Advertisement

Annie Pootoogook, award winning Inuit artist, found dead in Ottawa

Annie Pootoogook is framed by her artwork on display at The Power Plant in Toronto on June 22, 2006. Bernard Weil/Toronto Star via Getty Images

OTTAWA – An award winning Inuit artist has been identified as the woman who was found dead earlier this week in the Rideau River in Ottawa.

Police say the body of Annie Pootoogook, 46, of Ottawa was discovered on Monday, but don’t suspect foul play.

Jason St-Laurent of Ottawa’s SAW Gallery, where some of Pootoogook’s works are on exhibition, said it has been confirmed that her body was found in the river.

Pootoogook won the 2006 Sobey Art Foundation Award, an annual prize given for contemporary Canadian art, for her pen and coloured pencil drawings representing facets of Inuit life.

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

READ MORE: First Nations University of Canada celebrates 40 years with eyes on future

The prize is given to an artist who has exhibited a public or commercial art gallery within 18 months of being nominated.

Story continues below advertisement

Pootoogook was born in Cape Dorset, on Dorset Island, near the southwestern tip of Baffin Island and came from a family of artists.

Her work has been featured at various exhibitions since 2002.

Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna is offering his condolences to Pootoogook’s family Friday afternoon on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/PeterTaptuna/status/779417159311187968

And Nunavut MP Hunter Tootoo tweeted that Canada has “lost great artist & great woman.”

The Sobey Art Foundation issued a statement late Friday that said “Annie’s spirit shone through her work and she has left a tremendous legacy to the Canadian cultural fabric.”

Police are asking anyone who has information about Pootoogook’s whereabouts in the days before her death to contact investigators.

Sponsored content

AdChoices