Brenda Draney

Brenda Draney (born 1976) is a contemporary Cree artist based in Edmonton, Alberta.

Personal and professional life Draney was born in Edmonton and raised in Slave Lake, Alberta. Draney is a Cree, from Sawridge First Nation. She graduated from the University of Alberta in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in English Literature. In 2004, she completed a Fine Arts Diploma from Grant MacEwan Community College, Alberta. She obtained a second Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Alberta in 2006 and a Master of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2010. Draney has participated in several residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, including: What Colour is the Present? led by Duane Linklater (2013); Trading Post led by Candice Hopkins (2012); Towards Language led by Greg Staats (2010); and North led by Sharon Shorty (2007).

In 2017 Draney was awarded a commission for a permanent public art project for the main atrium of the Macewan University Centre for the Arts and Culture. In 2019 a number of her pieces were acquired through the Landmark: A New Chapter Acquisition Project by the Art Gallery of Alberta as a part of the Canada Council for the Arts “New Chapter” grant.

Style and works

Brenda Draney uses stories, memories and family conversations to make subtle, powerful paintings. Many of these memories are pulled from her childhood, and most centre around Slave Lake, the small town in Northern Alberta where she grew up. What emerges from the canvas are cloud-like pictures, isolated moments and constellations of ambiguous but connected associations. for her painting titled Aim is Important, a sparse compelling painting. For her first-place finish, Draney received $25 000 and her piece was added to RBC's private art collection. Honourable Mention's included Martin Golland and Sasha Pierce both from Toronto.

In 2013 Draney was on the longlist for the Sobey Art Award, and in 2016 was the finalist representing Prairies and the North As one five regional finalists, her work was presented in an exhibition at National Gallery of Canada, and was featured on CBC radio's IDEAS episode with producer Mary Lynk.

In 2014 she won the Eldon and Anne Foote Visual Arts Prize, worth $10,000 for her painting Suspend .

Major exhibitions Landmark: A New Chapter Acquisition Project, Art Gallery of Alberta, (April 28 – Nov. 11 2019) Sobey Art Award, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, (2016/2017) Future Station: The 2015 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art, curated by Kristy Trinier, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton (2015) 90X90: Celebrating Art in Alberta, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton (2014) Suspend, RBC New Works Gallery, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta (2013) Fiction/Non-Fiction, curated by Wayne Baerwaldt and Naomi Potter, Esker Foundation, Calgary, Alberta (2013) Incubator Series, Latitude 53, Edmonton, Alberta (2013) They Made a Day be a Day Here, curated by Amy Fung, Art Gallery of Grande Prairie (2013) Mendel Art Gallery (2014) School of Art Gallery (2014) Not Forgetting, curated by Patrick Macaulay and Lisa Myers, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario (2012) Fire Destroyer Creator, with Jewel Shaw, curated by Angela Marie Schenstead, Stride Gallery, Calgary, Alberta (2012) Go Figure, MKG127, Toronto, Ontario (2011) Brenda Draney: Hold Still, Latitude 53, Edmonton, Alberta (2010) RBC Canadian Painting Competition, The Power Plant, Toronto, Ontario (2009) RBC Canadian Painting Competition, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Quebec (2009)