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St. James-Assiniboia Pioneer Association president Nancy Fluto is pleased to announce the unvieling of a new portrait of Metis leader Cuthbert Grant on June 10.

One of the founding fathers of St. Fran­cois Xavier will soon enjoy a picture per­fect moment.

The St. James-Assiniboia Pioneer Association plans to unveil a three-foot by four-foot commissioned portrait of Cuthbert Grant on Fri., June 11.

The picture will be permanently displayed inside the Cuthbert Grant Mill, located on Sturgeon Creek north of Portage Avenue near Grace Hospital.

Grant, who built the mill in 1816, was a revered Metis leader in Manitoba. He was born to a Scottish father and Metis mother in 1793 and served as a sheriff and magistrate prior to his death on July 15, 1854. SFX was originally named Grantown in his honour.

Association president Nancy Fluto, who lives in Westwood, said group mem­bers felt it was important that Grant’s con­tributions to the local community  be remembered.

"Cuthbert Grant is an often overlooked figure in Metis history because of other leaders such Louis Riel," she said. "But Grant was very important as well."

Grant is regarded as one of the last great Metis leaders. His sister was the wife of Pierre Falcon, who helped Grant defeat Gov. Robert Semple at the Battle of Seven Oaks.

Fluto said part of the inspiration for undertaking the portrait of Grant is the fact there is only one surviving picture of him and the quality of the image is very low.

St. James artist Jill Sellers was commissioned to paint the portrait of Grant. She said the lack of references made her task that much more challenging.

"The image I had to work from is very rough, like a really bad photocopy," Sellers said.

"It was a line drawing with a lot of information missing. Half his mouth is missing so I had to add a lot of visual information to keep him looking correct."

The portrait took Sellers about five months to complete. Despite the challenges the project presented the artist, she said it was very much a labour of love.

"I agreed to do this project because I think there isn’t much knowledge out there about Grant and his contributions to the Metis community," she said. "I just thought that this would put him on the map a little more."

Her sentiment is shared by Fluto, who said other projects the museum is working on, such as the Grant family tree continue to draw new people into the museum.

"We just want to get the story out because of the mill and the Grant family tree we are working on in the basement of the mill," Fluto said.

"As we continue to research Grant and the family tree, we are learning how much interest there actually is for him. This portrait is going to be a huge attraction."

Fluto said that about 1,000 visitors from Canada and the U.S. visit the old mill each summer.  She hopes that number will double once his portrait is on display.

The unveiling is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the mill, which is located at 2777 Portage Ave.

prescott.james@canstarnews.com