Category: Artist Spotlight

Jenel Shaw is a powerhouse with passion for the arts. She is a multi-skilled visual artist, the Liaison Director for the Manitoban Cultural Society of the Deaf, and the Executive Director of the Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba. The AANM supports professional artists who are Deaf and/or disabled from emerging to professional in all art genres including but not limited to: visual arts, performing arts, writing, music, and comedy.

Sophia Charuk is both a vendor and Project Manager for the Uptown Emporium a non-profit sub-organization of the Flin Flon Arts Council. The UE is a physical storefront, an e-commerce site, and a shipping warehouse for crafters and artisans to market their products, based in Flin Flon, Manitoba.

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.