Carmel and Patsea would like to welcome you to the 3rd annual No Borders Art Festival on September 19 at the Shenkman Arts Centre!
Performances will begin at 10:30 am in the drum circle featuring the No Borders Drum Circle and friends. The No Borders Drum Circle is hosted by Théo, Carmel and Patsea. Bring your drums and join us – all are welcome on the circle!
Performing at the opening will be some amazing dancers and musicians.
This is Katie Closs!
She will join us in the circle and will be jingle dress dancing at the opening of the No Borders Art Festival on September 19th at the Shenkman Arts Centre.
Katie Closs’s jingle dance journey began in 2019 after reaching out and looking to get back in touch with her ancestral roots. She attended several pow-wows growing up and always felt a strong emotional connection to the dancers. Through the Indigenous community centres in Ottawa, she was able to attend a regalia class and learn the teachings of the dances and making regalia itself. To date, she has made two regalia for her daughters and participated in several dance ceremonies, including the Walk of Sorrow on Parliament Hill. She aspires to follow this path and continue learning and teaching throughout her lifelong journey.
This is Claire Sackaney!
She will join us in the circle and will be jingle dress dancing at the opening of No Borders Art Festival on September 19th at the Shenkman Arts Centre.
“I am happy to dance at every opportunity!”
Claire started dancing in 2005, when she was 44 years old and raising her 2 year old grandson. He inspired her to get back to her cultural roots. She loves sewing and started making her jingle dress which had been calling her for many years! She also made her grandson a grass dancer regalia and she’s been dancing ever since. Now 60. She sews by hand for all her grandkids and her regalia projects. She dances for everyone! She prays for all that are struggling in death, sickness, addictions, and everyday struggles. She believes in the power of this dance and feels truly blessed with its calling. She believes that all prayers are answered. Her amazing dancing skills and sewing techniques are proudly self-taught.
“I will continue to keep dancing for however long the Creator allows me too!” A’HO
This is Nina Sigalowitz!
She will be joining us in the circle and will be performing a traditional drum song.
This is Sid Ameen!
He will be joining us in the circle and will be performing at the opening of the No Borders Art Festival on September 19 at the Shenkman Arts Centre.
Sid Ameen is a sixteen-year old musician raised in Ottawa. He has been playing piano and guitar since his early childhood and has taken up the harmonica and banjo as a way of staying busy at home during the pandemic. A former member of the homeschool choir led by Chris White, he continues to enjoy performing with Chris. Already an accomplished performer, he has played at No Borders Art Festival and with Chris at the Grassroots Festival, Gil’s Hootenanny, senior’s residences and various venues around Ottawa. A favourite experience for Sid during Covid has been assisting Chris over zoom with the sing-along group, Turquoise, for people with dementia and their partners.
This is Larissa Desrosiers!
She will be joining us in the circle and performing at the opening of the No Borders Art Festival on September 19 at the Shenkman Arts Centre.
Larissa is an Anishinaabekwe Singer/Songwriter from Couchiching First Nation in Treaty #3. Her voice is electrifying, and she imbues every song in her repertoire of original and cover songs with uniquely beautiful intensity. She addresses Indigenous contemporary and historical concerns head on, and hearing her, no one can look away or unhear her message. Just one example is her composition Found, telling the story of an Algonquin girl who was raped and murdered behind Parliament Hill in 1827 at the hands of British soldiers, featured in the NAC’s Indigenous Cities Ottawa Project. Larissa is a fearless musician, story teller, community activist, CKCU radio host and artist, with her own beadwork business, Bangishimon Beadwork. Her future aspirations include releasing music, touring and growing her business.
This is Maria Hawkins!
Maria will be joining us in the circle and will be performing at the opening of the No Borders Art Festival on September 19 at the Shenkman Arts Centre.
The performance is going to be amazing and unique as Maria explains:
“In September I’m celebrating 40 years of performing! So grateful for all the support I’ve received from Ottawa and beyond. I’m not performing with a band this time. I’ve chosen a more intimate performance for No Borders with original material written by Mike Thibault and I that will be on our album. I’m performing with Mike who comes from a musical Maritime family and we’ve been working on an album for some time together. Some of the songs are about the world as it is.”
Carmel and Patsea would like to welcome you to the 3rd annual No Borders Art Festival on September 19 at the Shenkman Arts Centre!
Streaming performances will run from 1:00 – 5:00
Arnakuluit
Tamara and Janice have been throat singing together since the Spring of 2016. The duo began singing at local Ottawa-area venues and have since ventured into larger provincial performances. The meaning of “Arnakuluit” is very special for Janice and Tamara as both women are raising their children to be proud Inuit in their communities. Arnakuluit translates into “beautiful women” in English.
Janice Ulaaju is 30 years old and the mother of two beautiful daughters aged 10 and 7. Janice has lived in Ottawa since 2006 and began throat singing at the age of 12. As an Inuk from Nunavut, her passion to teach Inuit culture is strong. She is very proud of where she comes from and hopes to instil that emotion onto her audience!
Tamara Takpannie is a 26 year old urban Inuk who is originally from Iqaluit, Nunavut. She grew up in the Ottawa area and began throat singing at the age of 19. Tamara recently completed her bachelor’s degree at Carleton University and is a proud mom to her 9 year old son. She is very happy to have the opportunity to share Inuit culture through performance. Instagram – @arnakuluit
Ana Maria Cruz-Valderrama: Presentation of New Beginnings Project for Spanish Seniors. Ana Maria is an Ottawa-based Colombian born social activist and community leader with over 20 years of experience in advancing seniors and other social issues since her retirement from the Public Service. In response to the social isolation created by COVID-19, in April 2020 she founded the non-profit organization New Beginnings to assist and offer activities to increasingly vulnerable Spanish-speaking seniors. With the support from the Social Planning Council of Ottawa, she began to host The Social Hour encouraging seniors in the community to participate in an art project coloring mandalas. This form of art therapy is proving to help seniors increase their understanding of colour combination dynamics and strengthen motor skills such as hand coordination and finger dexterity. It helps seniors relax and better deal with their fears of the unpredictable future and chaos COVID-19 and its variants continue to foster in the world’s populations. She also hosts the Wednesday Social Hour dedicated to the study of Indigenous populations of the Americas and Friday’s Poetry of the Americas. Ana Maria serves on the City of Ottawa Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) and for a second term she is serving at the Seniors Roundtable. She is also a foundingmember of the Grassroots Ethnocultural Seniors Network of Ottawa, managed by the Social Planning Council of Ottawa. She has recently completed the Creative Arts Program at Algonquin College and plans to continue using different forms of art as valuable tools for therapy with older adults.
This is River Doucette!
River will be joining us in the circle at the No Borders Art Festival at the Shenkman Arts Centres via video.
Born and raised in Calidonia Springs, Ontario, River Doucette is an inter-disciplinary artist living in the Yukon. After receiving her Master’s of Arts in Music and Culture Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, she moved to Dawson City, Yukon and works as a youth support worker at the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in youth center. She continues her multi-disciplinary arts as a synaesthetic live painter, music maker, and flowartist concentrated on poi fire spinning. However, throughout her journey she gained a companion, a ‘familiar’ as they call them. Coyote was born early November 2020 and adopted by River December 1st. Since then the adventures they have taken with tales of travel have lead to a small public following of little Coyote and both the inspiration and motivation to create this short film. “The hope, is to encourage anyone whom dreams of an animal companion that under I’d say, almost any circumstance, with love and devotion, is always possible.”
Suzanne Keeptwo – BookTalk and conversation: We All Go Back to the Land. Understand How to Do Meaningful Land Acknowledgements with New Book Have you been bothered, bored, or confused by a Land Acknowledgement? Have you been tasked to provide or organize one and not quite sure how and why it should be done? This book will answer your questions. Since the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Report in 2015, Land Acknowledgments often begin conferences, cultural events, and even hockey games. But, despite becoming more common, many Land Acknowledgements feel standardized and rote, and leave audiences without impact. With her new book, We All Go Back to the Land: The Who, Why, and How of Land Acknowledgements, Métis artist and educator Suzanne Keeptwo wants to change that. She sees the Land Acknowledgement as a perfect opportunity for Indigenous peoples in Canada to communicate honest messages to non-Indigenous Canadians—informative messages founded upon Age Old Wisdom about honoring the Land we all want to call home. For Keeptwo, the Land Acknowledgement is both an educational opportunity and cultural practice. She aims to ensure Land Acknowledgements are truthful and meaningful, and includes several examples of Land Acknowledgements that could offer so much more.“Land Acknowledgements should be done to bring awareness to all, while fostering relationships between Canadians and Inuit, First Nation, and Métis peoples. Land Acknowledgements should actually motivate people to help heal the Land for all generations yet to come,” Keeptwo said. We All Go Back to the Land seeks to rejuvenate the contemporary Land Acknowledgement and bring all Canadians toward the ultimate goal of Reconciliation with the Earth and Original Peoples.
About Suzanne Keeptwo Suzanne Keeptwo, Algonkin-Métis (and Irish) of Québec is a professional writer, editor, facilitator and consultant. Her area of expertise is bridging cultural gaps of understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. As both artist and professional educator, she merges traditional Anishinaabe Teachings and artistic expression to explore Indigenous historical truths & contemporary realities for diverse audiences. She has worked across the nation state of Canada providing cultural awareness training to a variety of host clients including the Museum of Human Rights (Winnipeg); McGill University (Montréal); Full Circle: First Nations Performance (Vancouver); and, The Department of Natural Resources Canada (Ottawa). She is the author of We All Go Back To The Land: The Who, Why, and How of Land Acknowledgments (Brush Education Press, 2021) and the yet-to-be produced full length play about seven generations of Anishinaabe women entitled All My Relations. Suzanne also enjoys leading the Four Nations Exchange, an Indigenous grassroots theatre ensemble in traditional unceded Algonquin territory where she calls home.
Short Films from Grounds for Goodness produced by Jumblies Theatre+ Arts
Jumblies is a Toronto-based company, founded in 2011,that makes art with, for and about people, places and their sometimes-hidden stories. : Ruth Howard the Artistic Director of Jumblies and the company have created and led numerous multi-year residencies, workshops, tours and festivals involving hundreds of people, and resulting in large-scale performances, tours, festivals, musical works, films, exhibitions and other projects and activities that bring people together through art-making across differences. Grounds for Goodness is a multi-year Jumblies’ project exploring and expressing the notion of “social goodness” – why and how people sometimes act in good ways towards others. Through Covid-times, this project has given birth to a large collection of short videos, created by film-makers, artists and members of their communities. We are pleased to share with you a selection of these videos
1. Al Ahwaji(3 min) Natalie Fasheh, Lead Artist, Choral arranger, & Film-maker; is a Palestinian-Jordanian singer, poet, community-engaged artist, choral conductor, and composer.
2. We Are Ants(5 min) Cheldon Paterson/SlowPitchSound, Lead Artist, Director & Film-maker; SlowPitchSound is an experimental artist with over 20 years of experience in live composition and multi-disciplinary performance.
3. Commemorating Goodness(7 min) Catherine Moeller, Lead Artist, is a multidisciplinary artist. She facilitates art activities with seniors at the Weston-King Neighbourhood Centre.
4. Resilient Seeds(4 min) Kitsune Soleil, Lead Artist, writer &fllm-maker, is a Plains Cree (Nehiyaw, Bear Clan) multi-disciplinary artist residing on Treaty 3 territory. The daughter of a residential school survivor, her blood comes from Mistawasis First Nation.
5. Stories Told from the Ottawa Valley(6 min) Cameron Montgomery, film-maker, is a rural artist who collaboratively writes, directs, edits and produces feature films and abstract pieces at Studio Dreamshare in Pembroke, Ontario.
More short films from Grounds for Goodness can be found at:https://groundsforgoodness.ca/evgallery#videogallery
Thanks to all of Jumblies funders especially the Touring Programs of the Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts.
Mary Modeen – Scotland
University of Dundee, Duncan of JordanstoneCollege of Art & Design, Faculty Member
Chair of Interdisciplinary Art Practice, and Associate Dean International
Professor Mary Modeen is an artist, academic, interdisciplinary scholar, writer, teacher and most of all, connection-maker across the world. She bridges disciplines in her own work and has done so throughout her life. Her research outputs feature two types of work: creative outputs exhibited worldwide as artworks in printmaking, artist books, and installations, with illustrated lectures, and the secondly, as academic publications in books, chapters and journal articles. She is a dual UK/USA national, with ancestry of Ojibwe and Scandinavian origins.
Supervisor to 9 PhD students currently, and PhD External Examiner internationally.
Laura Donkers – New Zealand
I am a practicing eco-social, multi-media artist whose work is rooted in the idea of co-creativity, working intra-actively with communities and environments. The work focuses on understanding human and nonhuman agency. I conduct place-based research to read and respond to the environment through text, printing and drawing, in collaboration with human-and-nonhuman makers, as embodied ways of knowing place. A slow method of understanding landscape, place and environment emerges that brings poetic insights on nature, culture and ethics.
I have been based for 30 years in the Outer Hebrides, UK, as a horticulturalist, artist and researcher, and completed a Practice-led PhD in Contemporary Art Practices at the University of Dundee. This work explored collaborative artistic co-creative methods to strategically promote eco-social regeneration for small island communities, and included research visits to University of Auckland, Aotearoa/ NZ, to gain theoretical underpinning knowledge on indigenous embodied knowledges, such as KaupapaMaori Theory. Having completed this research, I want to continue to develop creative and collaborative methodologies within ecological and human communities to connect the public with environmental and climate change matters, while expanding artist’ agency and impact on society at this time of ecological crisis. Post-doctoral research explores new roles that artists can play in generating beneficial eco-social changes through working with both community and place-based knowledges, influenced by indigenous knowledge systems.
Supervisors: Professor Mary Modeen and Dr Iain BIggs
Chiara Ministrelli – England
London Collage Of Communication, School of Media, Faculty Member I have a passion for social justice and my commitment to equality informs my academic practice. My research focuses on decolonising methods and Indigeneity, Indigenous modernity, critical race theory, identity, culture and transcultural connections, popular culture and music (Hip Hop in particular). My main objective is to create platforms in order to facilitate knowledge exchange and collaborations between Academia and local communities.
Brianna Palmer – Turtle Island
Associate Professor, School of the Arts
Faculty of Humanities, McMaster University
Carmel Whittle – Turtle Island
Carmel Whittle is an accomplished Irish, Mik’maq visual artist, musician and song writer, educator and Independent filmmaker hailing from Newfoundland – a province whose harsh beauty and strong people have moulded her into an artist with a deep understanding of the struggle that Indigenous people in this country are going through. Her work as a cultural community artist and Indigenous liaison supports her striving and thriving in decolonized community arts, and she has animated discussion groups specific to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls To Action in the arts. She is founder of the Indigenous Artists Coalition and project manager of the Thunderbird Sisters Collective. A recent community project includes the No Borders Art Festival, developed, co-directed and co-curated with the Indigenous Artists Coalition and The Thunderbird Sisters Collective in collaboration with community partners Saw Video, Artengine, G101, and the Eagle & Condor Collective.
Patsea Griffin – Turtle Island
Born and raised on her ancestral land along the Kichi Sibi (Ottawa River) on unceded Algonquin territory, Patsea is a special blend of many bloodlines including Ontario Métis.
She is the founder and executive director of The Thunderbird Sisters Collective, a non-profit organization dedicated to highlighting the art and skills of indigenous youth/artists. She is also co-director of the No Borders Art Festival and co-organizer of the 2021 Women+ Arts Festival. She is facilitator of the weekly beading group ‘Beading with Patsea! Artist. Beadworker. Poet. Drummer. Singer. Dreamer. ‘My art keeps me connected to nature, my mother, and all my relations in the spirit world.
SCHEDULE
Join The No Borders Art Festival on Sunday September 26 on Zoom for exciting online events starting at noon at Petrie Island.
Carmel and Patsea would like to welcome you to the 3rd annual No Borders Art Festival on September 19 at the Shenkman Arts Centre 245 Centrum Blvd Ottawa/Orléans On. https://shenkmanarts.ca/en/getting-here
Live and Online
September 19 – October 3 Art Exhibition with online gallery tour and artists talks
10:00 Social – coffee and warm up
10:30 Opening around the tipi with No Borders Drum Circle and friends. Bring your drums – all are welcome to the circle. Jingle dance performances by Katie Closs and Claire Sackaney. Drum song performance by Nina Sigalowitz.
11:30 Live performances by Sid Ameen, Larissa Desrosiers and Maria Hawkins
Streaming Performances on Zoom, Facebook, and on screen for live audience indoors at Shenkman Arts Centre
1:00 – 5:00
1:00 No Borders Art Festival gallery tour
1:45 Arnakuluit: Beautiful Women: Video. Throat singing with Tamara & Janice
2:00 Jumblies Theatre of Toronto: video of Grounds for Goodness Community Art Project
2:45 No Borders Community Voices: video of Before We Went Away
3:00 Ana Maria Cruz-Valderrama: presentation for New Beginnings Project for Spanish Seniors
3:40 Suzanne Keeptwo – Book Talk and conversation about her book We All Go Back To The Land
4:20 River Doucette: Tools of Resistance – video Cat as Familiar
4:35 Adrian Baker: Network Forest Installation – video by Alison Ball
September 26
12:00 – 3:00 p.m. Livestream from the Petrie Island Nature Centre with Carol Howard Donati.
6:00 p.m. In Our Tongues Poetry Readings featuring Namitha Rathinappillai, Tawahum Bige, Manahil Bandukwala, Janelle “ecoaborijanelle” Pewapsconias and Lydia Collins.
6:45 p.m. Propeller Dance – Video Presentation
October 1
Rob Snikkar hosts an international conversation:
ARTISTS
Join The No Borders Art Festival on Sunday September 26 on Zoom for exciting online events starting at noon at Petrie Island at the following link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6623752803 Meeting ID: 662 375 2803
Adrian Baker
Adrian’s work has been featured in solo exhibitions as well as in multiple juried shows both nationally & internationally. She was the artist-in-residence for the Bermuda Masterworks Museum, and has received numerous commissions to create public art installations. Her work has been featured in Canadian and international publications, and her art can be found in public and private collections across Canada, the USA and abroad. Besides making art, Adrian has conducted adult art classes & workshops throughout her career. She lives and works in a village in eastern Ontario Canadian art, Painting and Installations with an environmental theme (adrianbakerart.com)
Carol Howard Donati is a multidisciplinary artist of settler origins working with still and moving images, paint, print and found materials related to place. Her works have shown locally and internationally, and she holds Master’s Degrees in Anthropology (UBC) and Fine Arts (University of Ottawa). www.carolhowarddonati.ca
Ashley Grenstone
Born and currently living on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation ‘Odawa’ (colonially referred to as Ottawa) Ashley was raised in several territories across Turtle Island, and is herself a mix of colonizer (English, French, Irish, German, Austrian), Bonnechere Algonquin First Nation and Mi’kmaq. Though raised apart from her indigenous roots she is reclaiming them piece by piece, learning when to step up and when to step aside for others’ voices to lead the way. As a human rights advocate Ashley strives for 2-Spirit representation; gender and sexuality rights; and, towards ending the usage of children in armed conflict. As a professional artist her work has shown at the Carleton University Art Gallery in ‘To Be Continued: Troubling The Queer Archive‘, Curated by Cara Tierney and Anna Shah Hoque; ‘Queer Landscapes Queer Intersections‘ in the John B Aird Gallery, TO; the online publication ‘These Pills Don’t Come In Our Colour’; to name a few.
Aki Metallic Silver
Aki is an Algonquin artist from Kitigan Zibi, Quebec. She is a contemporary artist, rapper, musician and actor. She has participated in and assists her mother Doreen Stevens with many artistic projects.
Ashelita Shellard is a talented multimedia artist and musician. Her artwork is characterized by strong lines and intense colours – deep greens, psychedelic pinks and a penetrating gaze. An accomplished guitarist, she performs her own and well-chosen cover songs, solo or with other musicians, with a unique and unforgettable voice and style. She is indigenous of Peruvian ancestry and a strong supporter of The Thunderbird Sisters Collective and the No Borders Art Festival.
Edgar Hernandez is a Guatemalan-Canadian prolific artist who presents a new way of seeing nature and life. Working within Communities towards a great concern for climate and social change, he has produced various experimental and documentary short films. His stunning multisensory video montage is produced to confront the issue of the relationship between creativity and change within our society. As the gate to imagination opens, new philosophies for creativity, living and consciousness comes to light.
Lisa Shalfoun
Lisa is an Ottawa based visual artist and writer. Born in Austria, she immigrated to Canada at age 42. She began creating intuitive and mixed media art after recurring dreams of teal and gold paintings. Her love of bright colours led her to do acrylic pouring. Her pictures often show waves and nebulae. Growing up, she was taught Super 8 filming and photography at home. She went on to study philosophy at Vienna University and discovered her love of writing. Lisa traveled Europe and the Middle East, always immersed in the local culture. An adventurer at heart, she is enjoying the freedom creating art is giving her. Lisa is a social activist fighting homelessness and poverty.
Evan Garrow
Visual artist and creator of digital art pieces. He creates his work mainly over the phone and is currently selling prints of his work in the byward market.
Ava Margueritte is a neurodiverse multidisciplinary artist, primarily focused on photo-based works and drawing, painting, and writing. Margueritte has a BFA from OCAD University in Fine Arts Photography and a Diploma from School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa. Using various photographic mediums including, but not limited to, medium format, large format film, and digital, she explores different narratives to document physical reactions to other emotional states. By absorbing her surroundings, she evaluates the connection between body and mind. Drawing from several different mediums to execute her narrative, and is inspired by other multidisciplinary artists such as Egon Schiele, Wes Anderson, Cindy Sherman, Irving Penn, Tim Walker, and Suzy Lake. Margueritte has shown nationally, internationally. Her work is in the City of Ottawa Direct Purchase program and the collection of several personal collectors. In 2021 she was the recipient of the Youth and Culture Pilot program grant, awarded by the City of Ottawa.
Juanita Sauve has been creating with textiles for over 2 decades. A reluctant stitcher at first, she soon discovered that she could tell a story in fabric and thread. Her first art quilts were entirelyhand stitched often exploring Canadian landscapes as well as personal and political themes. Presently, her mounted andframed art has moved to a more impressionist style using intensely machine stitched fabric strips to ‘paint’ a picture while she still strives to capture reality with her finely stitched hand embroideries. Drawing on her love of nature, hiking, and unspoiled landscapes, Juanita’s work is inspired by a desire to create beauty, especially in challenging times. She also considers stitching as a form of activism and social commentary.
Greg Scriver
I’m an amateur Photographer, I love taking pictures from sunrise to sunsets and nature photos. I’m very proud to be Indigenous, a Mohawk from Kahnawà:ke (MCK) and part of the Turtle clan. My Indigenous name is Wolf-Star. The Turtle Clan represents the shifting of the earth and the cycles of the moon. The people of the Turtle Clan are considered the well of information and the keepers of the land. When the world shut down in March 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic; I started looking for the beauty that is right in front of us. I began going out each and every day to capture that beauty and share it with others through my photography. We all need to stop and take a minute to look at what we have in front of us. Meegwetch. More photos can be seen and purchased: https://gscriver.picfair.com Follow me on my social media Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/ggscriver Follow along on my journey, Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GregScriverPhotography
Frances Laube
I’m a multidisciplinary artist living in Ottawa. I’ve always loved creating – painting and sculpting. I have been making art since my childhood and have had training through various programs offered by the Ottawa School of Art, the Hintonberg Community Centre and most recently, the Being program. With Being I in exhibits and shows such as Turning The Page, a multimedia arts performance by Jesse Stuart at both the Fourth Stage, andGallery 101. Art is my way of expressing myself and a way of being a part of the community. It is a way of belonging and breaking down barriers. I find inspiration for works from my daily life, horseback riding, dancing, swimming. I love the water and so I paint water … My summers are always spent by the water …at the beaches in Ottawa – paddle boarding, swimming and kayaking, camping with my friends at Misquah, vacationing or spending time at cottages. Water can be very soothing – but waves can be disturbing even when they are beautifully reflecting the soft colours of summer, the salty strong waves creating surface disturbances. That is what I have painted.
Doreen Stevens is an Algonquin artist from Kitigan Zibi, Quebec. Her spirit name is Anamitagize-Odaying” One who speaks with the heart. “Actress Singer-Songwriter, Spoken word multi-talented visual artist. She been featured in various films and performance art throughout Europe, Australia, USA and Canada. Her art exhibits include “The creation Story,” a Mosaic Turtle depicting the Algonquins of the Great Lakes region on Turtle Island, the Wampum belts, and the elements and water the blood life of mother earth. Acting/singing credits include: The sacred Gift,Red Earth White Earth, Windigo, The Blood of the Hunter, Black Robe, and Sheaweh, the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and opening acts for Ian Tamblyn, Natalie McMaster, and Digging Roots. Stage venues include Love me, Forgive those Who Trespass, Healing Mother by Judith Thompson in the Leaves of Forever national tour, the White Buffalo Calf Woman 2008, The Sacred Circles directed by Bruce Sinclair, The Blood Remembersworkshopped by Thompson Highway &Veronique St Pierres, and The Rez Sisters, Toronto, 2008.
Marie-Claude Charland A métisse artist of Indigenous, French and Scottish ancestry, Marie-Claude was born in Hull, then adopted and raised in North Bay, Ontario. After studying landscape design in Toronto, she moved to the Okanagan, where she raised her son, obtained a BA in Fine Arts and worked as a free-lance artist, art instructor and landscape designer. Back in the Outaouais since 2001, she continues to study traditional Indigenous teachings while pursuing her artistic practice. A versatile artist, Marie-Claude creates masks, large figurative sculptures, paintings, murals and mixed-media installations. Through art making, she wishes to share her profound love for our Mother Earth whileexploring the ancient teachings that come from Creation, our “Original Instructions”. She believes that a personalconnexion with the natural world, where everything is aliveand sentient, can help all human beings connect with their own heart, find their place in the Sacred Circle of Life andshare their gifts with the world.
Maureen O’Neill
I am honoured to be among these artists and activists
Four reasons why I paint:
1. Nothing is worth more than this day–Goethe
2. Hope is the thing with feathers–Dickinson
3. I’m dreaming the hardest–Monroe
4. I weep as I make the honey,
wearing the shirt of a bee–Rumi
Michael J. Hinchcliff. MickCliff ©, is a visual artist with a disability but he doesn’t let that stop him! Mike (Mick) lives in the Tamir Foundation Ottawa group home and hopes one day to make a living as a visual artist so he can have a cat, more control over his life and his own apartment with room for a helper and a painting studio. His inspiration comes from a love of animals, especially cats, from birds, especially puffins, from nature, deserts – mainly layer cakes and the colours of life. He has been painting and exhibiting for 15 years with “BEING Studios”, formerly “H’Art of Ottawa”). Mike has participated in manyexhibits from Canada’s Rideau Hall to galleries on Ottawa’s Sussex Drive, Visual Arts Centres, and many others. More recently, he has sold work at the Ottawa Art Gallery and The National Gallery of Canada. One of his ink drawings, “Mother Rhinoceros Looking For Her Baby” appeared in a 1999decorator’s magazine. He is a prolific artist with works collected alongside some pretty important artists in enviable private and corporate collections in Canada
Pamela Cailloux was born in Chibougamau Québec. She is of Métis descent consisting of Huron and Algonquin heritage. Many of the concepts portrayed in her works are influenced by the teachings of the Medicine Wheel consisting of balance, seasons, elements and harmony, symbolizing the balance and healing that restore natural order. Pamela has been a featured artist with the Eagles Rising campaign across Canada to raise awareness for murdered and missing indigenous women. Her works are carried by Canadian Art Prints and Winn Devon Art Group. Many original artworks can be bought at ARTpriorGallery, located in Arnprior, Ontario. Custom works are always welcome and you can reach Pamela on Messenger/ Facebook or by email at:caillouxpam@gmail.com. Artiste Peintre Pamela Cailloux – Revuemajulie Découvrez cetteartiste
Victoria Laube is a multidisciplinary artist. Although her work is predominately lens based, when warranted, she incorporates other media into her practice. She photographs digitally with a small format camera and is usually engaged in ‘stream of consciousness’ photography of the quotidien. Photographing those everyday mundane things that generally go unnoticed or are overlooked, Laube captures degradation, evolution, and metamorphosis. At times, in search of the unexpected, of the ephemeral, of hidden secrets, she is driven, she would say almost subconsciously, to stage various unconventional scenarios and then to photograph them. Laube shoots frequently, captures multiples, and always ensures a variety of viewpoints. She embraces both focus and blur to convey meaning and emotion. Not only interested in the messages single photographs hold, she is also fascinated by how photographs present in relationship to each other, in relationship to time, and in relationship to the greater world.
Claudia Doreen. I began painting at the age of 15 years. My mom took out her paints and that was that. I went to University as a mature student and was put in some 2nd year classes so I missed out on some of the early learning of color theory and so on: I felt no one helped me with my curriculum. I studied art for four years at Concordia University in Montreal and at University of Toronto. In Toronto, I painted color field art, and felt let down by the University – I didn’t like color field art, it meant little to me, and no one described it to me. So, since I retired early, 22 years into my career, I began taking classes at Ottawa School of Art, still go there sometimes for classes, and am going again this September. I feel so lost due to the pandemic and so lonesome except for my husband and a few close friends. I hope you will like my art – the figure and the portrait.
Colleen Gray My medium of choice is ground mineral watercolour paint on synthetic paper. It’s a fascinating journey into the unpredictable nature of earth and water and every time I create, I’m left breathless by the beauty of the interactions on the paper beneath my brush. I also play with Arches watercolour paper. The fact that I am an Indigenous artist using water and minerals on the surface of an oil based paper is not lost on me. Oil and water never mix…unless of course, you’re an artist. (I love the irony.) I am very proud to create products from my art that are sold to benefit youth in remote Indigenous schools through the Art for Aid Project which has evolved into a dynamic and powerful program that works under the umbrella of the registered Canadian charity, I Love First Peoples. Sales of my original work are the fuel that feeds the Art for Aid Project’s demanding shipping and operations budget.My secondary art products, in support of Art for Aid, can be found at http://www.artforaidshop.ca. (Colleen was the recipient of the Governor General’s Medal for Volunteering in 2019)
Marige Regalado “I don’t believe in boundaries or languages that split us apart, but in everything that keep us connected together as a whole.” I am a Cuban born creative soul, established in Ottawa since 2007. I hold a Bachelor in Architecture from the University of Havana. As an immigrant to Canada I have embraced multiculturalism in many aspects of my life, as I consider that this is a big step in growing as a human being, as well as expanding consciousness. In my work I express my passion and concerns related to human condition and nature, in all its extent, mainly using digital media to fulfill my creations. My own brand, MariabelonesART is a family project I have developed to promote and sell my husband and daughter’s artworks as well as my own. Among other works, I have produced visual material to promote musical shows in the capital region, as well as the cover artwork for the album “Continuous,“ produced by the Ottawa based Cuban musician Miguel de Armas in 2020.
Debbie Rubin. I’m an Ottawa-based artist and musician and since 2010 have been sharing my love of colour through landscape and architecture acrylic paintings. Texture is often added to my work with the use of fabrics, paper and found objects. Most recently, I’ve been enjoying the flowing feel of watercolour. Nature is a key inspiration for me and my international travels have provided loads of reference material upon which to base my work. I’m a member of “Out of the Box” and the “West Carleton Artist Society”. My work has been shown in the annual Out of the Box Exhibition at Kitchisippi United Church, at local restaurants and coffee shops and the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, and is also held in private collections.
Robin Paul. I started my the art that I do now, mask making, in 2014 because, in 2012, I was told that I would never see again. In 2011 I was stricken with meningitis, water on the brain, and was told that my vision would never return. In 2014, I saw a doctor who disagreed, and saw that my sight was returning after I recognized a shape, a heart, that he had made. So I began making masks as therapy. I can see now, although I need glasses to read, and could describe you if you were standing in front of me. I do what I do because of being told I would never be able to see. I can see, and I hope you appreciate my work.
Rob Snikkar – THE OFF-WHITE PROJECT
I am an artist and former teacher and computer programmer.
I grew up working-class in a richly diverse neighbourhood of Toronto now gone forever due to gentrification.
I knew all kinds of people. I saw racism, abuse and violence because my friends were Chinese or black.
I look to my past to inform me about matters today. I strive to see implicit biases that were part of me, of my surroundings and of society’s institutions that showed their faces to me and my friends.
12:00 – 3:00 p.m. Livestream from the Petrie Island Nature Centre with Carol Howard Donati.
The Petrie Island Nature Centre is located a short walk to the left (west) of the parking lots. Parking is free. City Park rules and COVID social distancing restrictions apply.
This is an outdoor event so please dress accordingly. You may wish to bring along an umbrella, water and your lunch! Picnic table seating is limited – feel free to bring your own chair.
Hope to see you there!!
From the 174 at Orleans Address: 727 Trim Rd, Ottawa ON K4A 3P4 Phone: (613) 580-2400 Website: http://www.petrieisland.org/Petrie Island Nature Centre – Bing
Carol Howard Donati is a multidisciplinary artist of settler origins working with still and moving images, paint, print and found materials related to place. Her works have shown locally and internationally, and she holds Master’s Degrees in Anthropology (UBC) and Fine Arts (University of Ottawa). www.carolhowarddonati.ca
In Our Tongues is a volunteer-driven, incorporated arts non-profit organization established in October 2019, that provides a safe and welcoming space to showcase, nurture, and advance Black, Indigenous and racialized artists, including those with different abilities, across the gender spectrum, and from both English and French-speaking communities.
6:00 p.m. In Our Tongues Poetry Readings
Lydia Collins
Lydia Collins is an Author, Educator, and Creator from the Niagara Region, currently residing in Montreal. She published her first chapbook of poetry Angry. Black. Woman. in January 2019, her second To Everyone We’ve Ever Been in September 2020, a free digital chapbook In Transit in February 2021, and produced a collaborative video project with UNILEARNAL, Joy Is Our Birthright in October 2020. Lydia has most recently entered her role as Learning & Development Specialist at the African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario. Lydia’s unwavering love for writing and community health are what keep her determined to continue amplifying marginalized voices. Instagram: @lacollins_ Website: www.lydiacollins.ca
Namitha Rathinappillai (she/they) is a Tamil-Canadian published spoken word poet, organizer, and workshop facilitator. She is based in Ottawa and is the first female and youngest director of Ottawa’s Urban Legends Poetry Collective (ULPC). You can find more at namitharathinappillai.com.
Website: namitharathinappillai.com
Facebook: Namitha Rathinappillai
Instagram: @n.r.pillai
Janelle “ecoaborijanelle” Pewapsconias is a multidimensional nehīyaw spoken word artist based in her home community in the Treaty 6 Prairies. Her dedication to honour the Earth inspires her to read, perform, and design to speak to Indigenous ways of being, knowing, and thriving, despite ongoing settler colonialism in Canada. Influenced by the poetry slam and Cree oral storytelling customs, ecoaborijanelle has done a TEDx Talk, competed nationally twice, and published in the American Indian Culture Research Journal. ecoaborijanelle lives in her home community with her son and dog, surrounded by the endless living skies and rolling prairies of Little Pine First Nation.
Tawahum Bige is a Łutselkʼe Dene, Plains Cree poet and spoken word artist from unceded Musqueam, Squamish & Tsleil-waututh Territory (Vancouver). Their Scorpio-moon-ass poems expose growth, resistance & persistence as a hopeless Two Spirit Nonbinary sadboy on occupied Turtle Island. With a BA in Creative Writing from KPU, Tawahum has performed at countless festivals with poems featured in numerous publications. His land protection work versus Trans Mountain pipeline expansion had him face incarceration in 2020. Tawahum’s debut collection of poetry is set for Spring 2022, published by Nightwood Editions. Find him online @Tawahum on Instagram, twitter and more.
Instagram: @Tawahum
Twitter: @tawahum
Manahil Bandukwala is a Pakistani poet and visual artist currently based in Mississauga. She is a member of Ottawa writing collective, VII. See her work at manahilbandukwala.com.
Instagram and Twitter.
@manahilbanduk on
6:45 p.m. Propeller Dance – Video Presentation
No Borders Art Festival 