Pluridisciplinary artist and writer, Valerie LeBlanc has lived and worked in many regions of Canada.  She has presented, and participated in residencies, and workshops – throughout Canada, the United States, France and Australia.  She graduated from the Glass Department of the Alberta College of Art + Design, 1984 and received her MFA, Time Arts Program, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL in 1993.

Her practice fluxes between media arts, performance and installation. Many of her videopoems, emphasize the importance of non-spectacular time, the significance of the day-to-day, and the beauty present in available aesthetic.  She describes herself as an existentialist with a conscious.

She writes critically about her practice and media arts, and since the late 1990′s, she has been publishing essays, poetry and media projects on the web.  A selective list of essay titles includes: MPB Curates 2007 – Intervention / Breaking Loops, Escaping into the Streets; Facts and Artifacts in the Collective Matrix, archiving in the 21^st century; Time Travel in This Moment – BillBoard Logic, The Artist in the Marketing Landscape; and Location Location Location: We Are Getting Closer – The Incredible Weight of Being Wireless.  The 25 year retrospective publication EMMEDIA: 1980 – 2005, features LeBlanc’s interview-based essay: Roots in the Past, Runners into the Future. Her video works have been screened in more than forty festivals and exhibitions. She began screening work and presenting events from MediaPackBoard in 2005 and has curated various artists in MPB ventures since then.  Her videos and photographs have been collected by the National Gallery (Ottawa), Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the City of Moncton, and the New Brunswick Art Bank.

Originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Valerie taught in the Media Arts + Digital Technology Department at the Alberta College of Art + Design, in Calgary, Alberta from 2001 – 2007.  Currently based in Moncton, NB Canada, she works independently and in collaboration with her partner Daniel Dugas.

Français
Originaire de Halifax, Valerie LeBlanc est une vidéaste, poète et essayiste. Cette artiste pluridisciplinaire a travaillé au Canada, aux États-Unis, en France et en Australie. Elle crée des poèmes vidéo depuis le milieu des années 1980, en favorisant le temps non spectaculaire et la beauté d’une esthétique ready-made. Elle a créé, en 2005,  le MediaPackBoard (MPB), un appareil de projection mobile pour la performance.

Valerie vient de publier ce printemps Living In Dangerously Smooth Times aux Éditions Basic Brugel.

WEB RESOURCES / PROFILE
Blog
What We Take With Us
Purplefireworks
Time Travel In This Moment
MediaPackBoard
Fringe Online
Canadian Art Database Project
video distribution: Basic Bruegel + V Tape

PRESENTATIONS / LECTURES / CONFERENCES
2011 The Renovation (video screening / presentation – 2007) Senate House, London, UK, Nov 4 & 5
2010 Moncton24, writer + reader, 24 hour writing event + performance gala, Moncton, NB
2009 Things All Happening at Once, visiting scholar lecture, Sydney College for the Arts, Sydney, AU
2008 MPB CURATES 2007, TRUCK Gallery, Developing Alternative Exhibition Spaces: Calgary, AB
2006 Prairie Tales 7, Trap\door Gallery, Lethbridge, AB
2005 Becoming Alchemy, AMAAS Conference, Media Artist Presentation, The Banff Centre, Banff, AB,
2005 Archiving: Facts and Artifacts in the Collective Memory Matrix, ACIFA, Canmore, AB
2005 Prairie Tales 7, NSCAD, Halifax, NS; Faucet Media Centre, Sackville + NB Film Coop, Fredericton
2005 To Save or Not to Save? International preservation projects dealing with online art, – empyre- soft_skinned_space, http://www.subtle.net/empyre/ Participant – Feb.
2004 Time Travel In This Moment, New Media Research Networks Conference, Charlottetown PEI
2002 We Are Getting Closer, Atlantic Cultural Space Conference, E-Lounge, Moncton, NB
2002 E lounge Discussions from the Atlantic Cultural Space Conference – Lea Deschamps, – empyre- soft_skinned_space, http://www.subtle.net/empyre/ Participant – Oct.

WRITING / PUBLICATIONS
2012 What We Take With Us (photos and poetry excerpts), la revue Mot Dit, Carleton U., Ottawa, ON
2012 Summer is my Archetype (poem), éditions ellipse inc.magazine, Frye Festival, Moncton, NB
2012 Living in Dangerously Smooth Times, (soft cover book), Basic Bruegel Editions, Moncton, NB
2012 Tippy’s Recipe (weekly column), JUiCYHEADS, online magazine, Bemus Pt., NY, USA
2011 Sculpture Space: Then and Now (short stories), JUiCYHEADS,online magazine
2011 Living in Dangerously Smooth Times, Amazon Digital Services, Kindle Edition
2010 TOTEMS, a bioengineering comedy (novel) unpublished
2009 Roots in the Past, Runners into the Future, EMMEDIA: 1980 – 2005 (essay)
2007 Intervention / Breaking Loops, Escaping into the Streets (essay) MPB Curates 2007
2004 Facts and Artifacts in the Collective Matrix, (essay) www.purplefireworks.com
2004 Time Travel in This Moment (essays + poetry) www.timetravelinthismoment.com
2002 The Incredible Weight Of Being Wireless (essay) ww.wearegettingcloser.com
2000 Opening the Trunk on the 9-5 (article) Mix Magazine, Toronto, ON

MEDIAPACKBOARD (MPB) PERFORMANCES
2011 MPB – End of Signal, performances, various locations, NB, NS – ongoing
2008 MPB EARTH, Truck Gallery and Artcity – offsite event, downtown Calgary, AB.
2007 MPB Curates 2007, itinerant screenings: Calgary, Drumheller, Edmonton, AB
2006 MPB screenings: Cannes, Vallauris, Antibes, France
2005 The Ghost Squid: screening + inkjet print, ACAD Faculty Exhibition, IKG, Calgary, AB
2005 Downtown: screening + performance, FICFA Gala + The Dieppe Market, Moncton.NB
2005 Downtown: screening + performance, Art City Gala, Calgary, AB
2005 Downtown: screening + performance, 24th Annual Edmonton International Fringe, Edmonton, AB
2005 MPB on the streets: live performance, public interaction, Fredericton, NB

VIDEO SCREENINGS / MEDIA PRESENTATIONS
2012 What We Take With Us, video installation, The New Gallery, Calgary, AB
2011 Paper Moon, Cardboard Sky, video, 24es Instants Video at Le 104, Paris, FR
2011 DOWNTOWN, video poetry series, featured on Moving Poems – online anthology
2011 Walking on water, video, She Devil 5, MACRO, Rome, IT (June 2011 – Jan 2012)
2011 Paper Moon, Cardboard Sky, video, OIL, Emmedia, Calgary, AB
2011 Paper Moon, Cardboard Sky, video, OK.Quoi?!,Contemporary Arts Festival, Sackville, NB
2011 CAMEO, a research / creation project, Struts Gallery, Sackville, NB
2011 CAMEO, amphithéâtre du pavillon Clément-Cormier, l’Université de Moncton, NB
2011 MPB Celebrates the End of Television as We Know it, performance, various public settings
2011 MPB was there then, video installation, Struts Gallery – Members’ exhibition, Sackville, NB
2011 What We Take With Us, video installation, Galerie E Dans L’A, Moncton, NB
2011 Downunder, video, Atlantic Canada Showcase, Halifax Independent Filmmakers, Halifax, NS
2010 Soundbury, soundmapping project, FAAS 2 Galerie du Nouvel Ontario, Sudbury, ON
2009 Jellyfish Philosophy, Passion as Fashion, videos, OK, QUOI Festival, Sackville, NB
2008 Jellyfish Philosophy, Passion as Fashion, videos, Urban Screens, Melbourne, AU
2008 Existence, video installation + selected videos, Galerie d’art Cohen, l’Université de Moncton, NB
2007 Downtown, Galerie Sans Nom – Subterfuge, 30th anniversary exhibition, Moncton, NB
2007 The Renovation, 20es Instants Vidéo, Marseilles, FR
2007 La Dauphine and other shorts, EMMEDIA, Calgary, AB
2007 La Dauphine, during ‘EXPLORER’, A.I.R. Vallauris, FR
2007 La Dauphine, exterior projection townsquare, Vallauris, FR
2006 The Dahmer Tapes, The Window, The Graveyard, The Cloud,
Weird Geographies tour, New Brunswick Filmakers’ Co-operative, Frederiction, NB
2005 Bye Bye Three-Quarter Inch, Alberta Scene Albertaine, National Archives Theatre, Ottawa, ON
2005 Bye Bye Three-Quarter Inch, Prairie Tales 7th Annual Tour of Alberta Film & Video, touring
2005 EMMAX, audio collective performance, Arts Birthday, audio-streaming, The New Gallery, AB
2005 Motivations for Dedication (To Public Causes), documentary, Mayworks, Calgary, AB
2004 Time Travel in This Moment & Downtown, EMMEDIA, launch, Calgary, AB
2004 The Window, Weird Geographies, ED Video, Guelph, ON
2004 immediacy dominoes, Artcity – Passing Moments, EMMEDIA Celebrates 25 Years, Calgary, AB
2004 Time Travel in This Moment, New Media Research Networks Conference, Charlottetown, PEI
2004 Bye Bye Three-Quarter Inch, video, Faculty Exhibition, IKG, ACAD, Calgary, AB
2004 EMMAX, Not White Christmas / White NOISE, Bubonic Tourist & Birds and Stone, Calgary, AB
2003 Downtown, video series, Faculty Exhibition, IKG – ACAD, Calgary, AB
2003 Summerquote, Fugitive Images: The Global Visions Video Lounge, Art Gallery of Edmonton, AB
2003 Summerquote, Herland Festival, Calgary, AB
2003 Summerquote, Interior Exteriors, Saw Video, Ottawa, ON
2002 Location Location Location: We are getting closer, wireless webcam project across Canada:
Emmedia-Calgary, Videopool-Winnipeg, Sawvideo-Ottawa, Atlantic Cultural Space Moncton.
2002 Summerquote, EMMEDIA, Activist Menu Screening, Calgary, AB
2002 The Window, Video Cite, La Galerie Sans Nom, Moncton, NB + Transe Atlantique, Halifax, NS
1994 In Transit, University of Calgary – Introduction to Sociology, Calgary, AB,
1993 Slices of Life, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, (mediathèque), Mtl, QC
1993 In Transit, EMMEDIA, Calgary, AB
1992 Inspiration Café, on site screening at Inspiration Café, Chicago, IL
1992 Salman’s Head, SAIC, Gulf War Anniversary, Chicago, IL
1991 Alchemy, End of a Phase, National Film Board Theatre, Toronto, ON
1991 Slices of Life, EMMEDIA, Calgary, AB
1991 Montréal a Dream, W.O.W., New York, NY
1991 Montréal a Dream, Galerie Sans Nom, Moncton, NB
1990 Homecoming, screenings at: The National Gallery of Canada, Rewind, Ottawa, ON;
SAW Gallery, Ottawa, ON; The Banff Centre, Banff, AB
1989 Homecoming, The New Gallery, Media Blitz, Calgary, AB
1988 Homecoming, National Gallery of Canada, New Works by Canadian Artists, Ottawa,ON
1988 Homecoming, screenings: SAW Gallery, Identifying Tracks, Ottawa, ON; Gallery A Space, The Working Artist, Toronto, ON (touring exhibition)
1987 Homecoming, screenings at: Atlantic Film Festival, Halifax, NS; National Film Board Theatre,
Halifax, NS; Alliance Conference, Montréal, QC; Atlantic Film & Video Producers’ Conference,
Charlottetown, PEI

EXHIBITIONS (VISUAL ARTS)
2009 passion as fashion, poetry printed on roadsigns, Plein Air, Atelier Imago, Moncton, NB
2009 Virtual Horror, photos +essay, The Future of Peace, UNB Art Centre, Fredericton, NB
2007 MPB.docs, photos, Use, LINK Gallery, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, UK
2006 BHP prints, Imago Artist Run Print Studio, 20 years of contemporary printmaking, Galerie d’art Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen, Centre Universitaire de Moncton, Moncton, NB
2005 The Ghost Squid, Inkjet print + MPB performance, Faculty Exhibition, IKG, ACAD, Calgary, AB
2002 Wearegettingcloser People Poster, printed banner, Faculty Exhibition, IKG – ACAD, Calgary, AB
2001 Optimism + The Web of Time and Memory, Inkjet, essay, Faculty Exhibition, IKG, Calgary, AB
2001 Omega Pax, Installation during TRUNK75, ACAD Parkade, Calgary, AB
2001 Trophy, Lighted sculpture, NB Art Bank Acquisitions Touring Exhibition – 1999 – 2000
2000 Ce n’est pas une pipe, sculpture, Galerie d’Art l’Université de Moncton, NB
1999 Rush, Eastern Edge, (TRUNK©), Contemporary Visual Festival, St-John’s, NF
1999 Rush, Hamilton Artist Inc., (TRUNK©) Hamilton, ON
1999 Moods, painting, Galerie Moncton, Moncton City Hall, Moncton, NB
1998 Courage and Hope, commemorative sculpture, Galerie Moncton, Moncton City Hall
1998 Atlas, installation, Galerie George Goguen, Radio Canada, Moncton, NB
1998 Peripheral Progress, installation, Galerie d’Art Université Moncton, Moncton, NB
1996 Perpetual Motion Machine, print and online work, Galerie Virtuelle IMAGO Virtual Gallery
1996 The Time of the Day, installation, TRUNK© Gallery, Moncton, Sackville, NB
1987 Love vs. Technology, installation, Centre for Art Tapes, Halifax, NS

TEACHING / EDUCATION / RESIDENCIES
2001-07 Instructor, Media Arts + Digital Technologies, Alberta College of Art + Design, Calgary, AB
Video Production + Related Creation Software, Digital Arts Seminars
2010 Faculty Online Training, Meritus University, NB, Canada (University of Phoenix)
2009 Research Residency – Visiting Scholar, Film & Digital Arts studio, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney (SCA), What We Take With Us
2008 Robert McKee – Story Seminar, Los Angeles, CA
2007 HD Seminar, SAIT and University of Calgary, Calgary, AB
2006 A.I.R. Vallauris, FR
2002 Anti-racism Response Certificate, Member ACAD Diversity Advisory Committee, Calgary, AB
1995 Radio Writing Workshop, The Banff Centre, Banff, AB
1994 Radio Residency, The Banff Centre, Banff, AB
1991-93 Master of Fine Arts Degree, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
1989-90 Associate in the Media Arts, The Banff Centre, Banff, AB
1986-87 Fine Arts Studies, Nova Scotia College of Art + Design, Halifax, NS
1981-84 Diploma in the Visual Arts (GLASS), ACA – SAIT, Calgary, AB

CURATOR / ORGANIZER
2007 MPB CURATES 2007
2003 Focus on Diversity, Coordinator, ACAD Diversity Advisory Committee / EMMEDIA, Calgary, AB
2001 TRUNK75, ACAD Parkade, Calgary, AB
2000 The Port Elgin Tea Party, Drawings by teenage students at the Port Elgin Community
Association, exhibited at the Galerie Sans Nom, Moncton, NB
1996-97 TRUNK©, Moncton, Sackville, Dieppe, NB

AWARDS
2012 New Brunswick Arts Board, Creation Grant (scriptwriting)
2011 Canada Council for the Arts Travel Grant (Ruins Conference – http://www.textesetsignes.org/)
2009 University of Sydney, Research Residency – Visiting Scholar, Film & Digital Art studio, Sydney College of the Arts (SCA), Project: What We Take With Us
2009 Canada Council for the Arts Travel Grant
2009 Career Development Grant, New Brunswick Arts Board
2009 Travel Grant, Media Arts Program, The Canada Council for the Arts
2007 Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Project Multidisciplinary Grant
2006 Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Project Multidisciplinary Grant
2006 Canada Council for the Arts Travel Grant
2006 Alberta College of Art and Design, Faculty Research Award
2005 Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Project Multidisciplinary Grant
2004 Canada Council for the Arts Travel Grant
2004 Alberta College of Art and Design Faculty Research Award
2003 Alberta College of Art and Design, Faculty Research Award
2002 Canada Council Creation Grant, Spoken and Electronic Words Program
2002 Alberta College of Art and Design, Faculty Research Award
2000 Creation Grant, New Brunswick Arts Board
2000 Artists-in-Schools Residency Program, Arts Development Branch
1999 New Brunswick Arts Direction, Arts-by-Invitation
1999 Canada Council, Inter-Arts, Travel Grant
1999 Sheila Hugh MacKay Foundation Grant
1994 The Banff Centre / Chameleon Arts Society, Radio Project Grant
1992 International Students Scholarship, SAIC
1990 Alberta Culture Film & Literary, Arts Production Grant – Video
1987 Atlantic Film Festival, Merit Award for Concept

COLLECTIONS
The National Gallery of Canada (video – Homecoming + MPB Curates 2007, DVD + catalogue) / The Alberta Foundation for the Arts (photographs) / The Alberta College of Art + Design (video)