Project Team
Mentorship Team
Project Phase 2 (February 2023 – May 2023)
The Phase 2 Mentor/Coach Team is made up of Kemi Craig, as part of her Artist in Residence with the City fo Victoria, Justin Love of Limbic Media, and independent composer and musician Owen Fairbairn. These three mentors will provide technical and creative guidance for the artists, who are working more autonomously in their collaboration groups throughout this part of the project.
Kemi Craig
she/her
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE, CITY OF VICTORIA
Kemi Craig is a film and dance artist whose practice interrogates intersections of racialization, gender, materiality and meaning-making. Her curatorial practice began when she was invited to be a guest curator at the Western Front for the Perspectives on an Archive project in 2008. Since then she has been a guest curator, writer and programmer for local galleries and organizations such as Flux Gallery, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria Arts Council, CineVic: Society of Independent filmmakers and c mag. A woman of African descent raised in the Cherokee territories between North and South Carolina, Kemi has been living in Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ Territories since 2002.
Justin Love
he/him
CEO, LIMBIC MEDIA
Justin Love is an entrepreneur and multimedia artist based in Victoria, BC, Canada. He is a co-founder and CEO of Limbic Media – a company that specializes in real-time, interactive media control technologies.
Justin has a combined MSc in Computer Science and Visual Art. He received the University of Victoria Interdisciplinary Award and Interdisciplinary Fellowship for his work as a graduate student in Computational Creativity and Metacreation, a field that focuses on the idea of endowing machines with creative behavior.
Owen Fairbairn
they/them
Owen (they/them) is a violinist and composer based in Victoria, and has previously worked on sound installation and media projects both with their partner, Lee Ingram, as well as Kemi Craig. Owen will be joining the project as both a collaborator with Lee, as well as a Mentor for sound-related technical advice.
Owen joins the project as both an Artist Collaborator and a Mentor for sound design and composition.
Project Phase 1 (July 2022 – February 2023)
The Phase 1 Curator/Mentor Team was made up of Constance Cooke and Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé, local artists who, along with assistance from Kemi Craig, played key roles project development, artist selection, and learning goals. Together, they supported the artists and offer artistic direction and guidance, plan and curate exhibitions, presentations, and installations, and lead workshops and learning sessions for the artists. During Phase 1 of the Project (July 2022 – February 2023), Teresa and Constance focused on foundational learning and community building with the participating artists.
Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé
she/her
Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé, affectionately known as Ddhälh kït Nelnah, is an Upper Tanana visual artist, curator, and MFA student at Concordia University. She is a proud member of the White River First Nation of Beaver Creek, Yukon and Alaska and resides in lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) Territory with her partner Christopher. Teresa’s passion lies in filling curatorial gaps and creating new visual narratives that depict themes around social justice, indigeneity, and self-care. Her curatorial style is much like her art, community-based and heavily influenced by her Upper Tanana worldviews. Teresa currently sits on the board of the Indigenous Curatorial Collective.
Constance Cooke
she/they
Constance Cooke is an established Queer Canadian Dance Artist working as a Choreographer for Stage, Dance on Film and Site-Specific Work; as an Educator of Contemporary Dance and Screendance; as a Mentor and Curator. Her work has been presented in Canada, North America, and Europe, attracting and cultivating curious, open, and intelligent audiences for contemporary and experimental work for over 35 years. She has created over 60 professional works and self-produced 10 full-length works. Cooke’s focus has been to unravel, redress and evolve gendered narratives. She lives, creates, and works on the unceded Coast Salish Territory of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ Nations, in Victoria B.C.
Project Team Support
The PIDC Project Team is made up of individuals representing the three partner organizations, Xchanges Gallery, FLUX Media Gallery, and the Victoria Arts Council, and includes board members, community members, and staff. The Community Partners Team includes Heidi Bergstrom, Cat Lewis, Kegan McFadden and Pamela Millar (during Phase 1), and acts as the oversight committee for the project; together, they are responsible for public relations, strategic planning, human resources, and project reporting to the Canada Council for the Arts and other funders. Additionally, the Multimedia Art and Technology Research and Development Intern, Alex Jensen, is responsible for managing communications, project planning, web development, and technology research. The funding for the Project Intern position is provided by the Digital Skills for Youth program coordinated by the IMAA and funded by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
Heidi Bergstrom
she/her
President, Xchanges
Heidi Bergstrom is a multimedia visual artist in Victoria, BC, Canada. Her fine art practice and exhibitions include works in painting to multimedia installations. Her works emerge from and create a personal history, social and political narratives, and interactive community engagement.
Heidi has over twenty-five years of professional experience in the corporate and non-profit sectors in diverse production and management roles such as Creative Services Manager for Corus Entertainment (training producers in television advertising production), Marketing at Campbell’s Soup corporation, and as Curator/Director of the Durham Art Gallery in Ontario. Heidi joined the BC Public Service in 2007 as a Director in the Ministry of Citizens’ Services. She has worked in a variety of leadership roles in IT service management, strategic and corporate planning, cross-government transformation projects, and organizational change management among others.
Heidi has been a member of Xchanges for almost 20 years and is currently the President of the Board (2022/23).
Pamela Millar
she/her
Pamela Millar is a member of the Community Partners’ Team with past interests in documentary and experimental video, projection for stage, and soundscapes.
Pamela played a strategic role in key decisions throughout the inception of the project, as well as support in the creation and distribution of artist agreements and other administrative functions.
Pamela provided project support during Phase 0 and Phase 1 of the Project, from July 2022 – February 2023.
Alex Jensen
he/him
Project Intern, Xchanges
Alex Jensen is a queer multimedia artist and designer living and working on the unceded traditional territories of the Lekwungen peoples (Victoria) since 2019. Through his practice, Alex explores ideas of self, and aims to create a space for both contemplation and connection; his research engages with the themes of memory, disability, queer identity, and multimedia studies.
Alex holds a BFA in Visual Arts from Thompson Rivers University as well as an Associate Certificate in Graphic Design from BCIT. As an artist, he has exhibited with the Kamloops Art Gallery, Salmon Arm Arts Centre, Sweetpea Gallery, and the City of Victoria. Alex has worked with arts organizations in Kamloops, Vancouver, Toronto, and Victoria.
Cat Lewis
they/them
Executive Director, Flux Media Gallery
Cat Lewis is a writer and curator living on the unceded territories of the Lekwungen Peoples. Cat has a MA in History in Art from the University of Victoria (2003) and has worked at the Maltwood Museum and Gallery (now Legacy Gallery) and Open Space Arts Centre. For the past 15 years, Cat has worked at the Independent Media Producers Network Society (MediaNet) first as the Programming Director, and now as the Executive Director, where they helped to establish the FLUX Media Gallery, one of the only galleries in BC dedicated specifically to media arts. Cat has sat on the Programming Committee for Open Space, and on the Boards of the Victoria Arts Council, the Independent Media Arts Alliance (IMAA), and the Media Arts Alliance of the Pacific (MAAP).
Kegan McFadden
he/him
Executive Director, Victoria Arts Council
Kegan McFadden is the Executive Director of the Victoria Arts Council as well as Managing Editor of their digital magazine, UNTIL, and co-lead of Victoria’s Creative Mornings chapter through which monthly lectures by artists and arts professionals are facilitated. Kegan has twenty years experience working in non-profit galleries and artist-run centres. He is a writer, curator, and artist.
The Victoria Arts Council exists to support artists at all levels of their engagement. We provide opportunities for artists and audiences to connect through exhibitions, performances, readings, publications, and educational programmes.
Joshua Ngenda
he/him
Director of Programming and Community Engagement, Flux Media Gallery
Josh assists with programming for the FLUX Media Gallery.