Board of Directors

Reneltta is an Inuvialuit, Dene and Cree from the Northwest Territories. She is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting program and founder of Akpik Theatre, a professional Indigenous Theatre company in the NWT. Under Akpik Theatre, Reneltta has written, produced, and performed various works focusing on decolonization and using theatre as a tool for reconciliation. This includes Pawâkan Macbeth, a Plains Cree adaptation of Macbeth written by Arluk on Treaty 6 territory.  Reneltta is the first Inuk and first Indigenous woman to direct at The Stratford Festival. She was awarded the Tyrone Guthrie – Derek F. Mitchell Artistic Director’s Award for her direction of the The Breathing Hole. Reneltta is Director of Indigenous Arts at BANFF Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Michael Massie is a mixed-media artist based out of Kippens, NL, and recognized for his stone and metal sculptures, particularly his silver teapots. Massie’s work has helped to redefine the concept of Inuit art worldwide. Massie was elected as a Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2011 and was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2017. His work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally is in the permanent collection of many prestigious institutions in both Canada and the United States, including the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, ON. Michael serves on the IAF's Human Resources Committee.

Julie Grenier is an artist and professional from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC, who currently resides in Notre-Dame-de-I'ile-Perrot, QC. After completing her BAC in Sociology from the University of Ottawa, she went on to complete her studies at the École Nationale de Police du Québec with a Certificate in Indigenous Policing. She is currently the Director General for Taqramiut Nipingat Incorporated (TNI), a regional radio and television production company that provides Inuktitut programming throughout Nunavik. She has also been appointed as the TNI representative for Esuma, a regional working group focusing on school perseverance and as their representative on APTN's Board of Directors, where she is currently Chair. Her artwork has been recognized internationally, including as part of the permanent exhibitions of the Museum of Man in Paris, France and in INUA, the inaugural exhibition at Qaumajuq, the Winnipeg Art Gallery's new Inuit art centre.

Heather Igloliorte is an Inuk scholar and independent curator who holds the University Research Chair in Indigenous Art History and Community Engagement at Concordia University. Her teaching and research interests center on Inuit and other Native North American visual and material culture, circumpolar art studies, performance and media art, the global exhibition of Indigenous arts and culture, and issues of colonization, sovereignty, resistance and resurgence, and she is the current Lead or Co-Investigator on several funded research projects related to this work. Igloliorte currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Indigenous Circle for the Winnipeg Art Gallery, working on the development of the new national Inuit Art Centre.

Isabelle Uyaralaaq Avingaq Choquette recently graduated from the museum studies program at Collège Montmorency in Laval, QC. Born and raised in Terrebonne, her mother’s family is from Igloolik, NU and her father is French Canadian. Isabelle currently lives in Montreal where she works in the museology department of the Avataq Cultural Institute, taking care of the Nunavik Inuit Art Collection. Isabelle helped to organize the exhibition of works from Avataq’s collection at KWE! Meet with Indigenous Peoples in 2019. Isabelle’s interests include Inuit art and collections, the repatriation of Inuit collections to the North, and continuing to learn about Inuit cultures from the Circumpolar North. She hopes to one day move back to Nunavut with her family.

Linda Grussani is a member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg and a second generation Italian-Canadian born and raised in Anishinabe Akì (Ottawa, ON). An arts administrator, art historian and curator, Linda is currently working full-time towards completing her PhD in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University with a focus on Indigenous representation in museums.  Over the last decade, Linda has held the position of Curator, Aboriginal Art at the Canadian Museum of History; Director, Indigenous Art Centre for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC); and has worked in the Indigenous and Canadian art departments at the National Gallery of Canada.

Cora Kavyaktok is an Inuit photographer and artist from Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay), Nunavut. Since 2009, she has led her practice through Little Inuk Photography, specializing in portraiture and event photography that centres Indigenous identity, cultural continuity, and self-representation.

Kavyaktok was the lead photographer for the Inuit Tattoo Revitalization Project, documenting the resurgence of Inuit women’s tattooing (tunniit). Her photographs are featured in Reawakening Our Ancestors’ Lines (2017), capturing both the process and emotional impact of reclaiming this cultural practice. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including in Finland, Peru, Poland, and Montreal, and in a solo exhibition at the Vancouver Maritime Museum. She has also been published in Inuit Art Quarterly and Chatelaine Magazine.

In addition to her artistic practice, Kavyaktok contributes to board governance, bringing an artist-centred perspective to organizational leadership, advocacy, and the advancement of Inuit arts and culture.