BIG Doll is an exhibition that shows the process of making and creating from the heart, not the head.
Open tommorow for AWE at Night! 🍸💬💫 📌 Art Windsor Essex 📆 Thursday, November 20th ⏳7:30pm 💬 ASL provided
Join artist Vanessa Dion Fletcher for a talk on BIG Doll | XWAT Naaniitus, an exhibition that celebrates making from the heart rather than the head. Both personal and collaborative, the project invites audiences of all ages to take part in creating an artwork while reflecting on how education systems can limit creativity. By transforming the intimate act of beadwork into something large and public, Fletcher reveals the beauty of process, imagination, and shared learning.
✨ Opening Soon at Art Windsor-Essex!
BIG Doll | XWAT Naaniitus by Vanessa Dion Fletcher
- November 20, 2025 – May 24, 2026
- Second Floor Galleries
Step into a vibrant space where beadwork and doll-making become BIG, bold, and collaborative. This exhibition invites you to make from the heart, not the head, challenging prescriptive learning and celebrating creativity, culture, and imagination.
Join us for an experience that blends Indigenous teaching, art, and community participation.
- Opening Night: November 20 during AWE at Night!
- Free for members | $20 for non-members
Have you seen “Kaapaapushak Butterflies” downtown yet? This work by Vanessa Dion Fletcher can be seen on the parking garage at Park and Pelisser. It showcases contemporary quillwork on paper, reproduced on a large scale for outdoor viewing. Quill work holds deep cultural significance for the Lunaapeew, serving as a form of artistic expression, a connection to the animal world and a means of conveying meaning through intricate, symbolic designs. This fall, you can catch more of Vanessa’s work at AWE in an exhibition called “Big Doll| XWAT Naaniitus” opening November 20th, 2025.
Thank you to the DWBIA @downtownwindsor and the City of Windsor @citywindsoron for their partnership on Art Alley.
@vdionf
I am proud to share that my incredible wife’s work, Aapáchiiw Return Home, is in The Hague as part of the Canadian Global Affairs Collection. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson met before the 2025 NATO Summit in the Netherlands with Vanessa’s piece as the backdrop! May her work remind our leadership of our sovereignty.
Vanessa made the diptych, Aapáchiiw Return Home, for the exhibition Nii Ndahlohke, curated by Mary Jane McCallum, and Julie Tucker at Art Windsor Essex. The piece honors those affected by the incarceration of Indigenous children in work camps (aka residential “schools”).
May the memory of our children guide us in living responsibly. Vanessa, I am so proud to be your wife!
#indigiqueerpenpallove #mykinmyheart
"Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ulf Kristersson, his Swedish counterpart, comment briefly ahead of their bilateral meeting in The Hague, Netherlands. The Canadian prime minister is in the Netherlands to attend the 2025 NATO Summit."
This meeting took place in front of Aapáchiiw Return Home 2021 C-print (Diptych), edition 3/3 + 1 AP 122 x 91.5cm (each). This work was made for the exhibition Nii Ndahlohke, curated by Mary Jane McCallum, and Julie Tucker at Art Windsor Essex.
I'm thrilled this work was acquired by Global Affairs Canada and is being appreciated in The Hague. I created this work thinking about the lasting effects of Canadian Residential Schools. I hope it encourages political leaders to work for peace, safety, and good education for all children.
📸 Art Windsor Essixs
📸canadiandefencereview
The mural at Gledhill Junior PS is done!
Thanks to @vdionf for her bead-inspired design, integrating students ideas (as seen in the second photo) to create an Indigenous artist-community mural.
Thanks to @melikasaeeda (third photo) for orchestrating the creation and facilitating the painting of the mural with the students. A huge thank you to all the students at Gledhill who contributed their creativity to the project, and to parent volunteers, teachers and in particular principal Peppi Kondilis-Minos for organizing, supporting and asking Blank Canvases to partner on this project.
“This mural not only enhances our space but also serves as a powerful tribute to Indigenous artistry and storytelling”. - Principal Kondilis-Minos
🙏 🙌 🎨
In celebration of Indigenous love & survivance across this continent's lands & waters, my wife, @vdionf , and I are happy to present to you a beaded earring sale for AG dolls!
These beaded dangles slide over AG-brand earring posts. Each pair is Indigenously-made by Vanessa Dion Fletcher (Lenape/ Potawatomi).
Please DM @inkymarina to purchase. Transactions must be completed via Paypal invoice or Canadian e-transfer.
All items ship from Toronto, Ontario. Shipping is not included, so that buyers can decide on the best shipping option for their needs.
Anushiik & Nytra for your support!
Pair A: SOLD
Pair B: SOLD
Pair C: SOLD
Pair D: available
Pair E: SOLD
#IndigenousAGIG #LANDBACK #shopIndigenous #stopAGIGracism #inspirednatives
Starting a new mural project with artist @vdionf assisted by @melikasaeeda at Gledhill PS. @vdionf has taken inspiration from ALL the students who submitted their designs which are based off of beadwork. Scroll through to see the process so far. We’re excited to see what the students will paint next!
I am having a great month of learning and mentorship with Vibra Futuon Lab in Hamilton. I am expanding my skills in Inclusive Technology. Thank you to @ontarioartscouncil for the Skills and Career Development Grant.
@vibrafusionlab@sarahjama_@jessicabell.ndp
I’m excited to be facilitating a workshop to accompany my first public art commission “Resonant Harmony” in Peterborough.
Join Vanessa Dion Fletcher as she shares about the process of making Resonant Harmony, a new public art work in Peterborough’s new Miskin Community Complex. @artspaceptbo
Registration by donation
I made Relative Saturation in 2021. This simple animation brings to life the rotation that the viewer imagines. This work has taken several forms including vinyl printed murals and sculpture. #quillwork
