She Was A Free Spirit: Erica Donovan captures the vibrant colours of her arctic home through sought-after beaded jewellery

Erica Donovan (Lugt) is an Inuvialuk artist from Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories; Daughter To Eric & Tootsie Lugt, Granddaughter to Eddie & Alice Gruben. Erica makes jewelry inspired by the land and her Inuvialuit culture, in particular Inuvialuit dancing parkas. “I’ve always been attracted to colour. I bring my love of colour, of all colours and what my eyes interpret from the colours of the Arctic to my creations.” Erica also has a passion and pedigree for fashion; she comes from a long line of well-known Gruben seamstresses. Erica is committed to creating wearable fashion that is at once traditional yet modern. Jewelry and fashion design are more than creative outlets for Erica. They have also been an important part of her healing journey. 

​Erica was a featured vendor at Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto in 2018 and sold out at IFWTO 2020. Her earrings were on display at Paris Fashion Week in 2019. Erica co-coordinated the 2019 Arctic Fashion Show as part of the Great Northern Arts Festival Society in Inuvik. She is also a member of the Creations for Continuity and Proudly Indigenous Crafts & Design website. More recently, she took part in the 2021 Earring show with BC Craft Council as well as the Entreprenorth Circumpolar Fashion Cohort. 

This video is from our EntrepreNorth Walk in Beauty video series, which captures the stories of the entrepreneurs in our Circumpolar Fashion Cohort. Click here to see more videos from the series.

Follow She Was A Free Spirit | www.shewasafreespirit.com
This video was made by aRTLess Collective with support from NWT Arts