Region Category: All of Manitoba

Claire Johnston is a Red River Métis and settler visual artist based in Winnipeg/Treaty 1 Territory. As a Two-Spirit Piitoshi-iteeyihtam (one who thinks differently), Claire engages in creating slow meticulous floral beadwork that responds relationally to the past and present.

Claire is an artist and team member with the Re*Storying Autism project (Queen's University), which works to combat Western, colonial, capitalist, and biomedical understandings of Autism through Autistic storytelling and narratives that affirm difference as desirable and needed.

As part of Canada’s official entry to the 2025 Venice Biennale, Claire was selected as a fellow to engage in research on Venetian seed beads and their connection to Métis beadworkers past and present. Their artwork has been acquired by permanent collections at the University of Manitoba (2024) and has exhibited at Urban Shaman (Winnipeg 25’), Rosemary Gallery (Winnipeg 24’), Tangled Arts (Toronto 22’, 24’), Festival du Voyageur (Winnipeg 24’), Venice Biennale of Architecture (Venice 23’) and The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art (Vancouver 22’).

Claire is a Sundancer, a step-parent, an auntie, and an MMF citizen with membership with the Two-Spirit Michif Local.

I am a lifelong student of music and the guitar, and have made my way most recently as a cover artist and performer, while also working on my songwriting and recordings soon to be released. I have toured extensively and enjoyed playing with some of the finest musicians in the country for the finest people in the country, and i find both wherever I go!

Originally from Alberta, but with Latino roots, and Francophone relatives, I was exposed to a very wide variety of musical, cultural and artistic influences. Since then music continues to capture my imagination, especially in its simplest forms, the songs we love. This journey has led me to learn a large repertoire in many styles from many eras, and is especially to the benefit of my clients and listeners at any occasion.

In the same why I enjoy interpreting great songs, I like to craft my own songs, laboring over the extensively to make memorable and to the point hooks and themes that engage and energize. Fans of classic roots americana will be right at home with my music, although eclectic tastes are not neglected as we foray in jazz, latin, pop, r&b and soul music.

I am available with my merry band of misfit musical manics, for all types of performances and occasions including private events, parties, matinees, club sets, rodeos, fairs and otherwise. Please follow my Instagram for all the latest and PM for booking info!

I am  a multidisciplinary visual artist, educator and visual arts advocate. I live at Schist Lake in Northern Manitoba. I work out of a studio there and at the Northern Visual Arts Centre (NorVA) in Flin Flon, MB.

Artist Statement Karen Clark

I am thrilled by the idea that people making and appreciating art works share so much with one another. This sharing is important to inspire conversations that are necessary in Canada today.

I paint the landscape here in the Boreal forest from the vantage point of my kayak or canoe. The terrain here is edgy and sharp. This is my cup of tea.

Most recently I find  myself focused on the local mine processing site nestled next to us here in Flin Flon. It is a remarkable juxtaposition, over 600 hectares devoted to extraction, crushing , smelting, prepping ore and managing waste products from those mining processes.The working title, The Long GoodBye, refers to the boom and bust cycle common to mine based towns throughout the world.

Acknowledgement

My generation has seen the deconstruction of Canada’s colonial past. I follow the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the investigation of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls with a growing sense of horror and shame. Having my roots as a settler in this land, I have a shared sense of confusion and perplexity as to how we - settlers and Indigenous people - carry on together. As a result I find myself questioning my place in this landscape which is so fundamental to my sense of self.

mystery byrd is a queer artist and film worker based on Treaty One territory with a lifelong background in DIY moviemaking and over 16 years of industry experience. They have functioned in such roles as writer, director, editor, actor, camera op, production assistant, location scout and assistant locations manager.

Experimental production styles inspired by grassroots organizing, philosophy through montage and video as archive are core concepts in mystery’s work and outlook, as well as themes of history, economics, colonialism, community, relationships, gender and sexuality. They continue to shoot, cut and develop works.

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.