About

Victoria Hutt is a visual artist, designer and writer living in Florenceville-Bristol, NB. Project manager of the Canadian Crafts Federation/ Fédération canadienne des métiers d’art, a national service organization championing Canadian craft, Victoria is a NSCAD design graduate and former executive director of The Andrew & Laura McCain Art Gallery. Victoria is experienced in arts administration, not-for-profit management, community development, and highly involved in wellness and food security initiatives in her community.

Mélanie Parent is a visual artist from the Restigouche are and member of the Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick. She attended Université de Moncton in Visual Arts and McKenzie College of Art and Design. Her works have been presented in multiple solo and collective exhibitions throughout the province. As a professional in cultural community development, she now owns and operates her own multidisciplinary artistic center. Mélanie is a founding member of the executive committee for the BDC Symposium, which was realized in 2014.

Domenic Bro is an active Acadian director and media producer from Tracadie. Mostly self-taught, he is quickly becoming an important figure in Acadian contemporary culture. With his brother François Pierre, they form the duo Les frères Breau, which has created more than 300 videos since 2010 (documentaries, video clips, commercials, short films, etc.).

Jennifer Stead is the Director & Curator of the Andrew & Laura McCain Art Gallery in Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick. She holds a Master of Fine Art, Chancellor’s Gold Medalist from the University of Calgary, an Art Education Diploma from McGill University and a BFA from NSCAD. Along with a successful professional art practice, Ms. Stead has over 25 years of art education experience. Her work is represented in many private, public and corporate collections nationally.

Hubert Francis hails from Elsipogtog Mig’Mag Indian Reserve. Eaglefeather, an internationally award winning rock group lead by Hubert Francis, has been around since 1990, setting itself apart by its unique sound combining traditional chants and contemporary rock. Hubert has also been a cast member of a production titled DRUM! for over 10 years. A musical production based out of Halifax N.S.,produced by Brookes Diamond, DRUM! tells through song and dance the story of the Acadians, Celts and Black cultures and the history of how they came to be in the Maritimes and how the Mig’Mag people have contributed to their survival on this land.

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.

A resident of New Brunswick for over 13 years, Darren McLeod has worked in the not-for-profit sector for most of it. He is the current Executive Director of the New Brunswick Medical Education Foundation, an organization dedicated to attracting back and retaining New Brunswickers wanting to attend medical school and practice in the province. He was previously involved in development, fundraising, communication, marketing and stakeholder engagement for the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation, the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and the Canadian Council on Learning.

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.