Prairie Outdoor Exhibition
Art at Folk Fest comes in all shapes and forms – from the music on stage to the creative wardrobe of the crowd – we welcome it all! The Prairie Outdoor Exhibition is an interactive outdoor art gallery at Folk Fest.
Applications CLOSED
Our theme for 2023 is Prairie Sky. Long horizons and expansive skies are one of the best parts of the Prairies.
The sky is woven into the festival experience. From the early morning sunrise over the campground, to blue skies above the daytime stages, to the sunset glow on Main Stage and finally the moon and stars, and if we’re lucky, the aurora borealis lighting up the evening.
2023 Artists
Keep your eyes open for installations that will inspire and delight festivalgoers young and old.
A labyrinth, unlike a maze, is made up of one continuous path leading to the center without obstacles. Designed as a tool for healing, meditation and contemplation, the labyrinth is an ancient and mysterious symbol. Walk its pathways with a conscious and watchful soul and it will become a place of rewarding self-discovery.
James Culleton is a Canadian contemporary multi-media artist and designer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He specializes in drawing, sculpture, and furniture design. His work has been exhibited throughout Manitoba, across Canada and into the United States.
Aspen Grove with Lichen: a hand-felted wool installation that is entirely Manitoban, combining local wool dyed with plants from our garden.
Wool Mountain is where you find Mindfulness is in The Making. Our specialty is 200+ unique breeds of wool from near and far but we also offer a variety of hand-crafted and hand-dyed goods, and weaving, felting and handspinning kits and workshops.
The prairie night sky provides awe, wonder, and magic. This piece offers an opportunity to explore different perspectives of the Northern night sky, including Indigenous, European, and Asian. Viewers will be invited to reflect upon our understanding of what lies beyond our own small blue dot and the wonder and unknown that still remains.
Alison Foster is an Artist and Art Educator in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Instagram: @alisonlff_art
Welcome to the Cosmic Circle! To be terrestrial is to be celestial--nowhere is this more apparent than in the Prairie Night Sky. Enter the circle, find your place within the stars and know that you are home in this big beautiful wild cosmos!
Alexandra Ross is an emerging artist and curator living in Woodridge, Manitoba. Her current practice explores the intersection of land and colonizer identity. In her new body of work which includes cultivating new ritual practices, letter writing and visual explorations of themes, Alexandra interrupts her participation in systems of oppression by tying an off-grid lifestyle into a season specific and relational aesthetic art practice for the next 5 years.
My Amma and Granny used the lunar cycles as reminders to check in on loved ones. While gazing upon Celestial Cycle I invite you to take the time to warmly check in with whomever you may be sharing this moment with, or motion inwards and allow yourself a moment to check in with yourself. Some creative processes are memories come to life to be shared with others.
Laura Lee Harasym and Andre Péloquin-Hopfner are creative partners as well as life partners. Laura Lee is an established visual artist and commission painter based in Manitoba. André Péloquin-Hopfner is a Francophone artist, photographer multi-instrumentalist (Mountain Seed) and digital art creator. Together they inspire one another in many collaborative artistic endeavours along with life as a whole.
Inspired by Manitoba’s provincial flower the Crocus Tent is a handmade floral haven where festival goers can soak up the sights and sounds under the shade. Visit at night when the flower lights up reflecting the energy of the night and illuminating its quiet mysteries.
Karen Wardle is a Winnipeg-based sculptor and painter. Her work has exhibited in group shows and solo shows across Canada. Wardle maintains an interest in the complexities of human ecology and challenges associated with gender politics and the semiotics of the feminine.
The aesthetic of shared public space has always been the Prefab’s focus, and the outdated modernist view of the city is their access point. These public installations raise questions of right or wrong, shared environments, appropriation vs. reclamation, and the changing tide of youth empowerment.
Cyrus Smith is a Canadian visual artist residing in Winnipeg, MB. Having an extensive background in street art, Smith borrows from popular culture and addresses several themes throughout his work. He has been involved with numerous exhibitions, public art, and performance projects. Smith has given lectures and workshops detailing the risk of alienation and suppression of Graffiti Art. His work is included in collections worldwide.
Woodland Animals is a celebration of the animals living under the PRAIRIE SKY at Birds Hill Park. Each piece is brought back to their natural habitat in the form of woodland animals playing amongst the trees in the park.
Amber Green is a graphic designer and proud two-spirited Métis with a great love for the outdoors. Amber followed in her father's footsteps and started woodworking as a hobby, allowing her to be hands-on in the creative process. Amber uses wood and other materials that her father no longer needs for his cabinetry business. She takes pride in reclaiming scraps that would otherwise be tossed away to create her own beautiful pieces of art.
Instagram: @stoneandcolour
Prairie Sky Portal is a welcoming and magical arch for prairie folks to rest, play, story tell and dream as they gaze up through the portal opening to the ever-alive sky above. Celebrate the magic of the Folk Fest sky with loved ones and fantastic friends.
Boyd is a land-based artist currently based on the East Coast of Canada. Boyd’s early life was mostly lived outdoors, the natural beauty that surrounded her shaped her identity and art practice, drawing her to handmade objects and how they are made. The places she has lived inspire her work and inform her constant need to connect; person, place, and object. She is ever seeking a natural place to rest which drives her to create the world in which she wishes to belong and thrive within.
Instagram: @gracewboyd
Make a design, carve or cut your linoleum and spin the wheel on the press: experience the tradition of relief printing by creating your own fine art lino-cut print. The workshop is open to people of all ages (children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult).
Martha Street Studio is a community-based printmaking facility, located in Winnipeg's Historic Exchange District. It offers the artistic community equipment, facilities and support to produce, exhibit and disseminate contemporary and traditional print-based artworks on a local, national and international level through classes, outreach programs and gallery sales.
For this installation, I included my love for birds, wheat pasting, photography, graphic design and simple animation. Using the help from the wind, when rotating, it gives you the illusion of a flying bird. Most of my inspiration comes from traveling, meeting new people and experiencing cultures from around the world. If you have the chance, smile or wave at a stranger and see what happens. That has been the start to some of my favourite adventures.
Marc Kuegle is a self-taught Cree/ German artist from Canada. He fuses photography and digital art together as his main mediums and on occasion, includes music and animation. He has shown his work in various cities across Canada and internationally. Marc currently has an installation at The Forks along the Nestaweya River Trail during the 22/23 winter season. His art can create a curiosity for exploration or it can bring back old memories of adventure and travel.
Ceramic turtle shells inspired by the prairie sky carry land knowledge from Indigenous elders on how humans can live in harmony with the environment around them. Read the teachings and interact with the turtle shells by placing them in creative land formations.
KC Adams is Anishinaabe, Niheyew and British, and a registered member of Fisher River Cree Nation. She considers herself a relational maker, a creator whose work connects to Indigenous axiology and epistemology––recognizing her role as an educator, activist, community member and mentor. Adams creates work explores technology and its relationship to her Indigenous identity and knowledge systems.
This beaded bird trio are perched waiting to be discovered. Reflect upon the beautiful colours of the birds and plants. Enjoy the prairie skies, the warmth of the sun, the kiss of the wind and the smell of the rain. May the birds bring you joy and a dose of dopamine.
Mona Eva Moquin was born and raised in a big Métis family in La Broquerie, Manitoba. She is a proud Métis woman, a teacher, an instructor, and an artist.
Manitoba Museum Planetarium Astronomer Scott Young and the local astronomy club will bring telescopes to the festival. This year, the evening sky holds Venus and Mars, the Milky Way, and some of the brightest star clusters and nebula. The Moon rises about midnight on the first night of the festival, right next to the planet Saturn. See the rings of Saturn up close, learn about constellations and discover the cosmos. They will bring equipment that is wheelchair friendly and suitable for all ages.
The viewer is invited to engage with the artwork to capture and transmogrify through the ‘eye’ of the piece and in the moment. Experience the continuously changing and shifting patterns, shapes, and colors of the natural environment.
As long-time creative partners and collaborators in both art and in life, Glen and Charlene strive to engage in the act of creativity - independently, collaboratively and collectively - via whatever medium, means and methods that best speaks to their desire to visually illustrate and communicate their vision, experiences, and philosophies on life, living, and the world around them.
Stage MURALS
GREEN ASH
What’s Your Frequency? by ML Kenneth
SPRUCE HOLLOW
Blue Morning by Julia Dennis
SNOWBERRY
Wildflowers by Alison Froese
LITTLE STAGE IN THE FOREST
Box Car by Ian August and Temperance McDonald
SHADY GROVE
Folks in the Front Row by Dan Saidman
BUR OAK
Band by Elizabeth Yonza
CHICKADEE BIG TOP
Oak Tree by Alison Froese and David Foster
BIG BLUESTEM
Untitled by EN MASSE