Manuel Axel Strain (b. 1990) is from the lands and waters of the xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam), Simpcw, and Syilx peoples. Strain’s mother is Tracey Strain and father is Eric Strain, Tracey’s parents are Harold Eustache (from Chuchua) and Marie Louis (from nk̓maplqs), Eric’s Parents are Helen Point (from xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm) and John Strain (Irish). Although they attended Emily Carr University of Art + Design, they prioritize Indigenous epistemologies through the embodied knowledge of their mother, father, siblings, cousins, aunties, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandparents and ancestors. They have contributed work to the Vancouver Art Gallery, Surrey Art Gallery, the UBCO FINA Gallery, were longlisted for the 2022 Sobey Award, and were a recipient of the 2022 portfolio prize.

Heather Lamoureux lives on  xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, Səl̓ílwətaʔ territories, where she is the Co-Artistic Director at Vines Art Society. Heather is committed to her responsibility to nurture artists, imagine and co-create creative projects, and pull people together. Her work is shaped by her training in somatic therapy, involvement in land-based community projects, gardening, supporting resistance, sovereignty, and water protection work, and many generous stories and chats. In the past, she has worked for Raven Spirit Dance, PuSh International Arts Festival, the Firehall Arts Centre, and facilitated movement classes for elders and youth. She holds a BFA from SFU in Contemporary Dance with a minor in Business and is a graduate of the Tamalpa Institute of Expressive Arts Therapy. She loves to garden, hang out by a river, and cook good food.

Sugar, spice and...Filipino. These were the ingredients chosen to create a multidisciplinary hero. But Professor Utonium accidentally added extra ingredients to the concoction...

- 1 part live sound engineer 

- 1 part live events producer

..and Chemical X.

Thus, Ky was born! Using her ultra super powers: GOOGLE SHEETS, E-MAIL THREADS and ORGANIZATION, she has dedicated her life to fighting crime against the forces of colonization and deadlines. Ky is a dish best served warm in order to serve her community situated on the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She would like to express her deep gratitude for their continued care for these territories, which sustain us and make gathering possible! When Ky is not flying around in swirling colourful loops hanging bunting and setting up speakers at events, you can find her in the mountains of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) scrambling up granite boulders and rock climbing with her friends!

‍

Rashi Sethi (she/they) is filmmaker, photographer, cinematographer, and video artist– An image maker of many sorts. Their artistic practice spans both celluloid and digital mediums, exploring the creative potential of lens-based art. Having grown up across multiple countries all over the world, Rashi’s exposure to diverse cultures and landscapes from a young age deeply influenced her artistic vision. Her work is often dreamy and playful in nature, engaging with themes of identity, memory, and escapism.

In 2017, Rashi moved to the unceded territories of the Musquem, Squamish and Tsleil Watuth nations to pursue a Bachelor's degree from SFU in Film Production and Media Arts. She is now living out her lifelong dream of being a full time artist. Some recent award winning projects that Rashi has shot are the films Glitter Loop (2023) and Egg Yolk Custard Bun (2025).

‍

jaz is a mixed secwe̓pemc & scottish interdisciplinary artist who embodies anti-professionalism & anti-colonialism as a way to move toward a future where indigenous knowledge and ways of being are not only respected but valued & revered. using a range of materials, forms and mediums they work to investigate and express their lived experience and understanding of spirituality, resistance, ancestral connections, and community care.

jaz’s ancestry ties them to cstálen “adams lake” in unceded secwepemcúl’ecw in the southern interior of so-called “british columbia” where they had the privilege of being raised close with the lands and waters within their territories & beyond, and it informs their work expansively.

living predominantly on the west coast since 2017, the bulk of their work has bloomed within the traditional territories of the Skwxwú7mesh, Səl̓ílwətaʔ, xʷməθkwəy̓əm, and Stó:lō where they have been overwhelmed with the warmheartedness, & generosity of the host nations and allied communities

elika mojtabaei الیکا مجتبائی (she/her) is an Iranian-born Canadian costume designer, writer, editor, and translator. She lives and works on the unceded stolen traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, colonially known as Vancouver. She is an Artistic Associate with The Biting School; and co-founder of the No Small Feat Collective. 

‍

The movement and stillness of bodies, the power and limitations of material, and the joys and tribulations of colour inspire her. She is interested in surrealist gestures and hints of magic realism. She works with prints and textures, and the poetry of the unsaid. She enjoys delving deep into the psyches of characters and delivering an outward expression of that which exists just beneath the surface. With a creation process that revolves around extensive research and worldbuilding, she is fascinated by the potential of costumes and language interweaving to create themes and frame thoughts.

‍

Lincoln Woo (He/They), a Vancouver-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, and mixing engineer, stands out in the music industry for his versatile sound, skill and warmth of character. Starting his professional career in 2018 as a session bassist for the Juno award-winning indie rock band "Said the Whale," Lincoln quickly became a permanent member, earning the opportunity to showcase his talent on several North American tours, in support of bands like "Mother Mother" and "Tokyo Police Club" as well as on the band's latest recordings. In early 2023, Lincoln also began working with artist indie "Noble Son"as a session drummer, guitarist, vocalist and tech designer.

‍

As a solo artist, Lincoln handles all aspects of his music, from writing, and playing instruments to recording and mixing. Known for his self-taught skills and passion for experimentation, Lincoln is committed to pushing musical boundaries.

Eris Fitz-James is a Filipinx-Canadian artist who currently works and resides on the unceded lands of the Coast Salish peoples—Squamish, Stó:lō, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam Nations. They are a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores themes of identity, pre/post colonial histories of the Philippines, as well as Filipinx/Canadian relationships. They enjoy creating works to heal, uplift, and bring people together through food, comedy, illustration, performance, animation, and ceramic sculpture.

Ivan So is a multidisciplinary artist, graphic designer, and educator who is currently working in Vancouver, BC. He has exhibited artwork at the Audain Gallery and created graphic art for Arts Club, Vancouver Playhouse, Gateway Theatre, and more. Ivan’s art practice focuses on mental health, empowering the marginalized, and environmental justice. As an educator, he is interested in integrating good pedagogy in his work and encouraging the use of art to deliver meaningful messages. Ivan So studied at Simon Fraser University and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He is currently studying Graphic Design and UX/UI design at British Columbia Institute of Technology and will be continuing his education in the Professional Development Program at Simon Fraser University.

‍

Ivan has been his skills in three areas: Visual Arts, Graphic Design, and Education. He believes that the skills learned through experience and education have propelled him forward to see how interconnected the disciplines are. The creativity required to create lesson plans and the necessary steps to produce art and designs that are accessible to everyone is integral to his work.

T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss (Skwxwu7mesh, Sto:lo, Hawaiian, Swiss) is an educator, interdisciplinary artist and Indigenous ethnobotanist engaged in community based teaching and sharing. Throughout Wyss’s 30 year practice, Wyss’s work encompasses storytelling and collaborative initiatives through their knowledge and restoration of Indigenous plants and natural spaces. Wyss has been recognized for exchanging traditional knowledge in remediating our relationship to land through digital media, site-specific engagements and weaving. Wyss has participated and exhibited at galleries, museums, festivals and public space such as Vancouver Art Gallery, Morris, Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Contemporary Art Gallery and the PuSh Festival to name a few. Their work can be found in various collections such as the National Library of Canada, Special Collections at the Walter Phillips Gallery, and the Vancouver Public Library. They have lead the transformation of Semi-Public (半公開) during their Fellowship at 221a and they are the 2021 ethnobotanist resident at the Wild Bird Sanctuary. They have assisted in developing an urban Indigenous garden currently showing at the 2021 Momenta Biennale in Montreal.

Cat Sylvia Blackwell is an English PhD student at UBC focusing on the Medical Humanities and Trans Studies, with influences from Rhetorical Studies, Literary Studies, and Philosophy broadly.

‍

Cat spends much of her time with a variety of organizations, activists, academics, and artists working towards social change in Vancouver and beyond. She works as an interdisciplinary artist, a teaching and research assistant, an organizer, and frequently as a bureaucrat and grant writer. She is currently the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for Vines Arts Society, an arts organization and festival that is responsive to and nurturing of artists who are working toward land, water, and relational justice.

‍

She received her MA in English from the University of British Columbia in 2025. She received her BA in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Writing and a minor in Social Science from the University of North Texas in 2023.

Elora Bascello is an Anishinaabe Kwe lawyer and member of Fort William First Nation with mixed Italian heritage. She is dedicated to representing Indigenous peoples and advancing Indigenous rights through her legal practice.

Elora holds a Bachelor of Business Management and a Juris Doctor, both from the University of British Columbia. Her unique background in business and law enables her to bring a comprehensive perspective to her advocacy work.

Currently based on the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, Elora combines her lived experience as an Indigenous woman with her legal expertise to champion justice and self-determination for Indigenous communities.

iskʷist kalli van stone, in sqilxskʷist spyu7. kn sukʷnaqin naɬ Secwépemc. kn sqilxʷ tl nkmplqs. kn lim̓ t i čkʷul̓m̓ tqiltk i tmxulaxʷ, uɬ i psnqsilx uɬ mpnunm i sqilxʷcawt. Kn ximink iʔ qwymncut, nqwənim, qymin uɬ nsyilxcn naɬ secwepemctsín. kn ckwul i t̓xtmist i qsapicawt, uɬ ckwul i apana t sxlxalt naɬ tpsciɬ.

My name is Kalli Van Stone, or spyu7. I am syilx and Secwepemc from the north end of Okanagan Lake. I am grateful to work on the land, with my relatives, learning about sqilxʷ ways of life. My practice includes dancing, singing, writing songs and poems in my ancestral languages, and blend our oldest truths, current realities and visions of the future. My work is about taking care of oneself through the ways of long ago and making something for tomorrow. I have worked in cultural education, community engagement and language revitalization for over ten years and have experience in grant writing and project management, and an interest in uplifting indigenous pathways to accessing the arts. 

Kalli Van Stone

Paul Lang is an artist, HIV activist, and media producer who has worked with artists, choreographers and producers both nationally and internationally. He was a board member for Video Inn, Out On Screen, grunt Gallery and Unit/Pit gallery. He curated video programs for Out On Screen and for the Vancouver Film Festival. In the 90’s he produced and director for television programs SPLAT, a program showcasing animation and Kink, an early reality TV program. Paul Lang and Grant Gregson created the Electronic Arts Festival to provide a platform for artists of various disciplines to showcase works involving early computer activity.