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Volume 108 No. 21
North Battleford, Sask.
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Service held New Year’s Day
Allen Sapp dead at 87 By John Cairns Staff Reporter
The work of Allen Sapp, a famous Canadian artist from Red Pheasant First Nation who died last week, has toured across the nation in Through the Eyes of the Cree.
Tributes have been coming in from across Saskatchewan and Canada on word of the passing of the renowned artist Allen Sapp. Sapp died last Tuesday morning in North Battleford, a few days short of his 88th birthday. Sapp, a member of Red Pheasant First Nation and a longtime North Battleford resident, was famous for his paintings and drawings focusing on his Cree background and culture. It was on the encouragement of Dr. Allan Gonor that he started doing more works on his own culture. That shift in focus towards capturing and celebrating First Nation life and heritage brought Sapp national and international acclaim, and earned him the nickname “Grandfather of Saskatchewan Art.” Sapp’s wide collection of work is celebrated today at the Allen Sapp Gallery in North Battleford, but his influence went far beyond the city or the Northwest region – something evident in the reactions that came in after news broke of his passing. “From Red Pheasant FN to world, his brush strokes told story of the Cree and of SK. RIP Saskatchewan great Allen Sapp” was the Twitter reaction of Premier Brad Wall Tuesday night. “He led the way for many First Nation artists, and broke through countless barriers. Rest in peace, Allen Sapp,” was the Tweet from Perry Bellegarde, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Sapp was born Jan. 2, 1928 on Red Pheasant First Nation outside the Battlefords – a descendant
of the legendary Chief Poundmaker. He was raised by his grandmother, Maggie Soonias, but his was a difficult childhood marked by poverty and sickness. He was afflicted with spinal meningitis at age 14. But Sapp’s relationship with his grandmother was a strong one. His upbringing would be credited with providing Sapp with the stability and strength of character, and values, that would guide his life in his adult years. He began painting, and in the 1960s Sapp had moved to North Battleford where he initially tried to make a living painting mountains, streams and other art he believed would appeal to the mainstream, predominantly white society that he was trying to fit in with. But it was one client, Dr. Allan Gonor, who recognized Sapp’s talent and encouraged him to change focus. According to the North Battleford Notables piece written by Dr. Richard Hiebert in 2013, “Dr. Gonor saw Allen’s potential. He bought several of Allen’s paintings before he persuaded him to paint what he knew – his family, and the vanishing life of the reserve, and to see the value of the past and the importance of his culture. Dr. Gonor was able to touch Allen’s soul. He also sought professional artists to advise and assist Allen.” Among those was Wynona Mulcaster, an art professor at the University of Saskatchewan, who showed Sapp’s paintings at her home to great acclaim in September 1968. Seven months later, Sapp’s first major exhibition took place at the Mendel
Art Gallery on Easter weekend. Approximately 13,000 people visited to see Sapp’s works. Sapp was invited to showcase his work at shows in major cities including London, New York and Los Angeles. It was after a show in New York in May of 1976 that Diana Loercher of the Christian Science Monitor wrote this of Sapp: “He had great reverence for the land, a tradition in Indian Religion, and derives much of his inspiration from nature. A radiant light permeates most of his paintings ... It is evident that not only his art, but his identity is deeply rooted in Indian culture.” By this time Sapp had fully embraced his Cree background. He had grown his hair long and tied it into braids, and was seen wearing denim, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. By 1974 Sapp was the subject of a book, Portrait of the Plains Cree, as well as a CBC and National Film Board documentary. Another book, A Cree Life: The Art of Allen Sapp, was published in 1981. Sapp also met the famous – including Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to whom Sapp presented a painting at a rally at North Battleford Comprehensive High School in 1974. Sapp also met Princess Margaret and presented her with one of his works. He was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts in 1985, a prestigious honour. Soon after, Sapp was honoured with the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and, later, the Order of Canada. Continued on Page 2