Aamjiwnaang artist receives unexpected accolade

By Sam Laskaris

OSHWEKEN – Montana Adams received a recent unexpected and rather inspiring phone call.

Adams, a 33-year-old artist and citizen of Aamjiwnaang First Nation near Sarnia, was contacted by an official with the Ontario Arts Council last month.

She informed Adams, who now lives in the Six Nations community of Ohsweken, that another artist, Arnold Jacobs, is the 2019 recipient of the Ontario Arts Council Indigenous Arts Award.

Arnold’s recognition comes with a $10,000 cheque. As this year’s award recipient, Arnold was also allowed to nominate a rising Indigenous artist to receive a $2,500 prize and be named as the art council’s emerging laureate.

Jacobs chose Adams for this accolade.

“It came out of the blue,” Adams said.

Ironically, Adams has yet to cross paths with Arnold, who owns the Two Turtle Art Gallery in Ohsweken, but that changed on October 12. Both Arnold and Adams were recognized during an afternoon reception at the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford.

Adams only moved to Ohsweken last year, having spent the previous seven years in London, Ont., in part to study Fine Arts at Fanshawe College.

Adams is obviously thrilled to be singled out.

“It means a lot,” he said. “It’s nice to get recognized as an artist. It’s a big deal for me.”

Adams was told that Arnold was impressed with one of his paintings, dubbed First Contact, which was on display at the Woodland Cultural Centre last summer.

The painting features an old Indigenous man shaking hands with an alien. The alien is wearing a black suit.

Adams said he named this particular piece of work First Contact even before he painted it. But he said there is no deeper meaning into the fact the alien is wearing a suit.

“It was just what I thought of first when I thought of First Contact,” he said.

The Ontario Arts Council awards have been presented annually since 2012, to celebrate the work of Indigenous artists and those who have made noteworthy contributions to the arts in the province.

One of Jacobs’ career highlights was having his eagle design on Air Canada’s Boeing 767 jet airliners. Jacobs’ design was on planes from 2001-08.

Though it was his First Contact piece that earned him his latest recognition, Adams said he is most proud of another piece, titled Sitting Bull, which he created three years ago.

“It’s a portrait of a sitting bull in an abstract style with a galaxy background,” he said.

Adams’ love of art goes back to his childhood days.

“I start doodling when I was five,” he said. “I was mostly self-taught but I did take art in high school and at Fanshawe.”

Adams has been making a living via his art for the past five years.

“Like any business, it’s hard starting out,” he said.

He’s been selling his paintings – acrylics, oils and watercolours – as a vendor at various markets throughout the province. He also sells his paintings at craft shows and pow wows as well as through his Facebook page and his Instagram account.

Though he will continue to work on his paintings, Adams also accepted a full-time job a month ago to work as a tattoo artist at Perfect Images in Brantford.