During the COVID epidemic, Leona Fontaine decided to check out Studio Central, a free drop-in studio for adults at Portage Place Mall. Workshops are offered from 2-4 each day, with a writers’ circle (1-3) on thursdays, and all art supplies are provided.
“I just walked in there one day and started taking workshops and volunteering,” she says.
But exploring art mediums really stuck for Fontaine. The process of building and deciding what to create was also allowing her to explore other issues in her life.
Soon it was suggested to her to apply to Artbeat Studio in the Exchange District.
“Artbeat is a healing place,” she says.
A six month studio residency was offered to Fontaine, in which a healthy meal is provided to emerging artists, and the opportunity to try a variety of art forms. The experience gave Fontaine the space to explore experiences of trauma – and connect to a personal experience in her own history of missing and murdered people, “lost people,” she says.
An suicide by overdose in her family led her to notice dragonflies in the environment; and it seemed that they were appearing everywhere, including in the middle of Winnipeg’s downtown. It seemed to her that they represented a connection to her brother, appearing out of nowhere sometimes.
Fontaine connected to Bernadette Smith, who is now Minister Responsible for Mental Health for the province, but who has worked tirelessly for many years to raise awareness and advocate for families of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). While in the studio space, Fontaine created a piece hanging in Smith’s office where she knows that its meaning is understood, and where she hopes it can support the work that Smith has undertaken. “She is such an amazing woman, with such a deep strength,” says Fontaine.
“Art is a way to ground you,” she says.
She credits art for the healing and meaningful connections it has bought into her life. “It brought me out of my shell,” she says.
Fontaine created beaded pieces, engraved smudging bowls, and learned from a ceramics instructor. She also joined other arts organizations including MAWA (Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art) and Arts Access Ability Network Manitoba, that have a wealth of information for women interested in expanding their opportunities in art.
Fontaine has since branched in to teaching art and beading workshops. Recently she has taught at the CMHA, Klinic, Studio Central, Lions Place, at Graffiti Gallery and at MAWA. For the month of November her art will be at the Upbeat Studio, (across from studio Central in the walkway of Portage Place), and as part of the MAWA’s member show and sale running from November 1-December 6. Find out more at leos_beading on Instagram.