(b. 1962)
Located outside RC 258 (Dr. William Riddell Centre, 2nd floor)
© David Garneau. Reproduced with the permission of the artist. Photograph by the University of Regina.
Batoche Teepee, 2009
Oil on canvas
36 1/2″ x 25″
University of Regina President’s Art Collection; pc.2012.1
Métis artist David Garneau was born in Edmonton in 1962. He lived there (1962–1977, 1979–80), and Calgary (1977–1979, 1980–1999), and Regina (1999–present). Growing up with a mother who was also an artist, Garneau has always made art. His first exhibition was at the Bearclaw Gallery in Edmonton in 1980. Garneau’s art is inspired by Alex Janvier (Denesuline and Saulteaux), Joanne Cardinal-Schubert (Kainai), and Bob Boyer (Métis), as well as by Métis traditional beading and numerous Western art history traditions and techniques.
Garneau has been a member of the Visual Arts Department since 1999. He is also a curator and writer who received the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Art: Outstanding Achievement (2023), was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada (2023), and received The Order of Gabriel Dumont Silver Medal (2025). He is a member of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan.
Batoche Teepee (2009) is a painting of the top section of a tipi. The tipi is a portable dwelling of First Nations design that was adapted with the introduction of European canvas. Garneau sees this adaptation as a métissage, a mixing of two cultures. With regards to the unusual framing of the subject, Garneau states, “I [chose] to paint the tops of these structures to emphasize the meeting of earth (material realm) and sky (metaphysical realm) with a human-made structure as the meeting point.”
Last updated: April 1, 2025