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A quarterly newsletter dedicated to all things arts and culture in the NWTMay 2026
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What’s happening at the NWT Art Centre Initiative?
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What the NWT Art Centre Initiative has learned from recent capital projects across Canada Over the past few months, NWT Art Centre Initiative staff have been learning from other recent arts+culture capital projects across Canada. Some of these are new buildings, and others are renovations, expansions, or reimaginings of existing facilities. We looked at projects that have been completed in the last 10 years, ones that were planned but never completed for some reason, and others that are currently at various stages in planning, development, or construction. Our team has learned a lot so far from speaking with these projects about their experiences. We’ve also been able to visit some of these new facilities in person. For example, Project Director Adrian Bell had the chance to visit two galleries in the lower Mainland, BC: The Polygon in North Vancouver and the Gibson Art Museum at Simon Fraser University. The Polygon is around the size in square feet that the planned NWT Art Centre will be and it’s located in a vibrant and busy area right on the water at Londsale Quay. Adrian had the chance to see the exhibit Photolithics by 2025 Sobey Prize winner Tania Willard. The Gibson on the other hand is located on a university campus, but has unique spaces like the Test Kitchen that brings together researchers, thinkers, and community members in a space designed to facilitate interdisciplinary public conversations In March, Art Centre Development Specialist Sara Komarnisky visited galleries in Toronto, Hamilton, and Kingston. She met with the team at Mabelle Arts, a deeply community driven arts program with a beautiful small and newly built multi-use facility in a neighbourhood park. She had the chance to tour the beautiful light filled and open redesign of the Gardiner Museum with CEO Gabrielle Peacock. The redesign features a new Indigenous gallery of ceramics called yelákhwaˀ (a word in Oneida that can be translated as container – “one uses it to be in”). Yelákhwaˀ was designed by Chris Cornelius (Oneida) and curated by Francesca-Herbert Spence (Anishinaabe). A stunning large scale ceramics installation Uncertain Ground by Linda Rotua Sormin was another highlight of the visit. In Kingston, Sara met with staff from The Agnes, which is currently under construction. She also visited the Outdoor Indigenous Gathering Space at Queen’s University, just down the road from the Agnes. In Hamilton, Sara met with staff at the Hamilton Children’s Museum, and visited the Art Gallery of Hamilton (which had incredible exhibits of artwork by Shary Boyle and Ruth Cuthand on display). We have also met virtually with institutions across the country, like the Arts Centre at Cedar Hill (Saanich, BC), Audain Art Museum (Whistler, BC), Beaverbrook Art Gallery (Fredericton, New Brunswick), the Canadian Canoe Museum (Peterborough, ON), and the Place des Arts (Sudbury, Ontario). We’ll be continuing these meetings over the coming months as we continue to work towards our own new building! If you’d like more information about what we’ve learned, please get in touch. As well, if you know of an art gallery or museum that we should check out, let us know! Finally, thank you, mahsi cho, quyanainni to all of the organizations we’ve met with so far for taking the time to meet with us!
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Public Calls & OpportunitiesCheck out these amazing opportunities for northern artists, and let us know if you have a public call to share!
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The NWT Arts Program, through the Artist to Market Program, is calling for applications from Northwest Territories visual artists who are ready to show and sell their artwork at markets outside the territory. There are five (5) different market opportunities for NWT artists this year: CRAFTED: Show and Sale (Winnipeg, MB, November 6-8, 2026) Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week (Vancouver, BC, November 18-21, 2026) OddBird Art & Craft Fair (Edmonton, AB, November 27-29, 2026) Adàwàning: Indigenous Women’s Art Market at the National Arts Centre (Ottawa, ON, December 5-6, 2026) Assembly of First Nations Special Chiefs Assembly, Circle of Trade (Ottawa, ON, December 8-10, 2026)
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Calling Beaufort Delta artists to participate in the 37th GNAF in Inuvik, NWT from July 8-13, 2026. Their gallery will be open daily from 10AM-6PM - where a host of workshops, artist demonstrations, performances and panels will take place, with events celebrating different mediums each evening! The theme of this year’s festival is Gathering: gathering is how we share knowledge, memories, and time with one another; it’s how traditions are passed down, friendships are made, strengthened, and our sense of community grows.
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Drawing on ideas of speculative futures, science-fiction, myth-making and world-building, artists are invited to research, imagine and create possible selves and possible worlds, exploring concepts of embodied futurity. In this program, the concept of futurity is considered as an anti-oppressive and restorative force – of hope and possibility. By decolonizing ideas of the body as defined by Eurocentric and heteronormative conditions, new possibilities of selfhood, agency and self-reclamation are considered. Visual Arts residencies at Banff Centre are structured programs of faculty-led activity and mentorship, supporting project-based studio practice. Participants will be mentored by accomplished faculty through research, experimentation and hands-on learning.
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Upcoming EventsCheck out these upcoming arts events in the NWT, maybe we’ll see you there!
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The theme of this year’s Great Northern Arts Festival is gathering, chosen because it reflects the spirit of Inuvik. A place where people, stories, and the land come together. Gathering is how people share knowledge, memories, and time with one another. It’s how traditions are passed down, friendships are made, strengthened, and our sense of community grows. Gathering also speaks to the abundance that surrounds people. Under the midnight sun of Inuvik, the tundra comes alive with berries, plants, and wildlife. People and animals alike gather what the season offers, reminding people of the deep connections between community, culture, and nature.
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Folk on the Rocks is one of Canada’s top summertime music and cultural festivals, drawing performers from the NWT, Nunavut and all across Canada for the North’s biggest party under the midnight sun. More than 35 hours of programming on six stages, including a children's area and a beer garden, promises fun and enjoyment for all ages. Along with the music, crowds can savour international and traditional cuisine at the food fair, check out non-profit groups and activities, and buy Northern creative works in the artisan tent. Come delight in this musical offering and be a part of the magic as performers from all over Canada and the world create and collaborate in the biggest artistic jam in the North.
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From its inception, the Open Sky Creative Society has held an annual summer festival in August on the flats at the confluence of the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers in Fort Simpson. This annual event hosted a series of workshops, musical performances, craft vendors and artists’ demonstrations.
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NWT Artist SpotlightsCheck out the work of these awesome northern artists, and let us know if you have an exhibition or event you’d like to share!
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Yellowknife Visitor Centre Gallery, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Opening event on June 6, 2026 Working in large-scale pen and ink drawings, Cutler presents detailed and esoteric reflections of the world through the lens of graffiti, memorabilia, franchise, cartoon, and psychedelia. His nuanced and overwhelming pieces situate modern northern life’s dichotomies in grim humour and damning insight.
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National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Opening event on June 11, 2026 Qillaniq is an Inuktitut word describing how light from the sun or the moon shimmers brightly when reflecting on water. It is also the name of an upcoming art exhibition celebrating the shimmering light of circumpolar artists, co-curated by an all-Indigenous team from across the circumpolar world. The artworks celebrated in this exhibition are multi-vocal, multi-disciplinary and improvisational, inspired by Indigenous values of contributing to community in as many ways as possible. Qillaniq is an expression of radical joy, an exploration of what the artists tell us is possible in our communities, of holding space for the people who change our world – despite not always fitting into the norms of colonizing institutions – a celebration of those that share love as an answer to difficulty. Qillaniq, that shimmering on the water, that bright light honours the circumpolar world's badass artists that tell us all that our existence is enough. NWT artists featured in this exhibition include: Darcie Bernhardt, Maureen Gruben, Kablusiak, Melaw Nakehk’o and Margaret Nazon!
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2222 Hi-Rez NDN: The Cyberpunk Smoke Signals of Morgan Zoe - Morgan ZoePrince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Opening event on June 25, 2026 Morgan Zoe is an Indigenous Futurist who depicts rez life in the 23rd century. A Tłı̨chǫ artist from Behchokǫ̀, Zoe understands quite viscerally the famous William Gibson quote: “The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed.” Morgan’s ink and coloured pencil drawings show upcoming technologies melding with Native values in the far north, a place where they’re still waiting for a railway.
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Get In TouchJoin us for updates about arts and culture opportunities in the NWT
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