Art Pays Me

Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2025 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. Award categories are as follows: Creative Community Impact Prix Grand-Pré Established Artist Emerging Artist Black Artist Indigenous Artist And finally, The Portia White Prize that is given to a person who has made outstanding and significant contributions to Nova Scotia's creative community over a sustained career – much like the incredible woman that the award is named after. The winner will also choose a protege, an emerging artist or cultural organization that will also receive funding. Collectively, the awards are worth $75,000! Visit artsns.ca to nominate your favourite Nova Scotian artist or nominate yourself! This series would not be possible without the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz. artpaysme.com Aquakultre is the artistic voice of Lance Sampson — an uncommonly versatile singer, rapper, composer and storyteller from Halifax, NS. Since winning the 2018 CBC Searchlight competition, Aquakultre has released two Polaris-nominated albums and a multitude of genre-diverse, multi-media collaborations, establishing him as a significant musical and cultural presence. The live show is a warm-hearted party where all are welcomed by Aquakultre's big voice and bigger stage presence. Through all his works, via poetic lyrics and straight-up jams, Aquakultre is on a mission to share his love for his unique and beautiful corner of the culture.

On this episode, I chat with Cairista MacIsaac about ArtWorks East (AWE). AWE is an association of visual artists and crafters who live in Guysborough County that was founded in 2019. They welcome local artisans of all ages and levels of experience as well as those who want to support the visual arts in their area. 

Jaclyn represents fast-growing, people-focused competitive brands who are addressing the evolving consumer market. She tells stories across all media platforms for partners in industries spanning art, fashion, beauty, health & wellness, Consumer packaging goods, technology and home. Most notably having worked with Vega, Saje Natural Wellness, Russell Wilson and Ciara's fashion brand The House of LR&C, and Lyft as the first hire for the rideshare brand in British Columbia. She can be described as someone with the competitiveness of an alumni basketball player with the curiosity of a writer and aspiring disco DJ who brings big ideas to brands that do good work and win.

Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2024 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. Alan Syliboy grew up believing that native art was generic.  "As a youth, I found painting difficult and painful, because I was unsure of my identity." But his confidence grew in 1972 when he studied privately with Shirley Bear. He then attended the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where 25 years later, he was invited to sit on the Board of Governors. Syliboy looked to the indigenous Mi'kmaq petroglyph tradition for inspiration and developed his own artistic vocabulary out of those forms. His popularization of these symbolic icons has conferred on them a mainstream legitimacy that restores community pride in its Mi'kmaq heritage. Alan still lives and works in Millbrook, NS, where he was born and raised.  He creates his art in his studio in Truro, NS. This special episode would not be possible without the support of Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, and the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz.

Ariana Roberts is a Canadian makeup artist, currently based in Halifax, working primarily in film and TV. Born in Edmonton, and raised in Baltimore, Halifax and two years in Bolgatanga, Ghana. While pursuing a double major in Linguistics and Anthropology at Concordia University in Montréal, she decided to switch gears and went to makeup school at the Blanche MacDonald Centre in Vancouver. She quickly moved to Toronto and worked her way into the indie film industry, cutting her teeth working largely on horror films. After a break from film, she ended up back in Halifax and back in the film industry.

Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2024 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. Tim Crofts is a first generation Canadian of British and Indian descent. He is an improviser, a traditional non-traditionalist, and/or a non-traditional traditionalist. Tim explores the full sonic capabilities of the acoustic piano through extended techniques and a wide range of piano preparations. He is able to coax a variety of colour and extreme dynamic contrast through employing traditional and non-traditional techniques in tandem.  He has performed in numerous settings and collaborated with numerous new music, and improvised organizations including suddenlyLISTEN, Upstream, and the Creative Music Workshop. Crofts is also committed to teaching and mentoring in creative music, and the development of a personal voice.   This special episode would not be possible without the support of Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, and the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz.

Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2024 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. On this episode I spoke with musician and Prix Grand-Pré recipient, Robert Deveaux. This special episode would not be possible without the support of Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, and the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz.

Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2024 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. On this episode I spoke with Emerging Artist Award recipient, Lux Gow-Habrich (星尘), a multidisciplinary visual artist, facilitator and support worker of mixed second-generation Chinese and German heritage, practicing between Tkarón:to (Toronto, ON) and Kjipuktuk (Halifax, NS). They blend gestural, craft and creative community practices to redefine our understanding of art and cultural praxis as sacred remedial forces that can deeply transform and mend systems and relationships. Lux's interest in the body as archive, cultural objects and commemorative practices weave together complex diasporic experiences of loss and belonging, and embodied hybridization in blood and spirit - to unearth individual and collective untold stories and unspoken legacies of disabled, queer grief and empowerment. Committed to developing inclusive creative platforms, and reimagining cultural futures, Lux's practice is an expression rooted in relational and access dreaming. This special episode would not be possible without the support of Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, and the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz.

Andrea Tsang Jackson is a textile artist, quilt designer, author and educator. After working in various design fields and settings ranging from architecture to museums, the quilting medium called to her as a way to explore place, belonging, and agency. Andrea and I have now become good art friends since her first appearance on the show. This time we talked about her new book, Quilting: A Modern Creative Journey through an Age-Old Craft, making public art and a collaboration we have in the works.

Chanelle Jefferson is a Canadian mixed media artist and counsellor whose work explores themes of healing, emotion, and connection. Her art has been exhibited internationally, including at Museo Bellini (Florence, Italy), and is held in private collections such as those of Pete Luckett and the MacKay-Lyons family. She was the 2023 Artist-in-Residence at the Lunenburg School of the Arts, where she deepened her exploration of intuitive art. Through The Grief Project and commissioned works, Chanelle continues to push the boundaries of how art can hold space for transformation.

Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2024 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. This would not be possible without the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz. On this episode I spoke with 2024 Indigenous Artist recognition Award recipient, Stephanie Joline, an Indigenous filmmaker based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This is Stephanie's second time on the show so it was great to catch up with her and get vulnerable about feeling like an outsider and deserving of awards. Equally adept at film and television, Stephanie's stories provoke conversation, break boundaries, and are deeply rooted in inclusivity and feminism. Her feature films include Night Blooms (2022), a coming-of-age story set in the 1990s, and Play Your Gender (2016), a documentary that pulls back the curtain on gender bias in the music industry. Stephanie has also directed for television and streaming platforms; (Women of This Land 2024, CBC; Words Matter 2022, CBC Gem; Stream Me 2020, Amazon Prime; Farm Crime 2020, CBC Gem; Spirit Talker 2019, APTN). In 2020, she was awarded the Irving Avrich Award from TIFF, recognizing rising Canadian talent. The following year, she was long-listed for the DGC Discovery Award, and in 2022, she received Best Nova Scotia Director from Women in Film and TV Atlantic and won her first Canadian Screen Award for directing in the factual television category. Stephanie's newest releases include I Place You Into the Fire, which weaves together documentary and animation as Mi'kmaw poet Rebecca Thomas illuminates the ongoing impact of colonization and shares insight into her world as an Indigenous artist. Brought to life by three Indigenous illustrators, the film offers a poignant exploration of empathy and justice. And Women of This Land, a documentary series that spotlights the resilience and cultural richness of Indigenous women in Atlantic Canada as they share their stories of connection to land and heritage.

Aux Tale Gravy Music Group is a Toronto-based record label, dedicated to developing richness, shifting the culture and changing the status quo in world music. From their cookhouse to the world, Aux Tale Gravy's dynamic team shares a signature 'one pot' recipe of simmering spices, serving a variety of cultural music dishes that 'feed the people', everywhere. Aux Tale Gravy is passionate about working with an authentic roster of artists, creating lasting 'legacy work' preserving unique sounds in an international commercial music landscape. Our conversation revolves around the formation and vision of Aux Tale Gravy their roots in Nova Scotia. The label, founded by Reid, NIV, and Kayla, aims to support artists from diverse backgrounds, particularly those from Black and Brown communities. They emphasize a strategic approach to marketing, focusing on authenticity and cultural heritage. The label's name, Aux Tale, symbolizes elevating artists from humble beginnings to prominence. They are currently in a niche selection process for new artists, prioritizing those who align with their vision. The discussion also touches on the importance of ethical practices, teamwork, maintaining authenticity and their artist Siddartha.

Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2024 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. This would not be possible without the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz. On this episode I spoke with Established Artist Award recipient, Susanne Chui.  A central figure in Halifax's contemporary dance community, Susanne became Co-Artistic Director of Mocean Dance in 2012. With Mocean, Susanne has developed roles in works by Heidi Strauss, Serge Bennathan, Tedd Robinson, Lesandra Dodson and Claire French, and co-created Burnwater: Alchemy with Erin Donovan (Hear Here Productions). Susanne trained professionally at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and was based in Toronto from 1999-2007. During that time she danced for many independent choreographers and extensively with Yvonne Ng, with whom she toured to Singapore in 2005. She was a founding member of TILT: sound + motion dance company, where she had the pleasure of performing works by some of Canada's finest choreographers including, Robert Abubo, Marie-Julie Asselin, Bill Coleman, Lesandra Dodson, Deborah Dunn, Sasha Ivanochko, Sharon Moore, and Heidi Strauss. Since returning to Halifax, Susanne has become immersed in the dance community collaborating with dance artists Jacinte Armstrong, Lesandra Dodson, Veronique MacKenzie, Gwen Noah Dance, Phin Performing Arts, as well as with SiNS, a collective she co-founded in 2005 with Jacinte Armstrong and Sara Coffin. Susanne collaborates across disciplines, working regularly with master musician Jerry Granelli and teaching at Creative Music Workshop, an annual improvisation-based summer program. As a choreographer she has received funding from Canada Council for the Arts and Arts Nova Scotia and her works have been presented in Moncton, Toronto and in Halifax by Kinetic Studio and the TD Halifax Jazz Festival. She was the first recipient of Kinetic Studio's Explorations Choreographic Scholarship and was the 2012 recipient of the Diane Moore Creation Scholarship. In 2016 she received the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia's Masterworks Award, for her role as a dancer in Mocean's Canvas 5 x 5, choreographed by Tedd Robinson. An active arts manager, Susanne has worked in various roles in the arts community. She has served on the boards of Live Art Dance Productions, Kinetic Studio and the Legacy Centre for the Performing Arts, and participated on various committees and juries including Arts Nova Scotia, City of Halifax, Nova Scotia Talent Trust and the Canadian Dance Assembly. She is a member of Dancer Transition Resource Centre, Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists and Canadian Dance Assembly.

Elise Campbell is a multimedia artist based in Stillwater Lake, Nova Scotia. Working primarily with wool, silk, and other natural fibres, she creates sculptural pieces that push traditional craft boundaries and the limits of wool as a medium by exploring human-nature relationships through textural forms, histories, and surface design. Utilising both contemporary techniques such as needle felting and nuno felting alongside the traditional craft of wet felting, she creates work that reflects narratives of ecological movement, weaving in themes of environmental stewardship. Inspired by both found specimens and botanical watercolour illustrations, Elise's body of work is growing from fungi and algae/kelp to include historical and currently relevant ecology specimens. Elise's dedication to elevating wool fibre to fine craft is evident in her commitment to innovation and collaboration. Her work has garnered recognition and support from prestigious institutions such as the Canada Council for the Arts, The Robert Pope Foundation, and the Denis Diderot Grant, and has been showcased in galleries across Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Ontario. Through her creative endeavours, residencies, and an international felting study, Elise strives to both inspire and embrace innovation and collaboration, fostering a collective responsibility to protect and cherish our natural home, Earth. We talked about our first time meeting through an art jury, her love of felting and why she only recently started identifying as an artist. We also talk about a very raw and beautiful documentary that she starred in called Hold Fast | A Tattoo That Fits and Flows. In this award winning short film by tattoo artist, Chad Harrington Elise generously shares the journey to getting her first tattoo.

Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2024 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. This would not be possible without the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz. On this episode I spoke with Emerging Artist Award recipient, Kaashif Ghanie.  Kaashif Ghanie [he/him] is a mixed first generation Guyanese Canadian Muslim Ceramic and Visual Artist working in Kjipuktuk/Halifax in the Wonderneath Art Society KG Ceramics Studio with his partner, Kate Grey. Ghanie's art practice merges historical Islamic vessel shapes and motifs from his family members prayer rugs into a contemporary visual language. He graduated NSCAD University in fall 2015 with a bachelors degree in ceramics and a minor in art history.

Kordeena Clayton is the owner of She Nubian Liberation Art & Apparel, founder of Takin' BLK Business Initiative Co-operative, co-founder of the Takin' BLK Gottingen and Markets. A 7th generation descendant of the first African migrants to ever accompany Nova Scotia, a proud African Nova Scotian Queer Visual artist who focuses on the importance of representation of Black and Brown people; Inclusivity and self-embracement. Known for Unapologetically Black and Unapologetically Queer Apparel, photography, graphic and clothing design, film making and painting. Clayton states "Exploring the photograph archives at the Black Loyalist Centre during my art residency May 2022, I was very intrigued by the collection and the style of photography amongst the old photos. I came to the centre with an open mind towards creation and with very few ideas. The twelve portraits displayed in this piece were of the many that spoke and/or stood out to me each day I canvased the albums. Curious about their stories that I may not ever know, their presence and existence should not be forgotten and this is a way to keep them in memoriam."

Camille Georgeson-Usher, PhD, is a Coast Salish / Sahtu Dene / Scottish writer, artist, and scholar from Galiano Island, British Columbia, unceded territories of the Penelakut and Lamalcha First Nations, as well as other Hul'qumi'num speaking peoples and is the ceded traditional territories of Tsawwassen First Nation. She is Assistant Professor, Modern and Contemporary Indigenous Art at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC in the department of Art History, Visual Art, and Theory. Usher completed her MA in Art History at Concordia University. Her thesis, "more than just flesh: the arts as resistance and sexual empowerment," focused on how the arts may be used as a tool to engage Indigenous youth in discussions of health and sexuality. In addition to her academic work, she serves on several boards, currently she is: Co-Chair of the Toronto Biennial of Art; a Board Member of the Inspirit Foundation; and Secretary and Board Member of the Canadian Art Foundation. Cover photo credit Donna Usher

In this throwback to my chats with the participants in our 2023 collaborative exhibition with Haliente – Arte & Movement, I spoke with artist, Beverly McKay.

In this throwback to my chats with the participants in our 2023 collaborative exhibition with Haliente – Arte & Movement, I spoke with artist Mike Kasongo.

Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2024 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. This would not be possible without the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz. On this episode I spoke with Emerging Artist Award recipient, Jack Wong. We talk about Jack's process for producing children's books as an author and an illustrator, the meditative benefit of shooting the same basketball shot over and over and how the lessons learned from that repetition inform his art practice. We also talk about why having a certain amount of conflict with creative collaborators can actually be a good thing.