Seeds of Change: Speaker Series

Dr. Lisa Boivin is a member of the Deninu Kųę́ First Nation in Denendeh (Northwest Territories). She is the Indigenous Educator at University Health Network and The Center for Wise Practices in Indigenous Health’s (Ganawishkadawe) at Women’s College Hospital in Tkaronto (Toronto). She creates arts-based curricula for healthcare researchers and providers, using participatory image-based workshops to educate about the colonial barriers Indigenous patients navigate in the current healthcare system. Lisa has researched and developed educational materials for multiple Senators, CIHR Scientific Directors, hospitals and academic institutions. She is an award-winning author and illustrator of We Dream Medicine Dreams, and I Will See you Again. These two books educate young readers about the power of land-based wellness and healing. Lisa has also authored and illustrated chapters in several medical, arts humanities textbooks. She strives to humanize clinical medicine as she situates her art in the Indigenous continuum of passing knowledge through images.

Photo credit: Dana Prieto

Lisa Myers is a curator and artist with a keen interest in interdisciplinary collaboration, her research focuses on the varied values and functions of elements such as medicine plants and language, sound and sense. Through many media and materials including video, audio, printmaking, digital arts and socially engaged art approaches, her practice examines place, underrepresented histories/present/futures, and collective forms of knowledge exchange. As an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, Myers holds a York Research Chair in Indigenous Art and Curatorial Practice, is the coordinator of the Environmental Arts and Justice program. Myers is a member of Beausoleil First Nation and is based in both Toronto and Port Severn, ON.

Photo credit: Shelby Lisk

Bonnie Devine is a visual artist, writer, and educator. An off-reserve member of the Anishinaabek of Genaabaajing (Serpent River) First Nation on the north shore of Lake Huron, Devine’s work emerges from the storytelling and image-making traditions that are at the root of Anishinaabe culture. Her cross-disciplinary practice combines written, sculptural, painted, and performative gestures to explore issues of land, treaty, and history. Though formally educated in sculpture and installation art at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD U) and York University, Devine’s most enduring learning came from her grandparents, who were trappers on the Canadian Shield in northern Ontario.

Devine’s installation and video works have been shown nationally and internationally. Public acknowledgements of her practice include an Eiteljorg Fellowship Award in 2011, an Ontario Lieutenant Governor’s Heritage Award and OCAD University’s Distinguished Research/Creative Practice Award in 2019, and a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2021. She is an Associate Professor Emerita and the Founding Chair of the Indigenous Visual Culture program at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto.

Photo credit: Shelley Niro

Elwood Jimmy is from Thunderchild First Nation, a Néhiyaw (Cree) community in the west central region of what we now refer to as the province of Saskatchewan. He is a writer, artist, curator, and organizer, who has worked in the arts for over 25 years, in leadership roles in many different national and international collaborations and projects. He is currently the Curator of Indigenous programs with the Musagetes Foundation.