Alison Shields is an Associate Professor in Art Education at the University of Victoria. She received a PhD in art education from the University of British Columbia and an MFA from the University of Waterloo. She has exhibited her paintings and drawings within Canada and Europe and has participated in local and international residencies, including The Arctic Circle in Svalbard, Norway, and Friday Harbor Laboratories in Washington. Her current artistic research examines painting processes and local marine ecologies. 

Farheen Haq, she/they (b. 1977) is a South Asian Muslim Canadian artist who lives and works on unceded Lkwungen Territory. She was born and raised on Haudenosanee territory (Niagara region, Ontario) amongst a tight-knit Muslim community. Her multidisciplinary practice which often employs video, installation and performance is informed by interiority, relationality, family work, embodiment, ritual and spiritual practice. Farheen's current work focuses on understanding her family history and cultural legacy on Turtle Island, caregiving and the body as a continuum of culture and time. 

Gerry Ambers is Kwakwaka'wakw from the 'Namgis Nation in Alert Bay. She is the Mother of five children and six grandchildren. She studied Northwest Coast Design with Kwakwaka'wakw artist Doug Cranmer, in a studio set up for art training in the basement of the former St. Michael's Residential School in Alert Bay. Gerry gravitated towards activism and politics at an early age, becoming involved in the National Alliance for Red Power (NARP) in 1967. For 55 years, she has been an advocate for the rights and responsibilities of Indigenous Peoples. 

Kosar Movahedi lives and works on the unceded territories of the lek'wenen peoples in Victoria, BC. Her work uses humour and play to complicate our perception of space, time and surfaces through photography, drawing, video and sculpture. 

Kosar holds an MFA from the University of Victoria and a BSc in Architecture from University of Tehran. Her work has resulted in publications and exhibitions in Canada and internationally, as well as received grants and awards from the BC Arts Council, Audain Foundation, and SSHRC Canada. In addition, she's taken roles as a cultural worker at the Victoria Arts Council and Crummy Gallery, carried out independent curatorial projects, and taught as a sessional instructor at the University of Victoria.

Lajah Warren, a Songhees artist of mixed Indigenous and settler heritage, uses art to inspire dialogue, healing, and resistance. Her work weaves traditional Coast Salish designs with expressive acrylic techniques, reflecting community, storytelling, self-healing, and acrylic techniques, reflecting community, storytelling, self-healing, and activism.

Paolino Caputo is an artist, advocate, and professional dilettante of mixed Italian ancestry living on unceded Lekwungen territories in Victoria, Canada. Their interdisciplinary practice focuses on intersections of queerness, play, ritual,  disability, and desire. As part of their work they run community game events like RPG Nite and follow long, unnecessary trains of thought on their blog PinkSpace. When not working on creative projects, you'll usually find them in a JRPG.

Shawna Kiesman is a Tsm'syen / Nisga'a artist based in Victoria, BC. She earned her First Nations Fine Art Diploma from Freda Diesing School and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University. Award-winning and featured in prominent collections, she creates a playful Northwest Coast style using digital and textile mediums.