Artist Profile

Introducing Alberta’s Arts Ambassador 2023

April 12, 2023 Media inquiries

Métis Cree artist Sharon Rose Kootenay has been selected as the fourth Artist in Residence and Arts Ambassador to promote the value of the arts in Alberta.

Hailing from central Alberta, the Treaty 6 artist is a lifelong maker of traditional art forms and finds her inspiration in the Prairie landscapes. Using geometric and floral beadwork design, Kootenay’s art tells a story of cultural identity and place, and affirms Indigenous world views, environmental stewardship and solidarity among humans.

Through her residency, Kootenay will create a two-part beadwork and mixed medium project titled Kihohkewin/Gone Visiting and Pihtikwe/Come In! The first part will interpret the highlights of travel, visiting with friends and family, picking up the threads of conversation and exploring traditions and landscapes along the way. The second part will encompass the Métis Cree concept of “Home Fire.”

“The arts enrich our lives and our vibrant culture and economy. I am pleased to announce Sharon Rose Kootenay as Alberta’s Artist in Residence. Sharon will enrich Alberta’s art scene through her talent and wisdom, as well as bring joy and inspiration to other artists and patrons of the arts. I also want to extend a sincere thank you and appreciation to Aeris Osborne, 2022 Artist in Residence and Ambassador. During her residency, Aeris created 10 bold impressionist paintings of historical buildings in cities and villages from across Alberta.”

Jason Luan, Minister of Culture

“As an artist of Métis Cree and Ukrainian ancestry, I am honoured and humbled to have been selected as the 2023 Alberta Artist in Residence and Arts Ambassador. Our lives are enriched by creative practice, and craft is a medium that articulates memories, celebrates relationships, and contains stories, hopes and wishes. I look forward to meeting many Albertans and gaining a deeper appreciation and understanding of the diversity of our shared artistic practices and expression of cultural perspectives.”

Sharon Rose Kootenay, Alberta’s Artist in Residence/Arts Ambassador

Alberta is the only jurisdiction in Canada to offer a provincial artist in residence program. This program seeks to inspire innovation in and increase appreciation of the arts and artists in Alberta. The residency comes with a $25,000 grant for artist compensation and up to $25,000 for artist expenses. Kootenay’s term began April 1 and runs to March 31, 2024. She was selected from a short list of seven applicants.

The short-listed artists received $1,000 grants to begin their projects and/or advance their artistic practices and careers. Short-listed artists for this intake are:

• Lisa La Touche, dance, Calgary
• Janita Frantsi, dance, Edmonton
• Tia A Kushniruk, dance and theatre, Edmonton
• Shumaila Hemani, music (soundscape composition), Calgary
• Kelsey Merkeley, visual arts (fine craft), Calgary
• Tara Vahab, visual arts (sculpture), Calgary

Host the Artist in Residence

As an arts ambassador and a voice for artists across the province, Kootenay will connect with Alberta communities through her project and program activities. Communities can invite the Artist in Residence to speak about the arts in Alberta at local or cultural events. An online application is available on the Artist in Residence web page.  

Quick facts

• The maximum grant for the artist in residence program is $50,000, one of the largest individual artist grants available in Alberta.
• According to analysis by Hill Strategies of the 2021 census, there were 18,100 artists living in Alberta (nine per cent of all artists in the country).
• In 2020, the visual and applied arts and live performance industries contributed about $1.1 billion in gross domestic product and sustained nearly 15,000 jobs in Alberta.

Related information

• Alberta’s Artist in Residence
• Sharon Rose Kootenay
• Host Alberta's Artist in Residence

Media inquiries

Jason Kwong

587-785-9676
Acting Press Secretary, Ministry of Culture

On September 29, 2022, we marked the 50th Anniversary of the AFA Art Collection. As part of the celebrations, we are sharing snippets from the history of the collection. 
Learn more about the celebrations! 

By Gail Lint, Arts Collections Consultant

In 2008 and 2009, the AFA supported a special curatorial initiative focused on building the holdings of the AFA Art Collection with contemporary Indigenous art. The initiative addressed the work of senior artists not properly represented in the collection, as well as a new generation of artists who are now making an impact.

For this initiative, artworks were acquired through a variety of sources. Curatorial assessment and recommendations by Indigenous artist Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert were an invaluable part of the process. Through Joane’s insight, wisdom and guidance, the artworks acquired have significantly enhanced the AFA's holdings.

Creating new relationships with Indigenous artists

Joane provided an avenue to acquire artworks by Indigenous artists unknown to the AFA Art Collection prior to 2008.

2008.085.001 Aaron Paquette, Aniti Anemos 2007, acrylic & gold leaf on canvas, AFA Art Collection

Through her mentoring and respected reputation in the art community she approached both established and emerging artists, conducting interviews and studio visits. She presented recommendations for curatorial acquisition into the AFA Art Collection.

Through the efforts of Joane, balanced by additional curatorial recommendations from the Collection’s Acquisition Working Group, the Indigenous curatorial initiative increased the AFA holdings by an incredible 73 artworks over a two-year period. 

2009.021.002 David Garneau, At the Fiddle Camp 2009, acrylic on canvas, AFA Art Collection

Narrative Quest exhibition

In celebration of Alberta Culture Days in September 2009, the AFA created an exhibtion of artworks by Indigenous artists entitled Narrative Quest. It was displayed in the gallery at the Capital Arts Building in Edmonton.

Curated by AFA Art Collections Consultant Gail Lint, Narrative Quest featured a selection of 60 artworks by 22 Indigenous artists from the AFA Art Collection, and included several of the artworks acquired through the Indigenous curatorial initiative.

2008.086.004 George Littlechild, Cross Cultural Examination #2 2007, ink jet print on paper,  AFA Art Collection

The exhibition combined a variety of traditional and contemporary styles in diverse media. The prevalent themes in these artworks are often based on storytelling.

These are stories that have been shared by the elders, stories of a search for understanding and meaning, stories of identity and belonging, and stories retold to preserve a threatened culture. They are stories immersed in the past, reflective of the present and hopeful for the future

The passing of Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert

On September 16, 2009 while installing the Narrative Quest exhibition in the Arts Branch gallery for the Alberta Culture Days celebration, word reached the staff that Joane Cardinal-Schubert had passed away.

2008.106.004 Joane Cardinal-Schubert, Flutterby (Birchbark Letter) 1998, mixed media on canvas, AFA Art Collection

Until that day, there had been no indication from Joane that she was ailing. She was determined to complete her curatorial contract and source artworks for the AFA Art Collection and, through her valiant commitment, she introduced new artists and assisted in building the representation of senior Indigenous artists.

The next day, during the official opening of the Narrative Quest exhibition, which was accompanied by a traditional smudge led by an Indigenous elder, there was a large raven sitting on top of the Capital Arts building above the location of the gallery. It was believed that Joane attended the ceremony in spirit.

The Narrative Quest exhibition was dedicated to the memory of Joane Cardinal-Schubert (1942 – 2009).

 “Let the next 
Generation 
be born 
with the knowledge 
of what has passed.”

(excerpt from the poem Keeper by Joane Cardinal-Schubert)

Narrative Quest on tour

Narrative Quest Exhibition (installation view) Capital Arts Gallery, Edmonton (Sept. 2009)

After the Culture Days exhibition at Capital Arts Building in 2009, Narrative Quest toured to:

• the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton
• the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery (edited selection)
• the Museum of Contemporary Art in Calgary (edited selection)
• the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie

An edited selection of 32 artworks from the Narrative Quest exhibition then travelled to the Embassy of Canada, Prince Takamado Gallery in Tokyo, Japan (November 25, 2014 to February 27, 2015). It was met with critical acclaim.

Joane's ongoing legacy

In 2016, the National Gallery of Canada hosted a major retrospective exhibition featuring Alberta’s celebrated Indigenous artist from Cold Lake: Alex Janvier: Modern Indigenous Master (November 25, 2016 to April 17, 2017). 

Nine AFA artworks by Alex Janvier were included in the exhibition. Almost half of these artworks were acquired through recommendations by Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert.

2009.001.004 Alex Janvier, Untitled 2009, acrylic on canvas, AFA Art Collection

In 2017 the Nickle Galleries at the University of Calgary hosted a major retrospective of Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert: The Writing on the Wall. It was the first retrospective since her passing in 2009.

19 artworks from the AFA's holdings and an additional two artworks from the Government House collection were loaned for inclusion in the exhibition. An edited selection of these artworks toured to four other galleries across Canada until 2020.

1989.025.001 Joane Cardinal-Schubert, Moonlight Sonota: In the Beginning 1989, oil on canvas, AFA Art Collection

In part two of our look back at the tremendous impact Joane has had on the AFA Art Collection, we will take a look at the AFA's Fellowship for Indigenous Curators and the next generation of acquisitions by Indigenous artists. 

^{Image credit: Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert. Photo by JustinJHCSchubert (own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (Open license)], via Wikimedia Commons.
Image cropped and combined with photo of Becca Taylor for this web page, and the AFA's 50th Anniversary branding has been added.
Photo of Becca Taylor is by Katy Whitt Photography}

On September 29, 2022, we marked the 50th Anniversary of the AFA Art Collection. As part of the celebrations, we are sharing snippets from the history of the collection.

Learn more about the celebrations!

In part two of our look back at the impact Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert has had on the AFA Art Collection, we look at the Fellowship for Indigenous Curators and the next generation of acquisitions by Indigenous artists. Read part one. 

AFA creates the Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert Fellowship for Indigenous Curators

In 2018, the AFA announced a one-time fellowship designed to support the growth and development of curatorial talent and enhance representation of Indigenous artists in the AFA Art Collection. 

The project’s intention was to bring a new perspective to art acquisition at the AFA and build on previous work undertaken by the late Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert, who provided curatorial consultation to the AFA in 2008 and 2009. The fellowship was named in her honour. 

After a competitive application process, the AFA was pleased to announce that Becca Taylor was awarded Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert Fellowship for Indigenous Curators.

About Becca

Becca Taylor is a curator and multi-disciplinary artist with Cree, Scottish and Irish descent. According to her application, her curatorial practice involves investigations of Indigenous community building, Indigenous feminisms, methodologies of gathering and ephemera of living actions.

She was awarded the Aboriginal curator-in-residence, from the Canada Council in 2015, a 12-month residency at Urban Shaman gallery in Winnipeg where she curated Traces (2016.) In 2016-17 she was the Indigenous Curatorial Research Practicum at the Banff Centre, curating A light left on (2016.)

Notably, Becca co-curated the 4th iteration of La Biennale d’art contemporain autochtone (BACA) with Niki Little, entitled níchiwamiskwém | nimidet | my sister | ma sœur (2018), co-led land-based residency, Common Opulence (2018), in Northern Alberta and curated Mothering Spaces (2019) at the Mitchell Art Gallery.

Becca is the Executive Director of Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective in Edmonton.

The project

Becca’s final report, Kahkekwask / From Here to There was completed in June 2019. It provided the AFA with a variety of recommendations to broaden the AFA Art Collection to represent more Indigenous artists and artworks through all acquisition programs, as well as to offer greater support for Indigenous artists, including through building relationships and trust with Indigenous communities. 

Since the report was completed, the AFA has acquired nearly fifty artworks by Indigenous artists through curatorial purchase, donation, and the Art Acquisition by Application program. Some highlighted artists and artworks include...

MJ Belcourt

2022.032.001 MJ Belcourt, First Fruits, n.d., smoked moose hide, glass seed beads, thread, fabric

MJ Belcourt is a certified Native Art Instructor, curator, and Indigenous artist residing in Treaty 6 territory. Her mixed Métis ancestry is Mohawk, Cree, and French with family ties to the Michel Band and the community of Lac St. Anne. Through a desire to build a closer connection and understanding of her Métis bloodline, Belcourt has remained naturally drawn to the traditional Indigenous arts of her ancestors.

She works in a variety of Indigenous art forms including beadwork, porcupine quill, fish scale, moose and caribou hair, and the art of creating natural dyes.

2022.032.002 MJ Belcourt, Pass System, n.d., smoked moose hide, glass seed beads, tin cones, thread

In 2022-23, the AFA acquired two artworks from MJ Belcourt: First Fruits and Pass System. Both are native tanned smoked moose hide pouches embellished with beading and other traditional decorative elements.

Lauren Crazybull

2019.035.002 Lauren Crazybull, Self Portrait, 2018, acrylic on board

Lauren Crazybull is a Niitsítapi (Member of Kainai First Nation), Dené artist. Lauren won the 2020 Eldon & Anne Foote prize, 2020 Lieutenant Governors Emerging Artist Award and was shortlisted for the Kingston Portrait Prize in 2019. In 2019, they were selected as the first Alberta Artist in Residence/Arts Ambassador. Lauren currently resides in Vancouver, having recently completed her MFA at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. 

In her work, Lauren considers Indigenous presence and multiplicity through paintings, creating worlds where honest portrayals trespass onto romantic representations of Indigeneity. Working primarily in portraiture, a long-standing genre that is often embedded with an imbalance of power between the artist/viewer and sitter, Lauren seeks to examine the relationship between herself as an artist and the individuals she paints. 

The AFA has acquired two artworks by Lauren Crazybull as of 2023.

Kablusiak

2021.017.001 Kablusiak, Piliutiyara (Saltwater Taffy), 2020, photograph with backlit film in lightbox

Kablusiak is a multidisciplinary Inuvialuk artist and curator who uses Inuk ingenuity to create work in a variety of mediums including, but not limited to, lingerie, white flour, soapstone, permanent marker, bed sheets, felt, acrylic paint, and words. Kablusiak holds a BFA in Drawing from the Alberta University of the Arts in Mohkinstsis, where they are currently based.

Their work explores the dis/connections between existence in the Inuitdiaspora while maintaining family and community ties, the impacts of colonization on Inuit gender and sexuality expressions, as well as on health and wellbeing, and the everyday.

2021.017.001 Kablusiak, Piliutiyara (Saltwater Taffy), 2020, photograph with backlit film in lightbox (alternate view)

In 2021, Kablusiak was part of a team of four Inuit curators who curated the inaugural exhibition for Qaumajuq, entitled INUA. In all of their creative work Kablusiak seeks to demystify Inuit art and create the space for Inuit-led representation of the diverse aspects of Inuit cultures.  

The AFA Art Collection holds 26 artworks by Kablusiak in 2023.

Dwayne Martineau

2021.013.001 Dwayne Martineau, Strange Jury #2, 2021, photograph on backlit film

Dwayne Martineau is an Edmonton based visual artist and musician. He is a treaty member of Frog Lake First Nation, descended from Plains Cree, Métis, and early French and Scottish settlers.

He enjoys seeing the world like a child full of discovery. Also, he approaches the world with a critical mind, seeking both truth and wonder. His visual arts practice began with experimental landscape photography, and has evolved to include videography and immersive large-scale art installations.

The AFA acquired Strange Jury #2 as part of the 2021 cycle of the Art Acquisition by Application program. This artwork is one of five artworks included in the Strange Jury Series. When installed in a gallery, five giant prints are hung in a circle off the ground to depict five characters of the forest with animistic faces.

Jessie Ray Short

2019.039.001 Jessie Ray Short, WAKE UP!, 2019, experimental film, 5:57 mins

Jessie Ray Short is an artist, filmmaker and independent curator of Métis, Ukranian and German descent whose cross-disciplinary practice involves memory, visual culture and Métis history.

She has shown her work nationally and internationally, including at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, at La Chambre Blanche in Québec City, Art Mûr Berlin (a satellite exhibition of the Contemporary Native Art Biennial/BACA) in Germany, and at the Wairoa Maori Film Festival in New Zealand.

As a curator, she has had the opportunity to work on various projects most notably Jade Carpenter: Mourn at City of Calgary Open Spaces Gallery and Mixed Berries: Amanda Strong and Bracken Hanuse Corlett at Gallery 2, Grand Forks, BC. She has worked for the Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective, based in Edmonton, and for TRUCK Contemporary Art in Calgary.

WAKE UP! is an example of media artwork included in the AFA Art Collection. In the film, a Métis woman explores identity by transforming herself into one of the only widely known Métis icons, a man named Louis Riel, who lived over 100 years ago.

Read Becca Taylor's 2018 curatorial statement for the fellowship:

Alberta has an expansive and diverse Indigenous community living in and outside of it.  The changing landscapes within Alberta have different pieces of knowledge and teachings reflecting across the terrains; with different Indigenous groups living either in rural or urban settings, or both, whose lived experiences are reflected within their work. Some artists have formal institutional education, some with education from the land and our ancestors; but we all have an inherent perspective and embodied knowledge of what it means to be an Indigenous person living in Alberta.

For the next 6-months, my curatorial research will be based on my teachings of the medicine wheel. Looking at artists from the different quadrants of Alberta, as well as, a range of professional experience within each quadrant, from emerging to established artists; learning from and listening to the different perspectives and insights from different regions, nations, ages and experiences.

I view this research project to be as informed and diverse as possible to reflect the extraordinary past, present and future of Indigenous contemporary art in Alberta. Through conversation and travel, I anticipate meeting many more artists whom I do not know at this moment. Using my resources and community in Alberta to expand my knowledge of artists working here and those who have lived here and made an impact while doing so.

Continuing legacy

Through the foundational work provided by Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert, built upon by Becca Taylor, and through continuing engagement with Indigenous artists, Elders and communities of practice, the AFA is pleased to continue to increase representation of Indigenous art in the AFA Art Collection.

See our current holdings of Indigenous artworks through the AFA Virtual Museum. 

See how the AFA cares for an exquisite new acquisition by Métis Cree visual artist, Sharon Rose Kootenay, and the different steps we take to document, catalogue and preserve her work for the benefit of all Albertans.

The artworks in the AFA Art Collection mean so much to the artists, to the staff that work with them, and to the many, many Albertans who have an opportunity to view them through exhibitions, art placement programs, or even online in our Virtual Museum.

Watch:

50th Anniversary of the AFA Art Collection

Established in 1972, the AFA Art Collection is a unique representation of the history, development and achievements of Alberta's visual arts community. Today, the AFA is proud to manage one of the strongest, most active provincial art collections in Canada.

On September 29, 2022, the AFA began celebration for the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the AFA Art Collection. Learn more about how we are celebrating throughout 2022 and 2023.

We are proud to diligently care and work with each of our more than 9,000 artworks in Alberta's public art collection. This is the second episode of a five-part series about the AFA Art Collection.

• Watch episode 1 of the series, Building a Collection, on YouTube

Videos produced by Hidden Story Productions.

To celebrate 25 years of the AFA, we’re taking a look back at how we came to be, favourite milestones, and some of the amazing artists we’ve encountered along the way. 

By Erin McDonald, Manager, Art Collections

National Gallery of Canada via Wikimedia Commons

For many Canadian visual artists, having works exhibited in public galleries is a significant achievement – an affirmation of their artistic vision, public recognition, and a door to more opportunity. Thus, a solo retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) may well represent the peak of a period of an artist’s career. For two Albertan artists, this is certainly true.

Calgary-based Chris Cran and Cold Lake’s Alex Janvier each have noteworthy, full-career retrospective shows coming up at the NGC, Canada’s premiere public collection of historic and contemporary visual art.

More important than the simple fact that two Alberta artists are being recognized is the fact that they are the first Alberta contemporary artist and the first Alberta aboriginal artist to receive solo retrospective exhibitions in the Gallery’s nearly 140 year history. Artworks from the AFA’s Art Collection are some of the featured treasures within both shows.

In the national collection that houses significant and notable works by legends including Dali, Rembrandt, Rodin and Canada’s own Thomson and Colville, Cran and Janvier take centre stage and shine brightly as two of Alberta’s most talented artists.

Sincerely Yours

The exhibition title is as tongue-in-cheek as most of Cran’s original artwork; his playful, humorous and inventive takes on still life, portraiture, landscape and abstraction. His work is known for “challenging perception and understanding of major movements such as Pop Art, Op Art, Modernist Abstraction and Photorealism. Cran playfully combines art history with imagery borrowed from popular culture.” (via the National Gallery)

Curated collaboratively between the Art Gallery of Alberta and the NGC, the exhibition wowed audiences in Edmonton in the fall of 2015, and then travelled to Ottawa for a May 2016 opening. The retrospective, on display until Labour Day 2016, is the most comprehensive exhibition on Cran ever produced. It spans 40 years and 100 artworks: 4 belonging to the AFA art collection, including the quirky portrait Family from The Self Portrait Series.

1988.052.001 Chris Cran Family, 1987, oil on canvas, AFA Collection

Cran has continued to explore the very nature of painting itself, through his varied series’ of work, incorporating digital technology, abstraction and many layers of meaning. In The Metaphysics of Admiration, Cran incorporates homage to the pixelated pop art of Lichtenstein, the frame from his own Framing Device Paintings, and a perhaps as nod to both his early self-portrait series and his own self-awareness: his own image is reflected in the mirror.

2003.036.001 Chris Cran, The Metaphysics of Admiration, 2002, oil, acrylic on canvas, AFA collection

Alex Janvier

A founding member of the original “Indian Group of Seven”, Alex Janvier is known as one of Alberta’s most significant artists. As both a visual artist and advocate, Janvier introduced contemporary aboriginal art to the Canadian art world in the 1970s.

A survivor of the Blue Quill Residential Indian School, Janvier is both prolific and poignant. Janvier created for himself a unique style, featuring clear influences of modernist abstraction merged with the rich cultural and spiritual traditions from his indigenous heritage. Janvier’s work is easily identified.

1975.014.001 Alex Janvier The Sky Begins, 1974 acrylic on canvas, AFA Collection

As an artist, Janvier has had a long and very successful career, including his role as an in-demand artist for high-profile public art commissions. From his very first public art commission at the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton, to his 450m² masterpiece entitled Morning Star in the dome of the Grand Hall of the Canadian Museum of History, Janvier is treasured for his distinctive curved lines and use of bright, and often symbolic, colour. To his name, Janvier has seven public murals across the country, including Iron Foot Place, a nearly 14m diameter circular mosaic to be set in the floor of the Winter Garden for the new Rogers Place (Edmonton).

Admitted to the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts in 1992, Janvier is a true pioneer for aboriginal artists in Canada. He paved the way for generations of indigenous artists by breaking down barriers and eschewing stereotypes of what it means to be aboriginal and an abstract painter. Throughout his career, he has made significant contributions to Indigenous visual culture: as an art instructor, a cultural adviser, and as a member of the Indian Group of Seven.

Following three major retrospectives of indigenous Canadian artists, Norval Morrisseau (2006), Daphne Odjig (2009), and Carl Beam (2010), Alex Janvier’s work will take centre stage in the National Gallery of Canada in late 2016. The exhibition brings together more than 75 of Janvier’s most impressive works from early in his career in the 1960s to present. Celebrating Janvier’s unique approach, works on paper, canvas, and linen will show off his range of elegant abstractions.

 A total of nine artworks from the AFA collection holdings are being prepared for transport to Ottawa for the show. These include some of Janvier’s most well-executed abstract works, along with one of his most representational works, Apple Factory (1989). Apple Factory is a stark and poignant statement on the effect of residential schools on generations of indigenous children in Canada.

1989.123.001 Alex Janvier Apple Factory, 1989 acrylic on canvas, AFA Collection

The AFA is proud to support many Alberta visual artists by lending our holdings to other institutions; in 2016 we are committed to at least fourteen exhibitions with our partners, including the National Gallery. 

Join us in celebrating Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) with a special Artist Spotlight featuring playwright and producer Elisa Marina Mair-Sánchez.

Watch Elisa share how creating her bilingual, multidisciplinary production, El Funeral, gave her a platform to explore her immigrant experience and family history, and helped foster an even deeper sense of pride in her culture and heritage. El Funeral resonated with audiences from various cultural backgrounds who saw their own stories reflected in the play.

About El Funeral

What would you say, what would you ask, which stories would you retell, and which ones would you choose to forget if you could reunite with all those you've lost? El Funeral is a bilingual, multidisciplinary theatre production that celebrates life and explores the memories and stories we all carry within us.

Performed during the 2023 Found Festival in Edmonton, El Funeral offers an emotional and immersive experience that reflects on the immigrant experience—the guilt of leaving loved ones behind, the resilience needed to build a new life in unfamiliar places, and the unbreakable bonds that persist across distances.

This site-specific production takes the audience on a journey through the lived experiences of immigrants, inviting viewers to reflect on themes of love, loss, and community.

About the Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead (el Día de los Muertos), is a Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives for a brief reunion that includes food, drink and celebration.

A blend of Mesoamerican ritual, European religion and Spanish culture, the holiday is celebrated each year from October 31-November 2. While October 31 is Halloween, November 1-2 is All Souls Day or the Day of the Dead. According to tradition, the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on October 31 and the spirits of children can rejoin their families for 24 hours. The spirits of adults can do the same on November 2.