Erika Iserhoff appointed Ontario Arts Council Indigenous Arts Officer

TORONTO (January 7, 2019) – The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is pleased to announce that Erika Iserhoff has been appointed OAC’s new Indigenous Arts Officer. Erika succeeds long-time OAC Indigenous Arts Officer Sara Roque, who stepped down in 2018.

Most recently, Erika was the Grants Facilitator for the province’s Indigenous Culture Fund, administered by the OAC. Prior to this, Erika was the Artistic Director for Native Women in the Arts, an organization that promotes and assists in developing the careers of Indigenous women artists in diverse artistic fields.

About Erika

Erika is a founding member of the Chocolate Woman Collective, a group of artists with a shared interest in research, exploration and practical application of Indigenous aesthetic principles in all areas of the dramatic arts.

She is also the co-founder and was co-artistic director of the Setsuné Indigenous Fashion Incubator, which fosters the creation and exhibition of new works by Indigenous artists working in fashion, textiles and crafts.

Erika was associate producer of Tributaries, the opening night of Toronto’s 2017 Luminato festival, at which she was also announced as the Emerging Laureate of OAC’s Indigenous Arts Award.

In 2009, Erika received a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her work in Indigenous theatre costume design. She holds a Bachelor of Design with a major in textiles from OCAD University, where she has taught in the Indigenous Visual Culture program.

Erika is of Omushkego and Eeyou Cree heritage, and is a member of Constance Lake First Nation. She is now based in Toronto with her family.

Contact information

Erika Iserhoff
Indigenous Arts Officer
416-969-7454 | toll-free in Ontario: 1-800-387-0058, ext. 7454
eiserhoff@arts.on.ca

For more than 50 years, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts for the enjoyment and benefit of Ontarians. In 2017-18, OAC invested $58.7 million in 231 communities across Ontario through 2,294 grants to individual artists and 1,474 grants to organizations.