Bio Skawennati Tricia Fragnito

As the daughter of a Mohawk mother and a first-generation Italian immigrant, I unapolagetically consider myself a half-breed. The term "half-breed" is usually used as a put-down, but if it was good enough for Cher, it's good enough for me. Besides, having parents from two very proud and strong cultures is more a blessing that a burden (most of the time). Skawennati is a curator and artist who holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Design Art Major) and a Graduate Diploma of Institutional Administration (Arts Specialization) from Concordia University. She served for four years as a board member at Oboro, an artist-run centre in Montreal. It was during this time that she co-founded Nation to Nation, a First Nations artist collective whose aims are to enourage the production of contemporary Aboriginal art and to bring together Natives and non-Natives, artists and non-artists. Skawennati is one of the first recipients of the First People's Curatorial Residency grant, established in 1997 by the Canada Council for the Arts, and is now the curatorial resident at the Walter Phillips Gallery in Banff.

A Nation to Nation event in collaboration with Oboro and Circle Vision Arts Corporation