The New Brunswick Arts Board is an arm’s length arts funding agency with a legislated mandate to facilitate and promote the creation of art as well as administering funding programs for professional artists in the province.
Darren McLeod lives in Saint John where he serves as senior development and fundraising professional at the University of New Brunswick. He has broad experience in development, fundraising, communication, marketing, and stakeholder engagement for the not-for-profit sector. He has previously worked at the New Brunswick Medical Education Foundation, Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation, Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, and the Canadian Council on Learning. His voluntary board work has included AIDS New Brunswick and the City of Saint John Community Arts Board where he served as chair for three years.
Jason is a classically trained singer-songwriter and a founding member of the ECMA-nominated band Spoutnique. He has performed as soloist in several operas in NB, was part of Star Académie cohort in 2012, is a recipient of MusicNB’s People’s Choice award, and has participated in the touring production L’Acadie, un pays qui se raconte. Currently recording his first solo album, Jason is also president of Productions 11 Inc.
Phyllis Grant is a Mi’gmaq artist from Pabineau First Nation. Her works include animated films, poetry and music, as well as paintings and illustrations. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally. Her film credits include, among many, Maq and the Spirit of the Woods with the NFB as director, writer and animator, and I Place You Into the Fire as illustrator. She is the founder of the Welneweg Arts Collective, and has served as juror for the Polaris Music Prize and the Prism Prize. Phylllis holds a Bachelor of Integrated Studies from UNB with a certificate in Leadership Studies.
Jalianne Li is a multidisciplinary artist with a focus in dance. Of mixed Chinese and Scottish descent, she is based in Moncton. After obtaining her bachelor in science, she studied dance at Trinity Laban and apprenticed with Springs Dance Company (both in London, England) and founded surFace Dance in 2012. An artist in dance, theatre, and circus, she has also performed with Satellite Théâtre, Theatre New Brunswick, Connection Dance Works, Circus Stella, and Danse En L’Air. Jalianne is currently the Dance representative for the Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick.
Domenic Bro is an Acadian filmmaker and content creator from Tracadie. Mostly self-taught, Domenic formed, with his brother François Pierre, the duo Les frères Breau, which has created a few hundred videos since 2010 that have been seen around the globe, online, on TV, and on the big screen (documentaries, series, music videos, short films, etc.). In a short time, he has become a significant figure in Acadian contemporary arts and culture.
Vanessa’s poems and short stories have appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies, and her first collection, Our Extraordinary Monsters, has been published. She has worked on Qwerty and The Fiddlehead, for Goose Lane Editions and was artsnb Deputy Director for several years. Vanessa currently sits on the board of the Frye Festival and works as Senior Creative Writer at m5 Marketing Communications. She completed her MA in creative writing at the University of New Brunswick.
Dr. César Suárez is a Venezuelan-Canadian classical musician, with a doctorate from Michigan State University. He has more than thirty-five years of successful performing, teaching experience and orchestra conducting in different countries. In Venezuela, César was notably the Orchestra Conductor, viola and violin teacher of Sistema Monagas and the Monagas State Symphony Orchestra Conductor in the city of Maturín from 2009 to 2017. Since 2017, César has resided in Canada where he has worked as the orchestra conductor of Sistema New Brunswick, Saint John, and the Saint John Youth Orchestra.
Jennifer Bélanger (Moncton) is a professional artist, cultural worker and associate professor of visual arts at the Université de Moncton. Her artistic practice, although mainly focused on printmaking, is interdisciplinary and includes drawing, video and painting. Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions across Canada. She has been guest curator at the Owens Art Gallery at Mount Allison University, the Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen Art Gallery, the Musée acadien de l’Université de Moncton and the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Prince Edward Island. She also worked as program coordinator at Galerie Sans Nom and as director of the Imago printmaking studio from 2000 to 2019. Bélanger holds a BFA from the Université de Moncton and an MFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
Ysabelle Vautour is a visual artist who is also the founder of the NB Disability Art Collective. Ysabelle has served as artist in residence at the Fredericton Arts Alliance, Fredericton Botanical Gardens, Connexion Artist-Run Centre, and Hammock Residency in Vancouver. Recipient of the Jane Leblanc Award in Visual Arts, she also starred in an episode of the AMI-tele documentary series titled 100% Passion. Ysabelle is an alumna of Festival Inspire Muralist Training Program, Sync Leadership, and Catapult Art Accelerator.
Lori-Jean Wallace, Director, Arts and Culture Branch, Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture
Jean-Pierre Caissie, Executive Director, New Brunswick Arts Board
The New Brunswick Arts Board is an arm’s length arts funding agency with a legislated mandate to facilitate and promote the creation of art as well as administering funding programs for professional artists in the province. It also provides advice to government, through the Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, on policy development respecting the arts and on matters relating to the arts.
To obtain further information, visit the government’s web site or contact the Chair or Executive Director.