The City of Saskatoon has announced the artists participating in the “Artists in Place: The Bunkhouse Project,” on till December 31. The Project is an artist-in-residence program taking place in the historic Bunkhouse at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo.
Six local artists were selected to set up studios for an eight-month residency.
Kevin Kitchen, the City’s Manager of Community Development says, “The Bunkhouse Project furthers one of the key directions of the City’s Culture Plan, which is to Foster Creative Placemaking,”
The artists in residence at the Bunkhouse are Peace Akintade (spoken word artist), Micah Jane (musician), Cristine Andrew-Stuckel (visual artist), Diana Roelens (visual artist), Jane Reväe McWhirter (visual artist) and Ania Slusarczyk (visual artist/filmmaker).
Over the course of their residencies, these artists will be creating a body of work inspired by their time at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo. A public exhibition of this work will be held in December. More details will be announced closer to the dates.
For more information on The Bunkhouse Project go here.
Artists in Residence Bios
Peace Akintade is the 2020-2021 Saskatchewan’s Youth Poet Laureate and local Spoken
Word Artist, writer, public speaker, and youth Leadership Advocate in Saskatoon. She speaks
as an African-Canadian Theatre-based Poet and Storyteller. Her poems express her undying
love for ironic justice, motivational banter, the dimmed light of Africa’s internal dilemma, and
the trouble of cultural barriers. Her vision coming to Canada is to bring together Saskatoon
locals and African immigrants through poetry. The idea of “Art without limit”. She wants to raise
the intent and full expression of Poetry and Spoken Word by bridging the art community, the
immigrant community and locals, and Black artists to the mainstream world.
Micah Jane is a queer, Canadian musician passionate about politics and performing. She has
been writing and playing music since she was 9, and currently works as a voice/guitar/ukulele
teacher at Prairie Songstress. She has always felt a profound sense of belonging within the
arts- she loves anything from filmmaking to recording and producing her own songs. She has
volunteered with Girls Rock Camp Saskatoon, been a student in both media school and
Collective voice and is currently working towards releasing her first ep. She is an active
advocate for mental health and hopes to inspire struggling young people through her music
and social media.
Cristine Andrew-Stuckel is originally from the Ottawa Valley in Ontario. Cristine relocated to
Saskatoon in 1999 with her young daughters to begin a new life. After receiving a number of
awards in painting and photography at the Showcase of the Arts through the Saskatoon
Exhibition, she was encouraged to return to school in 2015 and pursue her lifelong love of art.
Cristine will graduate with a BFA (Hons) Studio Art from the University of Saskatchewan this
spring and is currently preparing her multi-media thesis exhibition. Areas of focus during her
time at the university include painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture/installation.
Cristine has been the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships based on her academic
achievements at university. She has volunteered at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery on campus
and was involved with the Visual Arts Student Union (VASU) as a board member. In 2018 she
was chosen by a professor in the Art and Art History Department as one of the top three
painting students to enter a student painting and sculpture competition at Galerie Art Mûr in
Montreal and was subsequently chosen as one of the student-artists to take part in the
associated exhibition that same year.
In 2017, she volunteered for the “Tell My Story” art program with the Adoption Support Centre
in Saskatoon. The experience of exploring her own adoption through art provided insight for
the youth involved in the program and continues to inform her work as she considers roots,
history, place, and ancestry. She has translated these themes into a fascination with trees and
support systems.
Diana Roelens was born in Nongoma, South Africa and immigrated to a small rural town on
the Canadian prairies together with her husband and young family in 2004. She currently lives
in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but grew up and lived in various South African locales including
the south east coast and Cape Town. The richly diverse, often harsh environments of both South Africa and Canada have strongly influenced her art, particularly her interest in
landscapes and water. After completing the University of Saskatchewan Certificate in Art and
Design (USCAD) program, Diana decided to pursue a degree in fine art; she will complete her
BFA (Hons) Studio Art at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) in April 2021. She has
focused on drawing, painting, sculpture, and installation during her time at the U of S.
A number of Diana’s paintings were chosen for the Fresh Paint/New Construction exhibition at
the Art Mûr gallery in Montreal in 2018 after she was nominated by Allyson Glenn, Associate
Professor in the Art and Art History Department at the U of S. This annual exhibition highlights
some of the best up-and-coming talent in painting and sculpture from Canadian universities
coast-to-coast. Diana has also participated in group shows in Saskatchewan and South Africa
and had work featured on the cover of the ESJ, a peer-reviewed journal published by the U of
S.
Jane Reväe McWhirter (she/her) is a visual artist from Saskatoon, SK, which is on Treaty 6
Territory. Jane received her BFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University in Montreal,
majoring in painting and ceramics but explored everything from embroidery to sound based
installation. Jane creates as an outlet, channeling emotion into her work while exploring a
multitude of mediums. Jane’s work often involves themes of healing, vulnerability, connection,
personal growth, overcoming trauma, issues of mental health, feminism, nature and body
positivity. Her work often features women in a wide array of emotions; in an attempt to explore
the strength and power of being a woman that is honouring and embracing her authentic self.
Jane has spent several years using art to promote personal growth, build community and help
improve the lives of others. She’s worked with people from all backgrounds and of all ages but
specializes in working with at-risk youth. Over the last ten years Jane has worked at/partnered
with countless organizations throughout Saskatoon, including: PAVED Arts, Saskatoon
Community Youth Arts Programming (SCYAP), The University of Saskatchewan, The Fringe
Festival, Station 20 West, The Open Door Society, The Elizabeth Fry Society, White Buffalo
Youth Lodge, CNYC, Out Saskatoon, Saskatoon Clayworks, Parkridge Centre and many
more.
Ania Ślusarczyk was born in Kraków, Poland. Ania is a visual artist dealing in still and moving
images. Her subjects include animals, emotions and science in magic realist images evoking
the mystery and uncanniness of everyday reality. She studied painting and drawing and
earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan. In recent years
she has turned to film and video for artistic expression. She also works as a freelance
photographer and videographer. Being very interested in lighting, she sees film and
photography as a way to paint with light.
History of the Bunkhouse
Located on Treaty Six Territory and the traditional homeland of the Métis, the Sutherland
Forest Nursery Station opened in 1913 as a tree nursery station and model farm with
landscaped grounds, a Superintendent’s residence, operational buildings, propagation fields,
trial shelterbelts, and experimental plots. The Bunkhouse was built in 1916 and used as a
residence for workers. The nursery closed in 1965 and a portion of the site was reopened as
the Forestry Farm Park by the City of Saskatoon in 1966. The Zoo opened in 1972. Since that
time, the Bunkhouse has been used as administrative offices, a veterinarian office, and more recently a storage facility. In 1990, the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo was designated
a national historic site in recognition of its role as a Forest Nursery Station
