Board of Directors

Heather Igloliorte is an Inuk scholar and independent curator who holds the University Research Chair in Indigenous Art History and Community Engagement at Concordia University. Her teaching and research interests center on Inuit and other Native North American visual and material culture, circumpolar art studies, performance and media art, the global exhibition of Indigenous arts and culture, and issues of colonization, sovereignty, resistance and resurgence, and she is the current Lead or Co-Investigator on several funded research projects related to this work. Igloliorte currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Indigenous Circle for the Winnipeg Art Gallery, working on the development of the new national Inuit Art Centre.

Reneltta is an Inuvialuit, Dene and Cree from the Northwest Territories. She is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting program and founder of Akpik Theatre, a professional Indigenous Theatre company in the NWT. Under Akpik Theatre, Reneltta has written, produced, and performed various works focusing on decolonization and using theatre as a tool for reconciliation. This includes Pawâkan Macbeth, a Plains Cree adaptation of Macbeth written by Arluk on Treaty 6 territory.  Reneltta is the first Inuk and first Indigenous woman to direct at The Stratford Festival. She was awarded the Tyrone Guthrie – Derek F. Mitchell Artistic Director’s Award for her direction of the The Breathing Hole. Reneltta is Director of Indigenous Arts at BANFF Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Julie Grenier is an artist and professional from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC, who currently resides in Notre-Dame-de-I'ile-Perrot, QC. After completing her BAC in Sociology from the University of Ottawa, she went on to complete her studies at the École Nationale de Police du Québec with a Certificate in Indigenous Policing. She is currently the Director General for Taqramiut Nipingat Incorporated (TNI), a regional radio and television production company that provides Inuktitut programming throughout Nunavik. She has also been appointed as the TNI representative for Esuma, a regional working group focusing on school perseverance and as their representative on APTN's Board of Directors, where she is currently Chair. Her artwork has been recognized internationally, including as part of the permanent exhibitions of the Museum of Man in Paris, France and in INUA, the inaugural exhibition at Qaumajuq, the Winnipeg Art Gallery's new Inuit art centre.

Isabelle Uyaralaaq Avingaq Choquette recently graduated from the museum studies program at Collège Montmorency in Laval, QC. Born and raised in Terrebonne, her mother’s family is from Igloolik, NU and her father is French Canadian. Isabelle currently lives in Montreal where she works in the museology department of the Avataq Cultural Institute, taking care of the Nunavik Inuit Art Collection. Isabelle helped to organize the exhibition of works from Avataq’s collection at KWE! Meet with Indigenous Peoples in 2019. Isabelle’s interests include Inuit art and collections, the repatriation of Inuit collections to the North, and continuing to learn about Inuit cultures from the Circumpolar North. She hopes to one day move back to Nunavut with her family.

Linda Grussani is a member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg and a second generation Italian-Canadian born and raised in Anishinabe Akì (Ottawa, ON). An arts administrator, art historian and curator, Linda is currently working full-time towards completing her PhD in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University with a focus on Indigenous representation in museums.  Over the last decade, Linda has held the position of Curator, Aboriginal Art at the Canadian Museum of History; Director, Indigenous Art Centre for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC); and has worked in the Indigenous and Canadian art departments at the National Gallery of Canada.

Goretti Kakuktinniq is an arts professional and cultural worker living in Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet), NU. She is currently the Business Advisor for Cultural Industries for the Nunavut Development Corporation, where she oversees their art purchasing and artist support programs. In that capacity, she has supported artists’ career development and advocated for and facilitated the planning and implementation of national and international showcase opportunities for Nunavummiut artists, including residencies, exhibitions and sales opportunities. She has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association. Goretti serves on the IAF's Human Resources Committee.

Claudette Knight began her career as an elementary school teacher and has been working in Financial Services Industry for over twenty years. She is currently Vice President of Workplace Design and Experience at CIBC where she and her team create workplace experiences to enable employee collaboration and innovation and hospitality-inspired client spaces. Claudette is passionate about empowering financial, physical and emotional well-being in others. She is Executive Co-Sponsor of CIBC’s Black Employee Network and an ally of CIBC’s Indigenous Employee Circle, Pride Network and Women’s Network. Additionally, she has a doctorate in business administration and is a published academic in her research field of gender and leadership. Claudette is the Chair of the IAF's Human Resources Committee.

Michael Massie is a mixed-media artist based out of Kippens, NL, and recognized for his stone and metal sculptures, particularly his silver teapots. Massie’s work has helped to redefine the concept of Inuit art worldwide. Massie was elected as a Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2011 and was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2017. His work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally is in the permanent collection of many prestigious institutions in both Canada and the United States, including the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, ON. Michael serves on the IAF's Human Resources Committee.

Ryan Rice, Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawake, is an independent curator and the Associate Dean, Academic Affairs in the Faculty of Liberal Arts / School of Interdisciplinary Studies at OCAD University. His curatorial career spans over 20 years, formerly serving as the Chief Curator at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts and co-founding the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective. He received a Master of Arts in Curatorial Studies from Bard College; graduated from Concordia University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and received an Associate of Fine Arts from the IAIA. Rice’s writing has been published in numerous periodicals and exhibition catalogues, and he has lectured widely.