Michel Dumont

Michel Dumont self-identifies as a queer, Métis, Two-Spirit, disabled artist and trauma survivor based in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He studied Visual Arts and Psychology at Lakehead University (1986 -1992).

In his words, Dumont “specializes in breathing new life into discarded vintage tile in striking mosaic pieces. I also create wearable art using packing tape, cellophane and LED lights, as well as exploration in installation art. As a survivor of intergenerational trauma stemming from Indian Day School, my work often explores emerging themes in anti-colonial urban indigenous and queer identities.”

Dumont has exhibited widely in group and solo exhibitions in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba. In 2018 he was recognized as Visual Artist of the year by Thunder Bay Arts & Heritage. He has received two residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts & Creativity (2018, 2021), an artist fellowship at the Leslie-Lohman Museum, NYC (2022), and was chosen as the 2022 Indigenous Artist in the Park, a residency at Allen Gardens, Toronto (2022).




Awards

2021
The Barbara Laronde Emerging Artist Award

2020
Sakewewak First Nations Artist Collective Corntime Award
Tangled Arts + Disability Won Lee Fellowship Award

2018
Visual Artist of the Year, Thunder Bay Arts & Heritage


Residencies

2022
Inaugural Indigenous Artist in the Park, Office of Social Innovation, Toronto Metropolitan University
Leslie-Lohman Museum Artist Fellowship

2021
Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity, Plastics Residency

2020
Journalists for Human Rights, Indigenous Reporters Program
Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency, Artscape Gibraltar Point
Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity, BAiR Artist in Residence


Exhibitions

2023
Mukwa Dodem (I am bear clan), Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Toronto

2022
People, Power, & the Park, Paul H. Cocker Gallery in the Department of Architectural Science, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON
Yugen, Annual Juried, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
La Francophonie dans tous ses états, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Woodland POP! , Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Futurs Divergents, Festival Mode + Design, Montreal, QC
Eternal Imaginaries, Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto, Toronto, ON
Breathe. The 2nd Wave, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff, AB
Cycles of the Longed for and the grasped, Tangled Art + Disability, Toronto, ON
Among the Fallen Stars, Solo Show at Ace Art Inc., Winnipeg, ON
Elemental Unraveling, Mindful Makers Collective, Thunder Bay, ON

2021
Make/Do, La Maison des artistes visuels francophone, Winnipeg, MB
Local Love, Vox Popular Media Arts Festival, Thunder Bay, ON
Shame Radiant, Redline Gallery, Denver, CO
Members’ Show, Mindful Makers Collective, Thunder Bay, ON
Mirrored, Muu Art Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
Collage 2021, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON
La Francophonie dans tous ses états, Le Club culturel francophone de Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay, ON

2020
Summit Creators Project, Aids Committee of Toronto, Toronto, ON
In Solitude, Unity, Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB
Fierté 360, Gallea for Montréal Fierté, Montreal, QC
2020 Future Vision, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Pride in Art, SUM Gallery, Queer Arts Festival, Vancouver, BC
Pride 2020: Our Roots, Pink Canvas Project, International
INsiders Artist Project, Steps Initiative, Thunder Bay, ON
Gay Gardens, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON
Derelicte 12, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
The North Now, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Salon internationalArt Résilience, Musee de Peinture de Saint Frajou, Paris, France
La Francophonie dans tous ses états, Le Club culturel francophone de Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay, ON

2019
Breaking Ground, Workman Arts, Baggage Building Arts Centre, Thunder Bay, ON
Art As Activism: Truth, Survivance, and Resilience, Guelph Museums, Guelph, ON
The 21 Club, The Power Plant, Toronto, ON
La Francophonie dans tous ses états, Le Club culturel francophone de Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay, ON
Outliers on Tour, Tangled Art + Disability, Toronto, ON
Derelicte 11, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON

2018
Untamed, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Derelicte 10, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Queer and Peace, Warren G. Flowers Gallery, Dawson College, Montreal, QC
Urban Infill 12, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
La Francophonie dans tous ses états, Le Club culturel francophone de Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay, ON
Intersections: My World – My Community, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON
Hard Twist 13, Gladstone Hotel, Toronto, ON

2017
Painting, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON
Annual Members’ Show, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Republic of Inclusion, Tangled Arts + Disability, Shenkman Gallery, Ottawa, ON
Queer Landscapes, Queer Intersections, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON
Urban Infill 11, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON

2016
Fibre Arts Exhibition, Baggage Arts Building, Thunder Bay, ON
artESCAPE, Destination Northern Ontario, Nipigon, ON
Night Shift, Nuit Rose Collective + Toronto Pride, Toronto, ON
Members Show, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Tangled on Tour, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Urban Infill 10, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Queer Landscapes, Queer Journeys, John B. Aird Gallery & Open Studio, Cambrian College, Toronto, ON & Sudbury, ON


Collections

Thunder Bay Art Gallery


Education

1981 - 1986
Ontario Secondary School Diploma
1986 - 1992
Lakehead University, Visual Arts & Psychology