Visual Arts & Photography

Gillian Crawford is a self-described creative and grief walker of Métis and settler ancestry, living on Treaty One Territory. She is the creator of The Connection Desk, a small participatory public art installation in Winnipeg’s North End that explores grief and invites meaningful engagement.

Her eclectic and ever-evolving practice spans multiple mediums including poetry, photography, and installation. Her work is deeply rooted in the landscapes of home, exploring identity and uncovering the sacred in everyday life. Since the death of her father in 2024, Crawford has been transmuting a grief larger than her physical form into art, connection, and community—meeting herself anew along the way and discovering what each evolving self has to offer the world.

Vi Houssin is a transgender beadwork artist and drag performer. Her family is of white settler and Red River Métis ancestry. Her Métis family names are Ritchot, Poitras, Larence and Plante, and her ancestors held scrip in St. Vital and St. Boniface. She is a proud member of the Two-Spirit Michif Local and a citizen of the Manitoba Metis Federation. Vi works and lives in Winnipeg, Canada on Treaty 1 territory where she was born and raised.

Her work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Nikki Braun is a self-taught abstract artist with a background in graphic design, based just outside Winnipeg, Manitoba. After years working in creative industries, she returned to painting over a decade ago—and found freedom as an abstract artist.

Her layered acrylics, pen, and pencil pieces explore contrast, movement, and emotion. Her evolving style speaks to those drawn to raw emotion and fearless experimentation, inviting viewers into a world of vivid contrasts and layered meaning.

She has exhibited across Canada and shares her evolving process and finished work with a global audience online.

Olivia Cassie (she/her) is a local multidisciplinary artist whose work touches on self exploration, acceptance and making peace with the past. Growing up undiagnosed autistic, biracial and queer, Olivia often felt like an outcast and internalized these feelings into her adult life. In 2023, she connected with an artistic practice that allowed her to safely explore these feelings and the other traumas from her youth. Through portraiture, her work depicts raw emotions of loss, sorrow and bittersweet hope which helps her feel kinship with others. Olivia hopes that, through delicate displays of feeling, she can gain a better understanding of her own inner world and find her place in the world moving around her.

Amanda Kostas (she/they) is a multi method artist whose work is deeply influenced by the beauty of nature and the intricate details of tattoo art. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for capturing the essence of her surroundings, Amanda's pieces reflect a harmonious blend of delicate lines and vibrant washes of colour.

Inspired by her grandmother, who nurtured her artistic spirit from a young age, Amanda channels this encouragement into their work, exploring themes of growth and transformation. Her art invites viewers to appreciate the subtle nuances of the natural world, while also paying homage to the personal connections that shape her creative journey.

Based in Winnipeg, MB Canada on Treaty 1 land, Amanda continues to evolve their practice, striving to inspire others through her unique vision and dedication to her craft.