The 3rd Annual Northern Arts & Food Workshop
Connecting and collaborating across the Arts, Food and Creative Sectors in Northern Manitoba
May 7 to 9, 2025 | Thompson Regional Community Centre, Thompson, Manitoba
Hosted by UCN in partnership with Creative Manitoba and ImagiNorthern
Registration is free! Pre-registration is required to help us plan. Please register here to tell us you’re joining us!
At its core, the Northern Arts Workshop is a conference about cultivating a strong, resilient creative economy that honours the diverse traditions, cultures, and talents of Northern Manitoba.
Once a year, this conference brings together individual artists, makers, creatives, and organizers, as well as creative and cultural organizations from communities across Northern Manitoba along with First Nations, municipal, provincial and federal government representatives and funders.
Our common purpose is to learn, share and solve our common challenges and connect the people active in the region’s arts, creative, and food sectors so we can create better opportunities together.
During the last two conferences, the work of participants resulted in the Northern Manitoba Arts and Cultural Industries Strategy: Building Strong Communities and Diversified Economy. During the 2025 conference we will take stock of the accomplishments so far and set the course for action for the next period together.
Why should you attend?
- Be moved by The Right Honorable Michaëlle Jean, former Governor General of Canada as she talks about how the arts can ignite change and collective action for the better.
- Hear from fellow Northerners about progress made and what’s next for big local and regional initiatives.
- Join in a unique opportunity to network, learn, and engage with other artists, makers and producers.
- Enjoy a showcase of Northern Manitoba and Thompson talent.
- This unique conference embodies the values of By the North – For the North – In the North.
- Come to one event or the entire conference and you will find a vibrant community of artists, curators, and industry experts.
Free registration!
The Northern Arts Workshop is free to attend. Registration is required to help us plan for space needs and catering services.
Child Minding
The conference is planning to offer a child-minding service. This requires pre-registration to ensure that we have adequate service in place.
Travel support
If you need help with travel expenses, please indicate on the online Registration Form. We have limited funds to contribute to your travel costs.
Food and Refreshments
The conference will provide free of charge to all participants, snacks and refreshments throughout the conference as well as lunch (May 8 and 9) and dinner (May 7 and 8).
Accommodation Options
Best Western Thompson Hotel
205 Mystery Lake Rd
Thompson, MB R8N 1Z8
Phone: 1-204-778-8887
Conference rate: SOLD OUT!
Super 8 by Wyndham
180 Thompson Drive North
Thompson, MB R8N 1Y8
Phone: 1-204-778-0040
Conference rate: $179 plus tax
Reservation Deadline: Thursday, April 17, 2025 or until sold out. Group ID: UCN
TO REGISTER NOW PLEASE CLICK HERE!
To get a feel for this workshop, take a peak at the 2024 Northern Arts and Food Conference video compilation by Cheryl Antonio!
Click to read the 2024 Northern Manitoba Arts and Cultural Industries Strategy that was created during the 2024 conference, and that will be updated as a result of the work at the 2025 conference!
For an archive of materials from the 2023 and 2024 conference, click here.
Conference Program
Speaker Bios
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean (Keynote, May 7 @ 4:45 pm)
Michaëlle Jean was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She immigrated to Canada with her family in 1968, fleeing the dictatorial regime of the time.
After studying comparative literature at the Université de Montréal, she taught Italian in the Université’s Department of Literature and Modern Languages. During her studies, Ms. Jean worked for eight years with Quebec shelters for battered women, while actively contributing to the establishment of a network of emergency shelters throughout Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. She later ventured into journalism and became a highly regarded journalist and anchor of information programs at Radio-Canada television and CBC Newsworld.
Michaëlle Jean became the 27th Governor General, Commander-in-Chief of Canada, in for a five-year term 2010. Following her tenure, the United Nations appointed her to become UNESCO Special Envoy to support reconstruction efforts in Haiti, after a powerful earthquake devastated the country. From 2011 to 2014, Michaëlle Jean also served as Chancellor of the University of Ottawa. In November 2014, Michaëlle Jean became the 3rd Secretary General of La Francophonie at the 15th Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Dakar, a position to which she devoted her whole energies from 2015 to 2019.
Seasoned stateswoman and diplomat, Michaëlle Jean knows how to persuade, mobilize, educate, unite, and testify eloquently to the key issues and state of the world she has travelled extensively, from one continent to another. She believes in the unique potency of fieldwork, in making investments in human capital, in capacity and knowledge building, and in modernizing education as well as vocational, technical and technological training.
Together with her husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, she founded and co-chairs since 2010 the Michaëlle Jean Foundation, whose programs support, through art and culture, civic initiatives alongside some of the most vulnerable and disenfranchised—yet so eager and creative—young people in Canada.
Elder and Knowledge Keeper Albert McLeod (Keynote May 8 @ 9:10am)
Elder and Knowledge Keeper Albert McLeod is a Status Indian with ancestry from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and the Metis communities of Cross Lake and Norway House in northern Manitoba. He has over thirty years of experience as a human rights activist and was one of the founders of the 2-Spirited People of Manitoba.
Albert is a commercial art graduate from Assiniboine Community College in Brandon and an experienced artist in beadwork, Indigenous regalia-making, and leather crafts. He was the director of the Manitoba Aboriginal AIDS Task Force from 1991 to 2001. In 2018, Albert received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Winnipeg. Albert was also a member of the sub-working group that produced the MMIWG – 2SLGBTQQIA+ National Action Plan Report in 2020-2021. In 2020, Albert joined Team Thunderhead, the team that recently won the international competition to design the 2SLGBTQI+ National Monument in Ottawa. Albert lives in Winnipeg, where he works as a consultant specializing in Indigenous peoples, 2Spirit re-emergence, cultural reclamation, and cross-cultural training. Albert is a recent recipient of the prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medal, recognizing his significant contributions to the HIV/AIDS movement in Canada, demonstrating unwavering dedication and commitment to improving lives and advancing the cause.
FACILITATORS
Inga Petri, Strategic Moves
Inga has undertaken research, strategy and marketing assignments from Nova Scotia to Vancouver Island, from Ottawa to the Yukon, from Manitoba to Nunavut. She has been working with the Manitoba arts sector since 2011. Most recently she has been supporting the important work of the ImagiNorthern Project, including undertaking a baseline study of artists and arts organizations in Northern Manitoba. She has developed a Strategic Plan with the Flin Flon Arts Council (2023) and undertaken a Feasibility Study for a Creative Hub in Churchill, MB (2024). Inga’s marketing career includes 6 years in book retail and publishing including a 3-year stint in Charlottetown, PEI; and 10 years at leading ad agencies in Ottawa. With the founding of Strategic Moves in 2007, Inga has built a unique national consulting practice at the crossroads of research, strategy and marketing planning with a focus on arts, culture, and technology.
Inga has a reputation for providing strategic insight, championing contemporary marketing practices, delivering on organizational change mandates along with delivering practical training. She led the seminal Value of Presenting: A Study of Performing Arts Presentation in Canada (© 2013, CAPACOA). She co-wrote Digitizing the Performing Arts: An Assessment of Issues, Opportunities and Challenges (© 2017, CAPACOA). She has been leading numerous national, provincial and local strategy assignments in the arts, and creative sectors, and helped arts organizations forge closer connections with their audiences in the digital and physical realms. She recently completed a Feasibility Study for the creation of a Nunavut Arts Council for the Government of Nunavut; and she undertook the research that underpins the Government of Yukon’s Creative Industries Strategy. Inga lives in Whitehorse, Yukon since 2015 and works in communities across Canada.
Inga has been serving on the UCN’s N.A.W. Organizing Committee since its inception in 2023.
Thom Sparling, Creative Manitoba
Active in the Canadian independent music scene for over two decades, Thom Sparling was a founder of the West End Cultural Centre. He produced 60 music recordings, thousands of live performances, a dozen music videos and a music magazine while operating his own independent record label and management company. Including managing The Crash Test Dummies. While much of his work has focused on supporting and advocating for the artistic output of others, Thom has quietly developed his own visual arts practice. Working mainly “en plein air” Sparling’s paintings are a naive, but authentic and raw personification of the Canadian Shield. Drawing on his years of music and arts experience – Sparling has led Creative Manitoba for the past decade – providing mentorship and professional development for Manitoba’s creative sector. Sparling has also been engaged in the research and development of civic and provincial cultural policy recommendations including a Creative Cluster Strategy for Winnipeg`s Exchange District.
Thom has been serving on the UCN’s N.A.W. Organizing Committee since its inception in 2023.
SESSION PRESENTERS
Andria Stephens (Growing Pains and Gains, May 9 @ 10:45 am)
Andria Stephens is the director of the Mall for the Arts and Thompson’s ImagiNorthern Champion. Andria Stephens is a singer, songwriter, and artists administrator from Calgary, Alberta. She became a professional singer while studying business administration at Mount Royal University. Her vocal instructor, Toshi Jackson, invited her to form a group called Toshi Jackson and the Silhouettes, which performed Motown music across Western Canada. This experience taught her the importance of backup singers, harmony, and live music. She mentored with Gary martin and the Heavenly Blues Brothers, Gloria Jones (writer of Tainted Love) and Grammy award winning artist Donald Ray Johnson and John Gray (Bassist for Ray Charles) Before moving to Thompson, MB in 2014, Andria performed all over Alberta and Saskatchewan with various groups and mentored with Motown era musicians. She has opened for Hip Hop artists such as T-Pain and Naughty by Nature. Andria is also a lyricist and has experience writing songs, working with Digital Audio Workstations, and recording music with producers in different parts of the world. She has recorded several unreleased demos in studios around Calgary.
Asfia Gulrukh Kamal (Food, Culture and Community, May 8, 1:45 pm)
Asfia Gulrukh Kamal is an Associate Professor and Program Chair of the Aboriginal and Northern Studies Program at the University College of the North. For more than 15 years, she has worked in collaboration with Indigenous communities in northern Manitoba and beyond, focusing on land pedagogy, Indigenous food sovereignty, and community-led research. She teaches a range of Indigenous studies courses, including land-based education, through UCN and Inter-Universities Services. Her recent work includes the co-creation of land-based medicine and traditional food recipe calendars grounded in community knowledge.
Cheryl Antonio (Food, Culture and Community, May 8, 1:45 pm)
Cheryl is a Métis grandmother from The Pas/Opaskwayak Cree Nation. She grew up on a grain farm. Over many years has been deeply involved in her community as a volunteer spanning from arts and culture to the 4-H Cub and its community garden.
Cheryl completed a 30-year career education, most recently working as a school librarian. She contributed to the formation and initial network building for ImagiNorthern as the champion for The Pas/OCN. In that capacity, she played a pivotal role on the host committee for the 2nd Annual Northern Arts and Food Workshop that was held in The Pas in 2024. Currently she is one of six Northern Coordinators for the Northern Manitoba Food, Culture and Community Collective.
Claudia Grill (Remote Arts Infrastructure is Feasible, May 8 @11:25 am)
Claudia Grill has always been fascinated by the North; cold winters, tundra and boreal forest. To learn about northern life, she first arrived in Churchill from Austria in 2010, only planning to spend one year to complete her PhD. She quickly fell in love with the breathtaking landscapes and resilient people who lived there; she knew she needed to stay. More than 10 years later, she is grateful to have now immigrated to Treaty 5 territory, the land of Cree, Dene, Inuit & Métis.
Her respect for nature fuels her passion for living more mindfully. She created Frozen Shore Botanicals, a line of hand-crafted soaps, balms & bath salts that use locally available resources. She also offers workshops for small groups.
Claudia is a founding member of the Churchill Creative Collective and a strong advocate for community empowerment. She works to create opportunities and skills development for Churchill, where she now happily resides with her partner and 3 cats. She enjoys cooking, baking, yoga, reading & sharing her energy by caring for her friends’ dogs.
Crystal Kolt (Conducting Change: Growing ImagiNorthern, May 8 @ 10:45 am)
Crystal Kolt is the Director of the Department of Culture and Community Initiatives for the City of Flin Flon since 2023. She worked as Cultural Coordinator at the Flin Flon Arts Council for about 17 years prior to this assignment at the City. She served on the founding task force committee for Culture Days and on the Manitoba Arts Council Board of Directors (2014 – 2017). In recognition of her impact, she received the Lieutenant Governor Award for Volunteerism, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond and Platinum Jubilee Medals and was invested into the Order of Manitoba in 2012.
She has produced numerous musical theatre and classical masterworks productions, and facilitated the Flin Flon Community Choir’s performances in Carnegie Hall (2002, 2015 and 2023) and the Lincoln Centre in 2013. In 2020 she guided the Flin Flon Arts Council in the founding of the Uptown Emporium, a physical and ecommerce store, and securing funding for the ImagiNorthern Project to support economic development of northern artisans. Crystal is presently the chair of the Executive Council for the proposed North Central Canada Centre of Arts and Environment. Crystal is proud to support art in the North and Northern artists.
www.uptownemporium54.com | www.ncccae.ca
Darcy Penner (Creating and Sustaining Strength through Networks, May 8, 2:25 pm)
Darcy is a father and management consultant based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. With experience in the public, non-profit, and private sectors, he has demonstrated strong leadership and management skills in supporting organizations and collectives through complex projects and strategic initiatives. His expertise includes developing and implementing strategic plans, managing project resources and budgets, facilitating planning sessions, and ensuring successful program delivery.
He earned his MBA from Royal Roads University with a focus on organizational change management and holds a BA in Politics from the University of Winnipeg. Darcy is a lifelong learner and has received training in areas such as LEAN, project management, coaching, facilitation, and organizational governance. In his leisure time, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, cycling, being outside, music, and curling.
Fiona Rettie (Conducting Change; Growing ImagiNorthern, May 8 @ 10:45 am)
Fiona is a proud member of the Churchill community. Her love of the arts extends to a greater love of Northern places and connecting with the people who make them special. Fiona’s professional experience lies in programming, tourism, and communications with past roles at Parks Canada and the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. She feels most at home in the North, when gathering to celebrate food, music, culture, and art.
Since March 2025, she is spearheading the ImagiNorthern Project and its project manager. When she’s not working, Fiona enjoys spending time outdoors with her dogs, Arlo and Norah, or alongside friends — snowmobiling in the winter, learning to hunt in the spring, and paddling with belugas in the summer.
Kyle Dingwall (Remote Arts Infrastructure is Feasible, May 8 @11:25 am)
Kyle Dingwall is Churchill’s ImagiNorthern Champion and a member of the Churchill Creative Collective. He is part of and has been working as a project officer for the Manitoba Métis Federation. Born and raised in Churchill, he has watched his community grow with the potential for a thriving arts scene. As ImagiNorthern’s first Champion outside of the advisory group, Kyle helps local arts groups with social media advertising, event support, and programming, while keeping the network up to date on Churchill’s creative strengths and needs. He is a passionate woodworker who uses carpentry and laser technology to create his artworks, while also dabbling in other art forms in the off-season. When he isn’t giving beluga whale tours on the Churchill River or chasing northern lights, he can be found working with the arts community and volunteering to help develop an arts centre in his hometown.
Lester Balfour (Food, Culture and Community, May 8, 1:45 pm)
Lester is from Norway House Cree Nation. He is a full-time harvester for his community. He also has been teaching young people how to trap, fish and gather food. His art, which he began in 2020, consists of spray paint and acrylic. Painting is part of his healing to inspire other people anything is possible, if you put your heart into it.
Facebook.com/lester.balfour
Lyn Brown, CAO, City of Flin Flon and owner Pickled Loon Kitchen (Dreaming Big and Bold, May 9, 11:15 am)
Lyn’s Municipal Government career started in 2017 when she moved to the City of Flin Flon for the position of Treasurer and later became CAO. Prior to 2017 she was employed in various executive leadership roles in the not-for-profit sector in Saskatchewan. During her time in Saskatchewan Lyn also managed the family’s Organic Farm located on the edge of the Boreal Forest. As an entrepreneur with a desire to bring unique culinary artisan products to the dinner table her and her four daughters created an agricultural value-added company which developed edible flower products shipped both in and outside of Canada.
Upon moving to Flin Flon, Lyn’s passion for creativity and uniqueness led her to develop Pickled Loon Kitchen as a way to provide memorable hands-on foodie experiences specific to the Boreal Forest.
Through the various vehicles of her employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, Lyn feels fortunate to have been able to engage with people from diverse backgrounds and lifestyles, government, business, and industry leaders, and to be welcomed and supported by organizations like Women Entrepreneurs, Export Development Canada, Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership, the Ministry of Agriculture Saskatchewan, Travel Manitoba, The City of Flin Flon and the Flin Flon Arts Community.
Rachelle Kirouac, Urban Systems Ltd (Dreaming Big and Bold, May 9, 11:15 am)
Rachelle Kirouac is a Landscape Architect and community consultant based in Winnipeg, MB, currently employed by Urban Systems Ltd. Born and raised in Manitoba, she holds an undergraduate degree in Environmental Design and a Master’s in Landscape Architecture from the University of Manitoba, where her studies centered on community safety, well-being, and placemaking for Churchill, MB. In the decade since, Rachelle has supported a range of design and planning projects across Canada, from regional planning to detailed curation of art submissions for streetscape banners and community-led permaculture garden sites. She approaches each project with active listening, curiosity, and enthusiasm, fostering a collaborative environment where community members can actively contribute to the design process, whether in the design, construction, or operational phase.
The Northern Arts Workshop Conference is hosted by:
In collaboration with:
Funding Provided by:
The Government of Canada The Manitoba Government