Tania Willard's use of art to reach people as a means of universal problem-solving has not gone unnoticed.

The Neskonlith artist and curator who has been involved in numerous projects and exhibitions in the Shuswap, including and the  and who in December 2023 was appointed as the first-ever Director of the UBC Okanagan Gallery, is among a handful of individuals selected to receive the 2025 President's Alumni Award from the University of Victoria.

Willard received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from UVic in 1998 and is an assistant professor in the faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC Okanagan in syilx territories.

Willard describes herself as a mixed Secw茅pemc and settler artist whose research intersects with land-based art practices.

"Her work activates the connection to land, culture and family, centring art as an Indigenous resurgent act, through collaborative projects such as BUSH Gallery and support of language revitalization in Secw茅pemc communities," reads a biography shared by UVic.

In 2016, Willard received the Hnatyshyn FoundationB次元官网网址檚 Award for Curatorial Excellence in Contemporary Art. In 2020, the Shadbolt Foundation awarded her a VIVA Award for outstanding achievement and commitment in her art practice. In 2022, she was named a Forge Project Fellow for her land-based, community-engaged artistic practice. In 2023, BUSH Gallery was named Willard a Future Studies recipient from the Ruth Foundation for the Arts.

"I learned a lot about myself in (UVicB次元官网网址檚) art program," shared Willard in the UVic bio. "Four years is enough time to decide whether you are dedicated to art or you aren't. I made it through that program and knew it was still something I was passionate about.

"I also knew I wanted it to serve not only art for art's sake but to widen it out to think about social engagement, think about activism, think about community B次元官网网址� and that was through my Indigenous heritage as a Secw茅pemc person. In those days, there was a lot of activity on campus in music and art, in activism and in Indigenous rights, and I found my voice through those spaces.B次元官网网址�

Regarding her use of art as a means of addressing universal problems, Willard explained it can reach people in a way that's different, in a language that "tries to connect with us in our hearts." 

"That's been important for me," said Willard. "I don't think it's the only effective means. I think it can work alongside many other methods and practices, but for me, it's been the way that I can commit to because it nourishes, and communicates it's relational and it can deal with difficult subjectsB次元官网网址� (Art) helps me envision different outcomes. ItB次元官网网址檚 a universal problem-solving technique. People use it in the sciences, and in the humanities. We need that creativity no matter who we are to help us solve problems and nourish ourselves and grow.B次元官网网址�

Sharing about where she lives, on reserve "near the forest edge," Willard said she loves how the forest takes care of everything B次元官网网址� life, death, food and ecology.

"I have great respect and continue to learn every day of my life from how the forest takes care of things in a way that contrasts the ways we have to have systems for food, for garbage, for waste, and we build up these separate systems to take care of all that. But the forest innately does that," said Willard.