Visual arts award for Jean Marshall

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug’s Jean Marshall was shocked when she found out she had won the 2012 K.M. Hunter Artist Award for visual arts.
“I feel the award came at a really pivotal point because I was like, ‘what am I doing?” Marshall said. “Right now, for the first time ever, I am actually just focusing on my art. I’ve never really done that because I’ve always had other things on the go, projects with other artists or work in itself, like getting by with working nine to five.”
Marshall is currently working on two upcoming shows at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery and the Ontario Crafts Council.
“So what I’m thinking is what do I want to do, what is my message, what do I want to convey through my work?” Marshall said. “That’s what is new for me, is actually having the time to think about it.”
Marshall is looking to incorporate beadwork with print making, similar to the artwork she did this past winter during a residency at the Banff Arts Centre.
“I’ve dabbled in print making over the years and I absolutely love it,” Marshall said. “And I love beadwork as well, so I wanted to somehow meld the two mediums together with different textiles.”
Although Marshall and her partner Christian Chapman were up for the same award, she said they were “really supportive” of each other.
“I couldn’t believe it — I was on cloud nine for a while,” Marshall said about the receiving the $8,000 award. “For me, it makes me realize that what I am doing is a good thing and I should really value what I do a lot more because a whole other world sure does.”
Marshall said the venue for the award ceremony at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto was “kind of cool” because artists decorated the rooms in the hotel.
“It was packed in there, maybe about 150 people,” Marshall said, “It was like a small intimate party, like a small celebration.”
Marshall said the award came at the right time for her, as she had recently begun working full-time as an artist after many years of working at different jobs to support herself.
“It makes me feel I’m going in the right direction,” Marshall said. “As an artist, you’re always questioning what you are doing.”
The K.M. Hunter Artist Awards are presented annually to mid-career, professional artists in Ontario who have made an impact in their chosen field and demonstrate an original artistic voice within their artistic tradition.
“The K.M. Hunter Artist Award was inspired by an award I received in my early thirties that helped me realize I should take myself seriously as an artist and continue extending and developing my craft,” said Martin Hunter.
The awards are designed to encourage the artist’s craft and propelling them on to the next level in their work.
Since the awards were created in 1995, 103 artists have received awards totaling more than $650,000.