Natural Light: Madeline LeBlanc

Runs from July 25 – September 6, 2025

Natural Light
The Haakonson Family Gallery — Harcourt House Artist Run Centre
Opening Reception for Members and Guests: Friday, July 25^th | 7 – 9 pm
Free admission

Madeline LeBlanc is an Edmonton-based mid-career visual artist who began creating art during a period of homelessness. She utilized resources available at the shelter, such as: craft paint, paper, and cardboard. Her journey from homelessness to artist was widely covered by CBC News and other media outlets and this experience solidified her artistic mission of promoting arts to the general public.

Her artwork serves as a commentary on accessibility within the art world. She conveys the significance of arts affordability and access whilst examining the representation of those who are typically excluded from the art world. By using household materials — often coded feminine — as the medium for her work, LeBlanc purposely exposes the imbalances existent within the art world both within gender and socio-economic class.

Natural Light is a body of work created during the global pandemic of 2021 and 2022, a period marked by profound isolation and extreme poverty for the artist. With no adequate financial resources for daily sustenance or traditional art supplies, LeBlanc turned to thrifted bedsheets and simple Crayola wax crayons and pencil — tools born from necessity rather than choice. In the face of hardship, LeBlanc sought to transform personal struggle into something conceptually compelling and visually stimulating. The resulting pieces feature fairies and floral motifs, serving as both a form of escapism and an act of resistance against the harsh realities of daily survival. Each drawing is infused with a longing for light, hope, and the possibility of a life beyond poverty.

Natural Light became LeBlanc’s first body of work to generate an income, offering not only financial relief but also a new sense of purpose. This conceptually and visually stimulating body of work stands as a remarkable testimony to the power of creativity to sustain human spirit, even in its darkest hours.

Accessibility:

- Harcourt House’s offices along with the Main and Haakonson Family Galleries are located on 3^rd floor.

- Access by elevator seven stairs down from the main entrance to the basement floor with banisters on both sides.

- Wheelchair access from the building’s underpass via the basement art studios can be arranged with Harcourt’s staff at tel. 780−426−4180.

- Gender single stall washrooms with handrails.

- Seating in the art galleries to be arranged with Harcourt’s staff upon request.