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.
Dakota Ray Hebert. Photo courtesy of artist's website
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.
The Meadow Lake native's bubbly personality and penchant for trying new things have proved a powerful motivator. She began winning awards early, nabbing the Best Actor award in the ninth grade and the Best Set Design award in the 12th grade at the Saskatchewan Drama Festival. Encouraged by several of her drama teachers, Hebert says it was all she needed to enable her to pursue a career in the arts instead of attending university.
"I always knew I'd be an entertainer. When I was a little kid, I'd listen to comedy tapes and CDs, write short stories, and perform little plays for my family and friends," shared Hebert. "I remember even feeling pangs of jealousy when I'd watch Hillary Duff in Lizzie McGuire; I wanted to do that!"
Creativity Abound
A self-described goofball workaholic who loves hard and plays hard, Hebert is passionate about creating opportunities for those around her, helping people find their way in the arts, and pursuing her ideas. Her creative process is driven by an intrinsic need to do: to complete projects and then move on to the next thing. Poised to accumulate the required knowledge to take on bigger and better projects consistently, Dakota finds value in writing down her ideas and moving them from pages to reality.
"I get ideas for things and write them down. They become paintings, or comedy sets, or scripts. They become national or international tours. They become reality. I've spent so much time eating, sleeping, and breathing all my art forms, now creating just happens." Says Hebert.
Hebert says staying organized is also essential to her creative process. She always keeps two day-planners on her person; one with daily, weekly, and monthly pages, and the other with lined paper to write down her hourly schedule for each day. Dakota iterates that administrative work–correspondence, grants, and applications – as vital to her process as creating – takes up more of her time than the creative prefers. She is working on reducing that time to two hours a day, with the remainder of her day going toward scriptwriting, stand-up writing, painting, and content creation.
Recently diagnosed and medicated for ADHD, Hebert credits an incredible newfound follow-through of her ideas and balancing her mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional health to her drive.
When asked which project has been her favourite so far, Hebert says she has no favourites. She views every project as a learning experience, projecting her into another opportunity to work with like-minded people.
Big Dreams
The ambitious artist has no plans to slow down any time soon. She aspires to bring more of Saskatchewan to the world and (more of) the world to Saskatchewan.
In Shelved, Hebert was excited to use the character Jaq as a vehicle to showcase all the incredible artwork she owned by local artists. Dakota shares that as long as she can get costume department approval, showcasing Indigenous artwork is something she will maintain in every production she is a part of.
"The artists got to see their work on TV, something that doesn't happen very often, and I hope they all saw a spike in their sales!"
Locally, Dakota is behind the opening of ART BAR, a performance art theatre in Saskatoon. The theatre will host a series of soft launches and private events for artists of all genres to walk through the building and learn more about producing and showcasing at ART BAR throughout the summer of 2024 before officially opening to the public in the fall of 2024.
"My sweetheart and I are opening ART BAR in Saskatoon, right on 20th Street West. ART BAR aims to be a go-to spot for audiences, a second home for Saskatoon and Saskatchewan performing, visual, and everything-in-between artists, as well as a home-away-from-home for those visiting," said Hebert. "There is so much talent to be shared and learned from; we're excited to help artists make connections and show off their gifts!"
Dakota Ray Hebert. Photo credit: Sweetmoon Photography