Opening night began with a brief reception that gave the attendees a chance to mingle before we were ushered into the theatre. The John J. Conklin Theatre is a very intimate space, that served perfectly for the show as it relied heavily on audience participation, and the audience delivered.

Jocelyn, as well as all the other student actors executed their roles masterfully. The sound design and lights (led by Shivam Kheni and Savanna Mwaura) were perfectly curated to fit the theme of the night. It felt like we were actually sitting by the town of Sligo in Western Ireland. The set pieces (led by Xueqing Li), prop designs (led by Sam Fergus) and costumes (co-led by Destiny Klassen and Josie Long) all contributed to the full immersion that we experienced with the story.

At intermission, we were ushered to the lobby for a much-needed chance to stretch our legs. As the show clocks in at over 2 hours, this was a nice break which gave all of us a quick chance to make some predictions for how the remainder of the show would play out.

Without delving into too many details (you need to see it, after all), the show delivers its three-act main story along with several additional side plotlines, from tense drama packed with emotion to witty banter among the actors. There is something for everyone from this production. With the audience’s active participation, cheering, laughing, and booing when necessary, which is sometimes led by the actors breaking the fourth wall and instructing us to join in, it elevated the viewing experience and sent the attendees laughing out the door.

This production marks the final chapter for some of the department’s veteran students, who are graduating this year and ending their time at UM in the coming months. I had the chance to grab a few words from some of them after the show.

“If this is the chapter I end on, I’m grateful it’s with a character who changed me and a play that became home. Captain Molineux will stay with me long after the final curtain, and The Shaughraun will forever be the place where my heart learned just how deeply a story can hold you,” said Dola Akintan (Captain Molineux and head of publicity).

“Being able to play Claire Ffolliot in this production has been a privilege and I have loved the process of being able to develop this character. She has a bit of an edge to her and that is why I love her,” added Bronwyn Moll (Claire Ffolliot and costume crew member).

Don’t miss your opportunity to watch this riveting and emotional performance! Tickets for the show can be purchased online through Eventbrite for only $10.00 (plus Eventbrite fees). 

Come see it for yourself! The show runs Thursday (7pm) [SOLD OUT], Friday (7pm), Saturday (2pm and 7pm) and features a packed 2-hour and 15-minute runtime.

Wally Dion: a thousand tiny prayers

November 6, 2025 – February 14, 2026
Curated by Blair Fornwald
School of Art Gallery, 255 ARTlab, University of Manitoba
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 6, 5:00–8:00 PM

Dion’s textile-based portraits and star blankets examine the generative and communal power of plaiting, stitching, and assembly—processes that bind individual elements into something stronger and more beautiful than their parts. Drawing on the interwoven nature of communities and ecosystems, Dion’s works also reflect on Indigenous identity, cultural resistance, and solidarity across global struggles for justice and self-determination.

Vibrant, luminous, and intricately detailed, Dion’s quilts and composite portraits merge synthetic fabrics, floral scarves, and translucent papers into layered reflections on care, strength, and connection. His recent works incorporate rose motifs—symbols shared across Indigenous, Ukrainian, and Palestinian communities—as gestures of empathy and unity.

Dion, a member of Yellow Quill First Nation (Saulteaux), has exhibited widely in Canada and the United States. His work is held in the public collections of the Remai Modern, the MacKenzie Art Gallery, the Portland Art Museum, and the Autry Museum of the American West, among others.

Related Events

Quilting Workshops with Wally Dion
November 1–6 | Studio 460 (460 ARTlab)
Drop in throughout the week to design and create patchwork quilt faces using the bright, iridescent fabrics featured in Dion’s work. Artist-led sessions: November 1, 3, and 5. All supplies provided. No experience necessary — just curiosity and creativity.
Register to attend

Artist Talk with Wally Dion
Thursday, November 6 | 12:00–1:30 PM | 468 ARTlab
Join the artist in conversation about his practice, cultural influences, and the ideas behind a thousand tiny prayers.
Also live-streamed on the School of Art Gallery YouTube channel.
ASL interpretation and YouTube closed captioning available.

Wally Dion: a thousand tiny prayers invites viewers to imagine a world strengthened by connection, compassion, and collective care.

School of Art Gallery

255 ARTlab, University of Manitoba
Free admission | All are welcome

Monday-Friday, 9:00 am-5:00 pm or by appointment

Thursday, October 16, 2025  |  7:00–9:00 PM (doors 6:30 PM)
Desautels Concert Hall, University of Manitoba

Light refreshments • Cash bar • Free admission • Registration required

The School of Art Gallery (SOAG) invites the UM community and the public to Exchange as a Symmetrical Gesture, an evening that celebrates the culmination of SOAG’s multi-year Visiting Curator Program with a reading, a curatorial panel, and the launch of three new publications.

The program begins with an opening reading by artist Erika DeFreitas, followed by a curatorial conversation featuring Grace Deveney, Shalaka Jadhav, and Lillian O’Brien Davis, moderated by Nic Wilson. A reception will follow, where guests can connect with the curators and artists and pick up the newly released publications documenting the exhibitions produced through the program.

Launched in Summer 2021, the Visiting Curator Program has helped shape conversations around contemporary art in the Prairies while creating meaningful opportunities for students, faculty, and community members to engage directly with curators working across Canada and the United States. The initiative was realized through three exhibitions at the School of Art Gallery: Open Structure (curated by Grace Deveney, Nov 3, 2022–Jan 28, 2023), The Performance of Shadows (curated by Lillian O’Brien Davis, Feb 16–Apr 29, 2023), and To Broadcast is to Scatter (curated by Shalaka Jadhav, Nov 30, 2023–Feb 10, 2024).

This capstone event recognizes the wide-ranging research, collaboration, and mentorship fostered by the program and highlights its lasting impact on artistic and curatorial practice at UM and across the region.

Register here to attend: showpass.com/exchange-as-a-symmetrical-gesture-visiting-curator-program-closing-celebration

____

Featured Guests

Grace Deveney is the David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Associate Curator of Photography and Media at the Art Institute of Chicago and an art historian with a PhD from Northwestern University. She previously served as Associate Curator for the Prospect.5 triennial in New Orleans and Assistant Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

Shalaka Jadhav is a writer, researcher, and curator whose work bridges critical geographies, public memory, and queer ecologies. Trained in urban planning, they have curated exhibitions across Halifax, Winnipeg, Guelph, and Toronto, and co-direct Textile, a hyper-local arts collective in Waterloo Region.

Lillian O’Brien Davis is Associate Curator at the MacKenzie Art Gallery. She has curated projects at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, Susan Hobbs Gallery, and the School of Art Gallery, with writing published in BlackFlash, Peripheral Review, C Magazine, and RACAR.

Erika DeFreitas works across performance, photography, video, textiles, installation, drawing, and writing. Their practice examines loss, legacy, post-memory, gesture, and materiality, and has been exhibited nationally and internationally. DeFreitas holds a Master of Visual Studies from the University of Toronto.

Nic Wilson is an artist and writer whose videos, performances, texts, and artist books explore time, queer lineage, and decay. They have exhibited nationally and internationally and were long-listed for the 2021 Sobey Art Award.

Accessibility and contact

The Desautels Concert Hall is accessible. For questions about access, ASL interpretation, or other accommodations, please contact the School of Art Gallery.

School of Art Gallery
255 ARTlab, 180 Dafoe Road, University of Manitoba (Fort Garry)
Hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM (or by appointment; closed statutory holidays)
Email: gallery@umanitoba.ca | Phone: 204-474-9322

Beale didn’t exactly hate her job in the tech industry, but she didn’t feel as passionately about selling specialized IT services as she did about contemporary Canadian art, the legacy of female dealers and the cat she named after pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Rossetti.

Just before moving to Winnipeg in 2020, the erstwhile student at the U.K.’s Exeter University determined it was worth investing more time and energy into a career in the art world.

“I decided that I just didn’t want to spend another day not being close to art,” says Beale, an art history student at the University of Manitoba who describes herself as a ballsy go-getter. “I wanted to try to make it work, so I gave myself a year, and then really quickly after I made that decision, the ball just really got rolling.”

To read the entire story, please follow the link to The Free Press.

While many of these courses are tailored for School of Art students, one standout this year is FA 1212: Art, Technology, and Culture of Video Games. Open to all UM students with no prerequisites, this new course bridges the arts, sciences, and humanities through the study of video games as cultural and creative forms. It’s a unique opportunity for students across faculties—especially U1, Arts, and Science—to explore visual culture in an accessible and engaging way.

Fall 2025 Highlights

FAAH 3150: Nineteenth-Century European Art: Cultural Transformations and Artistic Movements
Instructor: Dr. Stephen Borys
A course examining the major artistic movements of nineteenth-century Europe, from Romanticism and Realism to Impressionism. Students will explore how artists responded to industrialization, urban growth, and political upheaval, while developing critical insights into how painting and sculpture shaped and reflected cultural change.

FAAH 3250: Queer Art
Instructor: Dr. Braden Scott
A course considering how sexual and gender diversity is expressed, encoded, or obscured in visual culture. Students will trace queer art histories across time and geography, exploring questions of visibility, identity, and representation.

FAAH 4070: Bauhaus-Canada
Instructor: Dr. Oliver Botar
Examining the influence of the Bauhaus in Canadian contexts, this seminar investigates intersections of modernism, pedagogy, and artistic innovation.

FAAH 4082: Seminar in Art Historiography
Instructor: Dr. David Foster
An advanced seminar focusing on the debates, methodologies, and historiographies that shape the field of art history.

STDO 2680: Introduction to Art Therapy
Instructor: Tanissa Martindale
This course introduces students to the principles and practices of art therapy, exploring how creative processes can support healing and well-being.

STDO 2680: Ceramic Tiles
Instructor: Grace Nickel
Students will experiment with tile-based ceramic design, learning technical processes while exploring historical and contemporary approaches.

STDO 3680: With the Land: Artists Outside
Instructor: Sarah Ciurysek
A land-based studio at FortWhyte Alive, where students engage directly with seasonal changes through observation, movement, and creative process.

STDO 3680: Sketching Time
Instructor: Matthis Grunsky
Students explore drawing as a practice of attention and reflection, maintaining daily sketchbooks and emphasizing the slow, observational qualities of mark-making.

STDO 3680: Experiments with Video Projection
Instructor: Freya Olafson
A hands-on course in expanded video practices, including projection mapping, performance integration, and site-specific installation.

STDO 3682: The Figure in Drawing and Painting
Instructor: Mark Neufeld
This course explores figuration through studio practice and critical readings, examining both historical and contemporary approaches to representing the body.

STDO 3684: Photography and Materiality
Instructor: Dominique Rey
A hybrid studio that investigates photography as both image and object, combining digital and analog processes with sculpture, painting, and performance.

STDO 3686: Small Scale Sculpture
Instructor: Erika Dueck
Students create intimate sculptural works, exploring the possibilities of materials, scale, and space.

Winter 2026 Highlights

FA 1212: Art, Technology, and Culture of Video Games
Instructor: TBA
Students analyze video games as artistic, narrative, and cultural forms. Topics include design, interactivity, and visual culture in contemporary media. Open to all UM students with no prerequisites—ideal for U1, Arts, and Science.

FAAH 3160: Mid-Century Modernist Abstraction
Instructor: Dr. Shepherd Steiner
This seminar focuses on the art and ideas that shaped abstraction in the mid-20th century, from its formal innovations to its global influences.

FAAH 3250 / STDO 3674: Manitoba Print History
Instructors: Dr. Oliver Botar and Suzie Smith
A combined seminar and studio exploring Winnipeg’s influence on Canadian printmaking. Students will study Indigenous and activist print histories alongside hands-on practice in screen printing, woodcut, and collagraph techniques.
Note: These courses are corequisites and must be taken together.

FAAH 4070: Building and Making Things from the Earth
Instructor: Dr. Braden Scott
Exploring sustainability, symbolism, and material sourcing in art and architecture, this course investigates global histories of extraction and production.

FAAH 4090: Indigenous Feminisms
Instructor: Dr. Suzanne McLeod
This seminar explores how First Nations, Inuit, and Métis women artists address gendered violence, settler colonialism, and cultural resurgence through diverse media.

STDO 3672: Design and Printmaking
Instructor: Leigh Bridges
A studio course at the intersection of graphic design and printmaking. Students will create posters, zines, and card decks, exploring collaborative and experimental strategies.

STDO 3680: Intermediate Performance Art
Instructor: Lori Blondeau
Students expand on foundational practices in performance, working through solo and collaborative projects that engage gesture, time, and audience.

STDO 3680: Puppets in Animation or Performance
Instructor: Derek Brueckner
This course introduces the design and creation of puppets and miniature sets for stop-motion or live performance, with an emphasis on narrative and metaphor.

STDO 3680: Natural Dyes, Fibres, and Fabrics
Instructor: Katherine Boyer
Explores sustainable and culturally rooted practices of dyeing and fibre construction, foregrounding material-based research.

STDO 3682: On the Surface
Instructor: M.E. Sparks
A topics course examining approaches to surface in drawing and painting, from experimental mark-making to conceptual layering.

These offerings reaffirm the School of Art’s commitment to critical inquiry, diverse perspectives, and innovative approaches to artmaking—while opening new doors for students across the university to join the conversation.

For more information or to view the full list of courses, visit Aurora: aurora-registration.umanitoba.ca/StudentRegistrationSsb/ssb/registration

Representing the Prairies region, Ukaigwe joins a distinguished shortlist of six artists selected from across the country, each chosen for their exceptional contributions to the visual arts in Canada. This year’s shortlist, announced on June 3, 2025, by the National Gallery of Canada and the Sobey Art Foundation, highlights the diversity and strength of Canadian artistic practice today.

Born in Nigeria and currently based in Winnipeg, Ukaigwe is an artist, curator, and writer whose interdisciplinary practice spans painting, installation, video, and performance. His work explores semiotic dissonance, shared authorship, and fractured time, drawing on influences such as experimental music, speculative fiction, and diasporic histories. Through immersive audiovisual environments, he challenges traditional subject-object divides and seeks to create new sociographies rooted in community and collaboration.

Ukaigwe is also a founding member of the curatorial collective Patterns Collective, and has participated in residencies and exhibitions across Canada and internationally. His art is held in public collections, including the School of Art Gallery.

“His work is a way of annotating, augmenting, defacing, transposing, and rewriting in the margins of history,” notes the National Gallery of Canada.

As part of the Sobey shortlist, Ukaigwe will receive $25,000 in prize money and will be featured in the 2025 Sobey Art Award Exhibition, which opens at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa on October 3, 2025, and runs through February 8, 2026. The overall winner, who will receive $100,000, will be announced during a special celebration on November 8, 2025.

Ukaigwe joins a remarkable cohort of shortlisted artists:

• Tarralik Duffy (Circumpolar region)
• Tania Willard (Pacific region)
• Sandra Brewster (Ontario region)
• Swapnaa Tamhane (Quebec region)
• Hangama Amiri (Atlantic region)

Each artist was selected by an independent jury of leading curators and arts professionals from across Canada and abroad.

We’re thrilled to see Dubem’s work recognized on a national stage and can’t wait to see his contributions in the fall exhibition. Congratulations!

Learn more about the Sobey Art Award: gallery.ca/whats-on/sobey-art-award

The award was presented during A Night of Excellence: Celebrating Manitoba Makers—the MCC’s inaugural awards dinner held on May 8, 2025, at East India Company in Winnipeg. The evening brought together artists, supporters, and community members to honour 15 local craft artists across five categories, celebrating excellence in contemporary craft across the province.

Grace Nickel with award presenter Alan Lacovetsky. Photo: Matt Duboff.

Established to recognize a Manitoba-based craftsperson with an exceptional studio practice, the Archambeau Award honours “a career of achievements, esteemed reputation, and exceptional advancement in their craft area.” Endowed in the names of Robert and Meridel Archambeau, the award pays tribute to ceramicist and former School of Art professor Robert Archambeau, and the support of his partner, Meridel. As a meaningful gesture, the physical certificates were hand-printed by printmaker and School of Art Assistant Professor, Suzie Smith.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate Grace Nickel as the recipient of the 2025 Robert and Meridel Archambeau Award of Distinction,” said Tammy Sutherland, Executive Director of the Manitoba Craft Council. “It feels right that the first person to receive this award be someone who studied with and so admired Bob’s work as well as his legendary work ethic. Grace’s commitment to innovation and technical excellence, her meticulous and considered style, and the strength of her exhibition and teaching career set the kind of high standard we want to honour with this unique award.”

A celebrated ceramic artist, educator, and researcher, Grace Nickel has long been a vital force within Manitoba’s craft community and across Canada. Her porcelain and installation-based work blends traditional craft with contemporary themes, exploring architecture, impermanence, and material resonance. In 2023, she received the Governor General’s Saidye Bronfman Award, one of Canada’s highest honours for visual artists.

“It is a great honour to be the first to receive this award,” said Nickel. “Ceramics wasn’t even on my radar when I entered art school, but Robert’s passion for the medium was infectious. He instilled in us a rigorous work ethic and commitment to high standards—and it was his lifelong love of clay that continues to inspire me.”

Nickel first met Archambeau as a student, later working alongside him as a colleague. “He continued to guide me as both a mentor and a peer,” she shared. “His insights, humour, and larger-than-life presence helped to light my path as a teacher, researcher, and artist.”

She closed her remarks with a personal reflection: “I will close with the words he wrote in a special notebook he gave me, where his inscription reads: ‘For a dear friend: Don’t save this notebook for later. This is later.’ We miss Bob… but his legacy will live on through this award and through his work, which is timeless.”

Nickel also acknowledged the role of the MCC:

“I’m grateful for the continued support of the MCC throughout my career, and I applaud all that they have done for advancing contemporary craft in Manitoba and moving it beyond both physical and conceptual borders.”

Grace Nickel with Bob Archambeau at her first solo exhibition, held at Ace Art in 1987. Image courtesy of the Manitoba Craft Council.

Nickel’s career includes international exhibitions and recognition, with selections for the Mino International Ceramics Competition (Japan), Taiwan Ceramic Biennale, Cheongju International Craft Biennale (Korea), and multiple appearances in NCECA Invitational Exhibitions in the United States. Her public commissions include Donors’ Forest at the Beechwood National Cemetery of Canada, and her work is part of major museum collections in Canada and beyond.

Beyond the studio, as an educator, Nickel has guided and mentored generations of artists at the School of Art. Her teaching emphasizes rigour, conceptual development, and critical inquiry—values that have left a lasting mark on students and peers alike.

This year’s MCC Craft Awards also celebrated Maureen Winnicki Lyons (Judith Ryan Award for Fibre Arts) and Jennifer Johnson (Marilyn Levitt Award for Functional Ceramics), showcasing the strength and diversity of Manitoba’s craft community.

Congratulations, Grace!

We caught up with him for a little rapid fire Q+A to learn more about his background, early impressions, and yes, even his favourite time of day (spoiler: it’s a tie).

From Music to Mixed Media

Best known as a pianist and educator, Dr. Runge’s relationship with the arts has always extended beyond the concert hall.

“I’ve played piano since I was six, and I’ve spent my professional life balancing teaching, administration, and performance,” he says. “But I also took visual art throughout high school—my parents are still proudly displaying some of my Grade 11 and 12 pieces in their home in Ontario.”

While his love of visual art isn’t new, this role is a chance to go deeper.
“I’ve always enjoyed connecting what was happening in visual art to what musicians were doing at the same time. Now I get to become a more knowledgeable art lover and supporter—learning from my colleagues here at the School of Art.”

Big Picture Goals

Even in his early days, Runge has been struck by the creativity and care that shape the School.

“The BFA show blew me away,” he says. “The work, the thoughtfulness, the level of commitment from students, staff, and faculty alike—it’s clear there’s something really special happening here. My goal is to help make sure that this excellence is seen and celebrated across Canada—and beyond, and to draw even larger numbers of developing artists to come study with our faculty here at UM.” 

Okay, Rapid-Fire Round  (We asked. He answered. Quickly.)

Q: Coffee or tea?

A:  Coffee, though only before noon. If you see me with one later in the day, it’s probably not a great sign.

Q:  Favourite time of day?

A:  Either very early in the morning—when the sun’s just starting to rise and everything’s quiet—or late at night when the world slows down again. The problem, of course, is that those two don’t mix well!

Q:  Office item you can’t live without?

A:  A notepad—for scribbling reminders and to-do lists throughout the day.

Q:  Music, podcast, or silence while working?

A:  Music—usually classical if I’m working in the office.

Q:  A hobby or passion totally unrelated to art or music?

A:  Cooking and wine tasting.

Q:  Favourite restaurant you’ve tried in Winnipeg?

A:  So far, besides Subway, Tim Hortons, and a hotel restaurant, my one proper dinner out has been at Oxbow—taken there by a former piano student of mine (now a UM med school grad). It was fantastic.

Q:  First gallery you visited here?

A:  The School of Art Gallery, naturally! The recent Jon Sasaki exhibition was great.

Q:  An artwork that moved you?

A:  Alfredo Jaar’s The End of the World at KINDL Gallery in Berlin. Unforgettable.

Q:  An artist or musician everyone should know?

A:  Pianist Stephen Hough. His arrangements are incredibly clever—try his take on My Favourite Things or his wildly theatrical version of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Q:  A book you always recommend?

A:  Jan Swafford’s Brahms: A Biography, or Saturday by Ian McEwan.

Q:  Best part of being at the School of Art so far?

A:  Being surrounded by inspired visuals. It’s a refreshing contrast to the joyful chaos of a music school, where everyone’s practicing something different at once.

Q:  One-word students would use to describe you?

A:  Tough. (Though I hope they’d also say “fair.”)

Q:  Go-to advice for students?

A:  Take full advantage of everything this place offers—it’s so much more than just what happens in the classroom.

Q:  Finally…what’s more stressful: tuning an instrument or hanging a group show?

A:  I can’t do either!

(But let’s be honest—it’s definitely hanging a group show. No one argues over violin height. Then again… we at SOA might be a little biased.)

A Coast-to-Coast Creative

Born in Saskatchewan, Dr. Runge has studied and worked across Canada—from BC to Quebec, Ontario to the East Coast—and now, Manitoba.

“In these times of heightened Canadian patriotism,” he says, “I’m proud to have performed and lived from coast to coast. A trip to the North is now on my bucket list.”

Welcome to the School of Art, Dr. Runge—we’re glad you’re here.

(P.S. We owe you a proper Winnipeg restaurant list—Subway doesn’t count.)

Martha Street Studio and the School of Fine Arts Student Association (SOFASA) present Formed Impressions, a student-led exhibition celebrating the creative work of printmaking students from the University of Manitoba School of Art. On view from May 2 to May 24, 2025, the exhibition offers a vibrant and diverse selection of prints that speak to both the technical rigor and experimental spirit of emerging artists.

The show features artwork by 18 students working in the School of Art’s printmaking areas. Together, their works span a range of printmaking processes and conceptual approaches, exploring everything from personal storytelling to material abstraction. The result is a compelling and cohesive exhibition that underscores the potential of print media as both a traditional craft and a contemporary form of expression.

Curated by the students themselves, Formed Impressions reflects a strong sense of community, collaboration, and artistic ambition. The exhibition’s title speaks not only to the physical act of printing—of creating impressions—but also to the formation of ideas, identities, and connections that take shape through the artistic process.

In the accompanying exhibition text, student artist Brody McQueen reflects on the dual nature of the exhibition as “both a celebration and a critical inquiry into the practice of printmaking.” He continues:

“Formed Impressions showcases the diligence, technical skill, and creative spirit inherent in the University of Manitoba’s student printmakers. This exhibition not only recognizes their contributions to the local art community but also serves as a testament to their unwavering passion for the traditions and potential experiments of printmaking.”

The participating artists include:

• Anna Sawchuk
• Corinne Young
• Lorna Weir
• Hannah Rae Desjarlais
• Netsanet Shawl
• Wendy Peck
• Essence Young
• Christina Oyawale
• Brian Guevarra
• Rebecca Smith
• Gerald Santos
• Pamela Baptista
• Susie Penner
• Brody Tavish McQueen
• margot morrish
• Emma Gillich
• Elizabeth Gwinner
• Madeleine Alsip

The exhibition’s striking poster and visual identity was designed by Brian Guevarra adding another student-led initiative to the exhibition.

Formed Impressions
Martha Street Studio
May 2–24, 2025
Free and open to the public

https://www.printmakers.mb.ca/