Gail Tremblay
Born December 15, 1945 Buffalo, NY - Died May 3, 2023, Olympia, WA
Gail lived and worked in Olympia, Washington for most of her adult life. She was a master American basket weaver who worked with cinematic film instead of natural, harvested media. Tremblay contributed to the arts and cultural life of the Pacific Northwest and beyond for decades through her interdisciplinary artwork, critical writing, and poetry. Tremblay has been featured in numerous anthologies and exhibitions, including the canonical 1992 - 1994 group show The Submuloc Show/Columbus Wohs: A Visual Commentary on the Columbus Quincentennial. Her artwork is included in many notable public collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Brooklyn Museum, New York; Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.
Tremblay retired from teaching at The Evergreen State College in 2016, where, since 1980, she mentored hundreds of students in visual art, creative writing, film, women's and American Studies. She was a founding member of The Evergreen State College Longhouse and remained active on their advisory board until her death.
It is widely known that throughout Gail Tremblay's four decades long career she was embraced by artists and scholars including Indigenous artists and scholars, she was commissioned to write countless essays on contemporary art, plus she was exhibited by and collected by institutions with significant American, Craft, and Feminist departments. Her artwork, writing and advocacy brought much valued insights and contributions to the fields of American arts, Native American arts and culture, and women's studies. Research of tribal government records confirm that she, her extended family and her ancestors were not enrolled in a Native American Nation, nor has she been certified by an Indigenous Nation as a non-member Native American artisan. Finding exact details of her history and genealogy are now additionally challenged with her recent passing and none of her immediate family members are living. As a result, Gail's work may not be described as of Native American origin or as made by a non-member Native American artisan of an Indigenous Nation. Froelick Gallery is honored to have worked with Gail from the late 1990s until her passing. Her artwork, poetry, and writings stand on their own as treasured contributions to the American experience.