird created the Turtle Island emoji for Twitter on National Indigenous Peoples Day.[10] She is "part of an informal digital network of activists, organizing their social media communities around Indigenous issues".[11]

In 2019, Chief Lady Bird illustrated the children's book Nibi's Water Song, written by Sunshine Tenasco[12] and published by Scholastic Canada.[13] This book features her dog Ludo as a character.[14] A review of the book in Quill & Quire called Chief Lady Bird's work "colourful and expressive".[15] Chief Lady Bird's work has been featured in Chirp Magazine.[16] Her work was also featured on the cover of the United Kingdom release for The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline.[17] In addition to this, Chief Lady Bird's work has appeared in solo or group exhibitions at Twist Gallery, the Gladstone Hotel, Gallery of Northumberland, Arts Square, the Lieutenant Governor's Suite, Yorkville Village, Super Wonder Gallery, the Carlu, Harbourfront Centre, Summer in the City Gallery and the Woodland Cultural Centre.[18] Her mural The South | Zhaawanong was commissioned by the Art Gallery of Ontario and installed in the gallery's Robert Harding Hall in June 2023. [19]

Education

Chief Lady Bird holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from OCAD University, where she studied drawing and painting and minored in Indigenous Visual Culture.[4] She notes that "my art practice was about bringing experience from my major into my minor and vice versa."[20]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Name Nomination Status
2017 Leading Women Building Communities Recognition Award Awarded[21]
2016 Ontario Arts Council Aboriginal Arts Award Nominated
2014 Indspire Undergraduate Fine Arts Award Awarded

References
  1. "Chief Lady Bird". chiefladybirdart.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  2. "Introducing Chief Lady Bird". MUSKRAT Magazine. 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  3. Camille Georgeson-Usher (15 June 2017). "Ogimaakwebnes (Chief Lady Bird) / Nancy King". Canadian Art.
  4. "Chief Lady Bird: How I Made It as an Artist". Flare. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  5. "Women Paint Mural Artwork | Toronto Street Art & Graffiti". bretkelly.com. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  6. Bird  🦅, Chief Lady (2018-08-18). "Today I painted this mural with another artist at Beverly and D'Arcy downtown Toronto near @agotoronto and @OCAD. A Tribute to Talequah and her baby calf. Please read the following thread pic.twitter.com/c1yfYjOS3h". @chiefladybird. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  7. Bird  🦅, Chief Lady (2016-09-09). "New 90 foot mural at Ravina Gardens! Created with @Chippewar and Evan Lovett!pic.twitter.com/Re673gZE4N". @chiefladybird. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  8. "Withrow PS unveils magnificent new mural". Toronto District School Board. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  9. "Multipli'city: Meet the Artists". Mural Routes. 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  10. Johnson, Rhinannon (June 21, 2018). "Anishinaabe artist designs Twitter Turtle Island emoji for Indigenous History Month". CBC Indigenous. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  11. "Dirty Words: Appropriation". Canadian Art. 16 May 2018.
  12. CBC Radio (March 29, 2019). "Nibi's Water Song: New children's book promotes access to clean drinking water". Unreserved, CBC Radio. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  13. "New children's book illustrated by OCAD U grad Chief Lady Bird". OCAD University. 2 April 2019.
  14. "Ludo (@ludofrompluto) • Instagram photos and videos". instagram.com. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  15. Inderjit Deogun. "Nibi's Water Song". Quill & Quire.
  16. Publishing, Owlkids (2018-01-11). "Did you know that all the Chirp stories are on our website as read-alouds?! Check out this month's story, How Gwiingwa'age Came to Earth, read aloud by author Nancy Cooper". @owlkids. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  17. "Chief Lady Bird Art". facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  18. "CURRICULUMVITAE". slideshare.net. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  19. "Collage-making and more inspired by The South / Zhaawanong by Chief Lady Bird". Art Gallery of Ontario. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  20. Kevin Ritchie (21 October 2015). "Nancy King: Artist". Now Toronto.
  21. "Eight Burlington women, girls recognized for leadership, community work". insidehalton.com. 5 April 2017.
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