Don Mabie

Don Mabie (born January 9, 1947 in Calgary), also known as Chuck Stake, is an artist based in Nakusp, British Columbia. Mabie has been performing, drawing, assembling, trading and mailing art since the early 1970s.

Mabie graduated from the Alberta College of Art (Calgary) in Fine Art Painting in 1969; he did post graduate work at the Instituto Allende, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico in 1970. He lived in Toronto from 1970 through 1974; during this time he spent six months touring extensively in Europe. He returned to Calgary in 1974 and lived there until 2006 when he moved to Nakusp, BC.

Mabie has been drawing, performing, assembling, trading and mailing art for almost four decades. He has had more than twenty solo exhibitions in Canada and Europe, and has participated in numerous group exhibitions and performance events across Canada, in the United States, Mexico, Europe and Japan. As a member of the international performance collaborative The Nomads he performed at the arts festival documenta 8 in Kassel, Germany in 1987. He also performed in Zürich, Switzerland; at the INTER DADA Festival in San Francisco, USA; and on numerous occasions in Calgary at the Glenbow Museum, Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Nickle Arts Museum, Muttart Gallery (now Art Gallery of Calgary), Truck, Ten Foot Henry's, The Night Gallery and The New Gallery. He is credited with presenting the first performance work in Calgary in 1968.

Mabie has been an active participant in the international mail-art network since 1971 and has organized some 25 mail-art exhibitions as well as participating in hundreds of mail-art exhibitions and publications. Mabie adopted the name Chuck Stake in 1972 when he became involved with Correspondence/MailArt (CMA) and founded Chuck Stake Enterprizes in Toronto. It's the name he uses for most of his art activities including Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). He has focused his attention on Artist Trading Cards since 1997 and has helped initiate a vital Artist's Trading Card network in Calgary, Canada and internationally. In 2002 Mabie took The First International Biennial of Artist Trading Cards to South Australia (SA) and toured SA in February 2003 and presented a series of ATC Lectures/Workshops.

In 2000 he was nominated for the Canada Council for the Arts Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts.

In May, 2001 Mabie was a recipient of the Alberta College of Art & Design Board of Governors' Award of Excellence for his lifetime contribution to the arts in Alberta.

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