Blog

Metis artist JD Hawk always knew that art would be a part of his life. As a kid, he hoped and dreamt he would ‘make it’ like his Uncle, the lauded Armand J. Paquette whose portraits of western Canadian life and Winnipeg’s North End have earned him a loyal following amongst collectors. Without the proper guidance or support at home, JD kept his work to himself as a fun hobby. It wasn’t until his late 20’s when JD’s art life began to change.

Melanie Gamache is a francophone Métis beadwork artisan. She grew up in a close-knit French family having dinners every Sunday at her Mémere and Pépere’s house, helping in the garden, checking on the cattle during calving season, and learning about the family morals of humility, respect, fairness, community, cooperation, honesty, truth, and responsibility.

Ande Brown is a world traveler, an entrepreneur and a talented artisan. Brown grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and at an early age found themselves drawn to maps and globes. At that point, Brown promised them self, that they would visit as many countries in the world as possible. Since then, Brown has solo travelled on a motorcycle across New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, been on six continents and in 2017 visited Antarctica the last continent on their list.

Mentorship team Danita Stallard, Scarlett Gunn and Lacey Svaren took part in our 2021/2022 Rural Mentorship Program.

Heather and Emily participated in the 2021/2022 Professional Mentorship Program with a focus on the art of prop building and painting.