If you asked a group of rural students what an artist is, you might get many different answers. “‘Artist’ can be a vague idea to students—something we see in movies or in books, but not often in real life in a small town,” says Deadra Oblander, a teacher at Bulyea Elementary School. Fortunately, students in the community recently had the opportunity to work with Regina artist Shaunna Dunn on a special project funded by an Artists in Schools—Projects Grant from SK Arts.
“The project allowed students to work with a practicing artist and develop their creative skills. Shaunna’s answers and methods were different than those of ‘regular’ teachers, which allowed students to learn and develop in new ways,” says Oblander.
Saskatchewan-born, multifaceted Dene artist Dakota Ray Hebert has burned a trail of her talent across North America in the last few years. She is an actor, comedian, painter, and writer. In 2023 alone, Hebert appeared in the first season of the original CTV workplace sitcom Shelved as Jacqueline 'Jaq' Bedard and on Netflix's Unicorn Academy. This 2023 release spent two weeks on the streaming giant's global top 10, racking up over 40 million hours in watchtime, voice-acting as Ms. Rosemary. Hebert also appeared on numerous comedy shows, including a tour by a group of Indigenous artists funded through a SK Arts' Indigenous Peoples Art and Artists grant.
Provincial arts funding agency SK Arts is pleased to announce the appointment of Lisa Bird-Wilson as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective November 18, 2024. Lisa is a Saskatchewan Métis and Cree writer whose award-winning novel, Probably Ruby, was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Amazon First Novel Award.
Bird-Wilson joins SK Arts – a crown agency under the Government of Saskatchewan's Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport portfolio – from her previous role as the CEO of the Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Research Inc., Canada’s first Métis post-secondary education and cultural institute, where she has over 25 years of experience at the institute’s helm and authored An Institute of Our Own: A History of the Gabriel Dumont Institute, a book chronicling the institute’s history.
