Tlingit artist Brad Henry invited to our Introductory class on Tuesday March 9

B R A D H E N R Y was born in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, in the 1960's. At six years of age, his family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. Brad’s father, an Inland Tlingit of the Teslin band, passed away when Brad was only fifteen. Brad’s mother, a gentle, but strong-minded Vuntut Gwitchin woman from Old Crow, Yukon Territory continued to raise her seven children, two girls and five boys, with support from Brad’s Granny and his aunts and uncles.

As a youngster, Brad watched in awe as his uncles and aunts created both art and music. Brad’s initial career path however, was in the field of firefighting and he only started to professionally dabble in the field of music and fine art later in life. Brad’s uncle Charles Tizya played a big part in urging Brad to paint, through explaining it as his Vuntut Gwitchin and Tlingit birthright.

This influence from his family to this day still plays a huge role in inspiring the creation of his art. Many of the messages instilled in his paintings quite often speak of the wisdom passed on to him by his relatives and spiritual elders.

Brad has proved to be very talented in terms of both art and music. In 2001, his composition "Una Rosa Para Ti," from his album Outta The Blue was featured in the Adam Beach movie "The Art Of Woo." Other songs from the same album, such as “Anishinabek Kwe,” can also be heard playing on Aboriginal Voices radio. Likewise, his musical persona has been featured on CTV’s “First Story,” “Aboriginal Arts and Entertainment,” “Buffalo Tracks,” and APTN’s “The Mix.”

Brad continues to perform to this day and is working towards putting together a new album. Brad views both music and art, as a means of communicating messages that have cultural, social and spiritual relevance

Brad’s current body of artwork is done in collaboration with an artist by the name of Christina Moore, who comes from Huron-Wendat descent. They work together, learn from each other, and share a strong sense of importance of keeping traditional culture and knowledge alive. Together, they to try to find a middle ground between traditional ways and the modern world. Their work has been featured at venues such as the Vancouver Aboriginal Art and Culture Festival, and will be featured on this season of APTN’s Cooking with the Wolfman.

In 2007, their collaborative artwork earned the pair an honorable mention at Streetsville Gallery’s “Treasures of Aboriginal Artists” show. Their collaborations, which combine Northwest Coast iconography with the expressionistic beauty of scrapings and feathers, are described as melding together two distinct styles with harmonious rhythm. They believe that "To live in harmony, we all must work together to gain an understanding and appreciation of the valuable contributions of each culture. One source for such understanding is the arts.”