Meet AFA Board Member Jason O’Connor

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AFA NewsArtist Profile Visual arts & new media

AFA board member Jason O’Connor stands in front of an artwork facing the camera while wearing a black vest with a plaid shirt underneath. Three other artworks line the wall behind him.

Meet Jason O’Connor, one of the newest members of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) Board of Directors. Jason is a Métis visual artist and illustrator representing Red Deer County and was appointed to the Board of Directors on October 8, 2025.

For him, art is about connection. It’s a way of building bridges between people, cultures, and places, and of making space for reflection in a fast-moving world. Art is essential medicine for our minds and hearts. Creativity is the technology that builds who we are as a species, and everything we have achieved as humans flows from this imaginative power.

Jason believes the work of the AFA is essential because it recognizes artists not just as makers but as contributors to Alberta's social, cultural, and economic fabric. He is excited to join the board and advocate for support allows artists to take risks, to grow, and to remain rooted in their communities; building a future where the arts continue to bring people together, strengthen our cultural mix, and showcase Alberta's diversity and creativity.

Learn more about Jason O’Connor in this short video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q0dlu66vEI