Sherry Leigh
Williams

Sherry Leigh Williams is a Red River Métis and Papaschase First Nation artist, arts administrator, cultural leader, and educator based on Salt Spring Island, BC (unceded Coast Salish Territory). Her practice is rooted in verified direct descent from the Deschamps dit Rabaska and Hénault dit Canada lineages — the Pullers of the Big Canoe — informed by more than 25 years of genealogical research into family lineage, kinship, and cultural identity. She is a direct descendant of Baptiste Deschamps and Marguerite Berard; author Martine Bordeleau has documented that Louis Riel descended through this family line. She also traces lineage through the Enno, James Hughes, and Sampson families.

Born in Shining Bank, Alberta (Mahaska, Treaty 6 Territory) and raised in a land-based lifestyle across northern Alberta and BC — homesteading in Little Smoky and ranching in Chetwynd — Sherry relocated to Salt Spring Island in 1998. Her grandfather was a Métis fiddle player and her Irish/English mother, a gifted glass artist, deeply influenced her creative spirit. She owned and operated Timeless Treasures Gallery in Chetwynd, BC, where she co-founded the "Hands on Art" school program with Angelique Prince.

Her artistic practice spans over three decades and encompasses painting, sculpture, mixed media, digital imagery, music, songwriting, and writing. Her visual work draws from the traditional language of Métis floral beadwork, translating it into contemporary forms — working in acrylic one drop at a time, creating pieces that emulate the precise circular paint drops of traditional beadwork, and layering embroidery and handiwork of unnamed grandmothers beneath her paint. Her work explores land as memory, mapping, and identity, bridging her ancestral prairie homelands with the coastal landscapes where she now lives.

She completed her VCA Diploma in Fine Art (top 2% of her class) and her Bachelor of Fine Arts with Distinction at the University of Victoria, where she is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. From 2021 to 2022, she taught two post-secondary courses at Camosun College (Indigenous Art History and Indigenous Studio Arts, 25+ students per class, 50+ students total). She is a mother of six and grandmother of sixteen.

A performing musician for 30+ years, Sherry is a founding voice in the Salt Spring Island Indigenous music community.

Bands: Local Motion (8-piece classic rock & blues), Shades of Grey (jazz, blues, folk & country), Southbound & Friends (with Sari Alesh).

Entertainment Coordinator — Legion Branch 92 (200+ events). Weekly open mic host.

15 original songs transcribed to sheet music by Marty Steele.

Red River Métis ancestry including the Deschamps dit Rabaska and Hénault dit Canada lineages. Direct descendant of Baptiste Deschamps and Marguerite Berard. Author Martine Bordeleau has documented that Louis Riel descended through this family line.

Mother of six, grandmother of sixteen.