Bushra Junaid (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist-curator and author whose work probes history, memory, identity and placemaking. Junaid’s landmark project What Carries Newfoundland and Labrador in the Black Atlantic at The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery (2020) included video, mixed media, mural and photo-based works by Canadian and international artists as well as rare archival items pivoting on Paul Gilroy’s concept of the “Black Atlantic” and reflecting on John Akomfrah’s Vertigo Sea (2015). In 2016, Junaid curated (with Pamela Edmonds) New-Found-Lands: An Art Project Exploring Historical and Contemporary Connections between Newfoundland and the Caribbean Diaspora at Eastern Edge Gallery. Junaid wrote and illustrated the well-received The Possible Lives of WH, Sailor (Running the Goat Books & Broadsides, 2022) about the remains of a 19th century sailor discovered in Labrador in the late 1980s. Junaid has exhibited across Canada and in the US and her work is in public, private and corporate collections. Junaid holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design and Master of Architecture from the Technical University of Nova Scotia.

Clara Clayton Gough, born in Cherry Brook, Halifax County is eldest daughter of the late Edith and Clifford Clayton; the family moved to East Preston where Clara still resides to this
day.

Having learned basket-making from her mother and grandmother, Clara would attend the Halifax Market alongside them and eventually attended the markets to sell her own goods.

Being a sought-after basket maker, Clara produces various basket shapes and designs. She has imprinted her own unique style to create sculptures. A man in honor of her father and a woman in honor of her mother, holding a baby that represents Clara.

Clara has met the Queen of England in 1995 and September 2024, she was presented with the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Luanne Dominix is a visual artist and educator based in Bay Roberts, NL. Her work explores the intersection of material culture, foodways, and identity. She often draws inspiration from Newfoundland’s rural traditions.

Her works have been exhibited in juried shows across Canada and the United States, including with the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour.

She is currently preparing for her first solo exhibition, With Quiet Hands.

Katelyn Jacque is an emerging Inuit photographer from Postville, Labrador. Her passion for photography began in 2020 after graduating high school early due to the pandemic. Gifted an old camera and with nothing better to do, she turned to documenting the world around her. Deeply inspired by the land, Inuit culture, and her experiences leaving her remote community, Katelyn’s work explores themes of identity and place. Her striking images have been featured in The Rooms, was part of the Sustainable Nunatsiavut Futures project, and are proudly displayed in government buildings throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, marking her growing presence in the art world.

Nasim Makaremi Nia is an artist and art educator based in Newfoundland and Labrador. She holds an MSc in Solid-State Physics and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Her multidisciplinary practice includes painting, drawing, printmaking, and textiles, with her physics background playing a significant role in shaping her artistic perspective.

Nasim has exhibited her work in various solo and group exhibitions, including at The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery (NL), Eastern Edge Gallery (NL), Ottawa School of Art (ON), and the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador. She has received the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant and the ArtsNL Professional Project Grant.
Her work explores themes such as humanity, lived experience, women’s emotions, and immigration.

She uses elements like animals, sanitary pads, and folded paper to address censorship and explore connections to land and identity. In 2022, she received the Emerging Artist Award at the Excellence in Visual Arts Awards presented by VANL-CARFAC.

IG: @nasim.m_art

Mélanie Paulin (she/her) is a French Acadian artist exploring textiles, installation and
printmaking through themes of environmental care, self-care and motherhood. Inspired by personal introspection, her work emphasizes the value of care and intention, urging a deeper connection to the materials and stories that shape our lives. She is particularly interested in the handmade and recognizing the many ways in which women express their creativity.

A graduate of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design and the CATAPULT Arts Accelerator program, Mélanie also holds a PhD in environmental microbiology. Since May 2024, she has been developing The Water We Wear, a project exploring the water footprint of the textile industry, supported by the New Brunswick Arts Board and the Canada Council for the Arts. She lives and works in Moncton, New Brunswick, where she balances her artistic practice with her role as a mother.