Jenelle Pasiechnik has been the Curator of Contemporary Art at the Campbell River Art Gallery since 2018. She lives and works daily on the unceded, traditional territories of the Liǧʷiɫdax̌ʷ speaking people; the Wei Wai Kai, Wei Wai Kum, and Kwiakah First Nations. Pasiechnik is a Settler curator of European descent. Through a research and relationship based approach, she works to ensure that diverse communities see their experiences reflected in the cultural offerings of the institution. She builds good relations by working in consultation with Liǧʷiɫdax̌ʷ Knowledge Keepers to ground exhibition work on the territory, and works to decolonize the institution and curatorial practice by re-examining current practices, who they are meant to serve, and adapting practice to respond to the needs of artists and communities. Jenelle aims to create impact through exhibitions and programs that support the resurgence and celebration of diverse cultural perspectives, and the recovery of erased histories. Jenelle completed her Masters in art history and visual studies at the University of Victoria on the unceded territories of the Lekwungen speaking peoples of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, in 2015. Her thesis examined the work of Parviz Tanavoli, transnational and post-colonial frameworks for studying art histories, the rich artistic traditions of West Asia, and contemporary West Asian artists of the diaspora living and working in Canada.

Born in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke), Sara Lopez Assu received post-secondary degrees from Marianopolis College and Concordia University, in Commerce and Urban Planning. She worked in child development, communications, and academic counseling for many years following her schooling. A desire to raise her kids (Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw and Nuu-chah-nulth) in community, immersed in their culture, led her to move to Campbell River, the traditional territory of the Liǧʷiɫdax̌ʷ people, in 2016. Since then, Sara has been engaged in the community through volunteer Board and governance work and a career in communications and corporate social responsibility. Since 2020, Sara has been the Executive Director of the Campbell River Art Gallery. The Gallery already had a social justice direction and a goal to decolonize its practices and structures under a new Strategic Plan. Sara took this to heart, and has been working tirelessly to turn these vague principles into concrete action and organizational accountability towards reconciliation: crartgallery.ca

Lead Facilitator – Art Hive (Campbell River Art Gallery) and Creative Director – Walk With Me. Born in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke), Nadine Bariteau is a queer cross-disciplinary artist and descendant of European settlers whose practice is rooted in printmaking, installation, video/sound and community based research. She completed a Bachelor degree in Visual Art at Concordia and a Master degree in Visual Art at York University. Nadine has been a print-based advocate and teacher in diverse art institutions for the past 15 years (Ontario College of Art and Design University, York University and North Island College fine Art). She also presented her work across the country and beyond.

Shawn Decaire descends from the We Wai Kai tribe of the Laxwaxdaxw Nation. In 1999, after years of struggling with addiction, he found himself homeless on the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. This moment was a catalyst in changing his path. He found his way home shortly thereafter and began to learn his cultural ways in arts and songs.

Over the last 20+ years he has learned to carve, make traditional bentwood boxes, design and paint in his cultural way, process animal skins to make traditional leather and hand drums, and harvest and gather traditional foods and barks. All these practices were taught to him by different Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw Elders.

Since January 2021, Shawn has been working closely with the street community, running a warming centre. Through this, he also began working with Walk With Me and the Campbell River Art Gallery, advising on cultural safety and traditional knowledge.

Walk With Me is an arts-based community action project that seeks to uncover the human dimensions of the toxic drug poisoning crisis as it has unfolded locally in Campbell River. Within and through it, a group of artist-researchers, front-line workers and people with lived and living experience have banded together, attempting to come to terms with the impact of the crisis on individuals and community groups through a practice of story sharing. Presenters for this project include Dr. Sharon Karsten: Project Director & Community-Engaged Researcher, Elder Barb Whyte: Heath Advocate & Traditional Knowledge Keeper, and Christopher Hauschildt: Research & Operations Coordinator.

Dr. Sharon Karsten is a cultural and community development researcher and practitioner. She completed her PhD through Simon Fraser University’s School of Communication—focusing on cultural policy, cultural mapping, and community transformation. After defending her dissertation and after many years as Executive Director of the Comox Valley Art Gallery where she oversaw extensive growth, Karsten initiated Walk With Me in 2019 in partnership with community. Throughout her extensive career, Karsten has served in leadership roles within cultural organizations, championing and developing programs rooted in anti-oppression principles and systems-change.

Elder Barb Whyte has been part of the Walk With Me team since the project’s inception. Barb is carrier of the Coast Salish Healing Wand. She is a descendent on the Pentlatch people on her father’s side; her mother was adopted from the residential school orphanage system into the Sahtloot people—the highest-ranking tribe in the K’omoks Territory. Barb comes from Chiefs lineage on both sides of her family. Her grandfather was the appointed chief of the Pentlatch people. Barb has worked in health, has been a nurse by trade for 48 years, and has witnessed a drastic change in the picture of health since the COVID-19 pandemic, with particularly devastating impacts on mental health. She has served over the past four years as the Voice for the Vulnerable Population on the Primary Care Network developed by the Division of Family Practice.

Christopher Hauschildt is a passionate activist who believes that access to mental health, housing, and alleviation from addiction is a human right that all deserve. He feels blessed to be able to use his lived experience to help foster a better future for those who struggle. He has also begun working for AVI Health and Community Services through his association with Walk With Me since joining the team in 2021.