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).

Exhibition History

2024	International Ceramic Art Fair, Gardiner Museum, Toronto
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

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

Collections
Thunder Bay Art Gallery

Education

1981-86	Ontario Secondary School Diploma
1986-92	Lakehead University, Visual Arts & Psychology