Françoise Sullivan OC CQ LL.D (born 10 June 1923) is a Canadian painter, sculptor, dancer, choreographer and photographer whose work is marked by her ability to switch from one discipline to another.
She also took courses in visual arts, studying at Hochelaga Convent in 1939 and, at sixteen, began attending the École des beaux-arts de Montréal from 1940 to 1944.
In 1948, Sullivan signed Les Automatistes' Refus Global manifesto, which included her essay La danse et l'espoir (Dance and Hope).
In 1948, accompanied by Jean-Paul Riopelle and Maurice Perron, Sullivan performed Danse dans la neige (Dance in the Snow) outside in Otterburn Park, Quebec.
The only score was the crunching of her own footsteps in the thickly crusted snow; her small audience consisted of Riopelle, Perron, their cameras, and the landscape itself.
[2][10] On 3 April 1948 Sullivan performed with her dance partner, Jeanne Renaud, at Ross House on the McGill University campus in Montréal.
[10][11] In the late 1950s, Sullivan turned to sculpture under the guidance of Armand Vaillancourt and learned welding at École des arts et métiers in Lachine, Québec.
[12] In 1960, she took a three-month course in sculpture with Louis Archambault at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal where she learned how to work with wood, iron, and plaster.
[16][17][18] In 1997, she completed Montagnes (Mountains), a granite wall located in the main lobby of President Kennedy Pavilion of Université du Québec à Montréal.