A Big Welcome
to the 2022-2024 Artist as Changemaker Residency Cohort!
In September 2022 the Trico Changemaker Studio, in partnership with the Calgary Arts Development, welcomed 6 new artists and 2 returning artists to the Artist as Changemaker Residency program.
The Artist as Changemaker Program (AAC) is a 2 year program, ending in May 2024. The aim of the Residency program is to expedite the capacity of socially engaged artists to create meaningful social change. The program is created for and by artists. Through a residency, in partnership with local organizations, artists explore the relationship between the artistic process and social innovation as a means to discover unique and creative ways to address complex social challenges.
Ado Nkemka
I’m a writer/journalist/editor and musician (performing under the name AN) with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. I’ve got a distinct dark timbre and in-your-face vocals. Based in Calgary, AB, both self-taught and formally trained, my sound is inspired by late 90's and early 00's pop, R&B, and soft-rock radio. I’ve performed at community events including Action Dignity’s Universal Human Rights Day event in 2021, a Black History Month Showcase hosted by The Alcove in partnership with the Calgary Separate School District in 2022, and played Calgary’s beloved Sled Island 2022. I am working with The Alcove Centre of the Arts.
Apiow Akwai
I’m an emerging visual artist based in Calgary, Alberta. I discovered my passion for arts at the age of six. What started as a creative and emotional outlet led to my deep respect and appreciation for the arts. I first became interested in pursuing a career in visual arts after attending my first exhibition devoted to Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio at the National Gallery of Canada. Caravaggio’s style incorporates raw and haunting emotions that resonate deeply with me as a person and as an artist; greatly inspiring my work. My work primarily consists of portraits, landscape, and human figures that are created in oils and acrylics on canvas. I am working with the Centre of Newcomers.
Louie Fermor
I’m a trans nonbinary artist and writer of English-Scottish descent residing in Moh'kins'tsis (Calgary), on Treaty 7 Territory. I have provided artwork and writing for venues and publications in Moh'kins'tsis, Tkaronto, and New York. In 2018 I was a resident with the New York University Summer Studio Program and was a finalist for the 20th Annual RBC Painting Competition. In 2019 I participated in the Calgary Allied Arts Foundation Residency at cSPACE King Edward and the inaugural Momus Emerging Critics Residency, in Montreal. Also, in 2019 I was announced as one of the runners-up for the Canadian Art Writing Prize. I am working with Rainbow Elders.
MelVee X
I’m a queer Black (out)spoken word artist, burlesque performer and photographer who was born and raised in Mohkinstsis. Out of the muck of living in a hostile and racist society, the lotus of my unapologetic dedication to speaking truth to power and looking damn good while doing it emerged. I am dedicated to inspiring marginalized people to tell our own stories from our own perspectives. I am working with Action Dignity.
Shumaila Hemani
I have a , Ph.D. and am a Alberta-based singer-songwriter, acousmatic composer and community-engaged artist sculpting with sounds of the environment and addressing the climate crisis in the world. The Cultural Diversity Award winner released my debut album, Mannat (2022) which was applauded as “powerful” in evoking a spirit of perseverance in supporting victims of climate disaster in Pakistan and featured on CBC’s What on Earth, Edmonton Journal, and Calgary Herald to name a few. I sing and write songs in four languages: English, Urdu, Sindhi, and Arabic and my primary influence is Sufi sounds of South Asia and experiences drawn from my life and that of the life of the communities I am connected with. My composition, Perils of Heavy Rainfall received Second Prize in the Listening During COVID contest curated by the Canadian Association of Sound Ecology (CASE) and my poem: Living with Purpose was nominated for the Alberta Magazine Awards in Poetry (2022). I spoke at the first-ever music climate conference in Toronto (2022) and has been invited to join the Creative Climate Leadership Program (2023). I am working with Alberta EcoTrust.
Stephanie Banszky
I’m a visual artist, dancer, youth leader, community activator, advocate, craftivist, graphic designer and social change maker living and working in Calgary, Canada. I have been actively mentoring youth and adults to be leaders and share their voices since 1998! Growing up with refugees, feminists, and female Albertan “Maverick’s,” in my family, I have been passionate about volunteerism, community development, helping others and advocating for change since I was very young. I became a facilitator of youth advocacy and female empowerment groups at just ten years old and then taking on my own unit as primary group leader in 1998. I graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts and began working with youth full time as a teacher. I am working with the City of Calgary Village Square Community Hub.
Tito Gomez
I am from the Chippewa-Cree & Tohono O’odham nations. While living in Calgary for the past 10 years I have worked in the communities in Dover and Forest Lawn helping out as much I can in community events. I wrote and directed two short films called The Healing and Love of Two, which both could be watched on YouTube. When I’m not busy with a community project, developing film projects, I could be seen at Pow wows and round dances all over Alberta. My vision is to start changing the way First Nations people are portrayed in film and media. I am working with Deaf and Hear Alberta.