Native Women in the Arts.

Founder and Artistic Producer

As the Founder and Artistic Producer of Native Women in the Arts, Sandra Laronde is also a director, producer, performer and creative leader. In 2006, Sandra was awarded the Ontario Good Citizenship Medal that pays special tribute to those Ontarians whose lives exemplify excellence and achievement in the finest order. In addition, she received the 2006 Paul D. Fleck Fellowship in the Arts from The Banff Centre. In 2004, she was one of 225 Canadians chosen to participate in the Governor-General's Canadian Leadership program, which celebrates promising leaders who are making a significant impact on Canada. In the same year, Sandra was also the recipient of Toronto City Council's 2004 Aboriginal Affairs Award for her contribution towards improving the quality of life for the Aboriginal community of Toronto. She is also listed in the Canada's Who's Who that features notable living Canadians. Sandra hails from the Teme-Augama-Anishnaabe (People of the Deep Water) in Temagami, northern Ontario and resides in Toronto.

Sandra was one of 500 artists invited to meet HRH Prince Charles on his latest Royal Visit to Canada. She has been involved in many speaking engagements: she served as a spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee for Toronto's Olympic Bid; delivered the keynote address at the 2009 Blackfoot Arts Awards in Lethbridge, and the keynote address to the 2007 graduating class at the Temiskaming District Secondary School in New Liskeard. She was a panel member for the 2007 Portfolio Committee on Aboriginal Affairs for Canadian Heritage, and moderated a panel at the 2002 National Gathering of Aboriginal Artistic Expression for Canadian Heritage. Currently, in 2009, she sits on the Aboriginal Advisory for the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto and on the Advisory for the Canada Dance Festival in Ottawa. She was a guest presenter on Perspectives on Innovative Management Practices to the board, officers and staff at the Canada Council for the Arts in 2003. Sandra has also served on numerous arts juries including the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, The Dora Awards, and has assisted in the design of the First Peoples Dance and Music Program at Canada Council. For six consecutive years, she served on the Toronto Arts Council board.

In 1993, Sandra founded Canada's only organization for First Nations, Inuit and Metis women artists, Native Women in the Arts, and has played a significant role in fostering the careers of thousands of Aboriginal women artists. She has helped to produce an immense ripple effect of artistic growth, confidence building and proliferation of performing arts, literary arts and publishing, visual arts, and community development projects through Native Women in the Arts.

Sandra holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Toronto, and studied Spanish Language and Literature overseas for one year at the University of Granada in Spain.

Sandra is published in Cultures in Transition (McGraw-Hill-Stewart), Gatherings (Theytus Books), Crisp Blue Edges (Theytus Books), Chinook Winds (Banff Centre Press), and Aboriginal Voices. Sandra holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Toronto, and studied Spanish Language and Literature overseas for one year at the University of Granada in Spain.

Melissa Chetty
Associate Producer

Melissa Chetty is the Associate Producer for Native Women in the Arts. Prior to joining NWIA, Melissa served as a media analyst and administrative coordinator with the Government of Ontario for four years. She is also the Artistic Director of out!CAST Productions, a Toronto-based theatre company and networking organization which aims to produce ethnically diverse performance art.

From a young age, Melissa pursued her interests in music and theatre through private training and study at the Royal Conservatory of Music and York University. Born and raised in Toronto, Melissa also studied ethnomusicology and language through the International Baccalaureate Programme, and in 1996, was the recipient of the Oakland Youth Foundation Scholarship for excellence in music. A graduate of the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, Melissa is a trained singer, actor and dancer.

Melissa has a strong passion for the development of Indigenous and culturally diverse artistic development in Canada. Through her work and volunteer experience, Melissa has collaborated with a number of outstanding Aboriginal artists and arts organizations. Melissa is excited to make a significant contribution to NWIA’s new vision for upcoming programming and events.

Wanda Nanibush
2010 Catalyst Cafe Curator

Wanda Nanibush is an independent curator, image and word warrior from Beausoliel First Nation. Her curatorial work has largely concentrated on re-contextualizing Indigenous time-based media and performance art to examine the underlying philosophical complexity of the work as well as rethinking how culture and identity are framed by contemporary artistic discourses. Her writing has been published in FUSE magazine and two up coming books: This is an Honour Song: Twenty Years Since the Blockades and Urban Shaman: Contemporary Aboriginal Art - Retrospective. Nanibush is also the program coordinator of the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective.