THE ARTIST COLLECTIVE

 Beshel Francis is a current graduate student at the University of Alberta, studying Theatre Practice with Community-Based Theatre as area of Specialization. He is an Ebonylife Creative Academy trained screen Actor and an Alumni of Del-York Creative Academy. He holds a B.A in Theatre and Film Studies.He is an Actor, Choreographer, Singer, Voiceover Artiste and a Community Theatre Practitioner.  With over a decade in Theatre and Film Industry and Community Development, he has graced the stage in numerous productions, with awards under his belt. 

Following his passion for Community Development, He is a Community Outreach Associate with the Ribbon Rouge Foundation- working towards the promotion of social and health equity among the ACB community in Alberta. Beshel is a committed and reliable individual with the zeal and drive to evoke social change.

 Elsa Robinson is a Jamaican - Canadian multi-media artist who uses painting, collage, textile art, sculpture, poetry, installation, dance and theatre to ‘speak’ to audiences from her cultural inheritance. Her art practice is guided by the principles of liberation, equality and justice for all people. Elsa’s decades-long devotion to artistic practice has imbued her work with vibrancy, versatility and an intuitive spiritual poignancy through which she transmits her deep love and care for humanity. Elsa holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts in Art and Design from the University of Alberta and the Master of Fine Arts from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She received the 2012 Fill Fraser Award for Outstanding Work in Visual Arts, from the National Black Coalition of Canada. In 2022, Elsa was shortlisted for the Eldon and Anne Foote Edmonton Visual Arts Prize, and she was presented with the The Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal (Alberta). Elsa is a passionate arts educator who facilitates workshops for artists of all ages and experience levels. 

 Lebo Disele is a theatre-maker with a focus in movement, acting, directing and dramaturgy. Her performance credits include The Wolves (Maggie Tree/Citadel, 2022), Breaking Ground (Mile Zero Dance, 2022), The Space Between (Expanse Festival, 2022), Antidote to Violence as Care (Brandon Wint, 2022), and All That Binds Us (Azimuth Theatre, 2020). Her directing credits include Hyena's Trail (Here for Fear Collective/NextFest, 2023), Ayita (SkirtsAFire, 2022) and Mango of the Dead (Mythic Works, 2022). 

Mpoe Mogale (they/them) reigns from Lebowakgomo, South Africa and splits their time between amiskwaciywâskahikan and moh’kínst’sis, in the colonial state of Canada. They hold a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Political Science, and a wealth of expertise in community-based research, facilitation, and arts administration. 

Mpoe’s primary artmaking form is dance, with a curiosity in the place of Blackness in spaces that deny it, as explored through several projects including "What (Black) Life Requires" (produced by Mile Zero Dance and Azimuth Theatre). Mpoe’s current artistic imaginations have centered the brilliant and joyous aspects that foreground the lives of Black folks.

Noreta Lewis-Prince was born in Jamaica where she taught youths music, drama, dance,  poetry. She won the JCDC Gospel Festival Competition in 2000 with the song "I'll Make it Through the Valley ". She now resides in Alberta, Canada. She works with Engagement Lab-Theatre of Alberta,  Third Space Playback Theatre Company, Inspiration Drama Company and Ribbon Rouge Foundation Artspace Theatre Team. She also teaches Music Therapy and is the founder of a Youth Dance Group Chi-Fire Dancers (named after her nephew, Chiyano;  who was murdered in Jamaica)

Noreta is a singer and a Music teacher by profession and taught in the public school in Jamaica for 8 years before migrating to Canada. Noreta continues to sing and teaches online.

Raneece Buddan is a Jamaican visual artist who resides in Treaty 6 territory, Amiswaciwâskahikan (Edmonton). She immigrated to Canada in 2015 and completed her BFA in Art and Design with Distinction at the University of Alberta in 2020. Raneece has been exhibited throughout Alberta at the Art Gallery of Alberta, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Stride Gallery, SNAP Gallery and more, as well as, internationally through Artsy and in New York and Vermont. She has completed Artist Residencies in Salem, New York and Mandelieu-La-Napoule, France.

Her practice is an ongoing journey, learning more about her cultural identity as a Jamaican woman reconnecting to her Afro and Indo-Caribbean ancestry. This is done through material exploration and textile research. She shows the beauty of merging these cultures while also addressing the connection one loses generationally to their ancestors as a result of slavery and indentured servitude in the Caribbean. Textiles play a major role in her work representing each ethnicity. Combined with incorporating synthetic hair and skin complexions, she touches on the roles colourism and texturism have played in racial identity and beauty standards in Jamaican society and these ethnic communities. As a multidisciplinary artist, Raneece finds joy in a well-rounded practice of oil painting, woodworking, clay sculpting, resin casting, printmaking.

 Shaihiem Small is an artist currently based in Edmonton Alberta, originally from Toronto Ontario. Shaihiem is a MacEwan Fine Arts graduate and has participated in multiple pop-up art shows across the city and the group show Five Artists One Love hosted at the AGA. His art explores themes concerning the ethos of cultural identity and the sublime nature of expanding universal consciousness in connection with an individual. This artist is currently balancing a fine art and tattoo career in his community of Edmonton.

 Yasmine Lewis-Clarke started acting in Jamaica, her home country.  Yasmine migrated to Canada in 2012. She started her acting journey again in 2016 when was introduced to a company by the name of Inspirational Drama Inc. In 2022 she started her journey with the ArtSpace Theatre Team. “I work with some amazing people and there is never a dull moment when we get together. I am looking forward to a bright future with this team and anticipate what is next. 

My background in playwriting stems from conventional training in the classroom and through mentorship under renowned Ghanaian playwrights. I eventually developed an affinity to unconventional writing methodologies such as Automatic writing with a focus on creative fluidity. My creativity leans towards enhancing the effectiveness of creative works in challenging status-quo, social reforms and enhancing positive political action. I seek to delve into the soul of African Aesthetic expressions of tradition and ritual through literary works. I have a total of four full length plays to my credit and notable among them is Another Dance in the Rain which was workshopped at the Factory Theatre in Toronto in 2016, and Whispers from the Night workshopped at the University of Ghana Theatre Arts Department.

I consider myself a Playwright, Dramaturg and Performance artist. I locate my works within Afrocentric paradigms, indigenous philosophies and pedagogies, postcolonial politics, and decolonial thoughts.

Tope is a Nigerian born artist whose love for creativity began very early on in his life when he was introduced to the art of sketching, painting, and reproducing images in elementary school. Tope’s creativity grew into a passion for the arts in general, dabbling in performance and visual genre before settling with photography.

Tope has explored the world from behind the lens for over 15 years in multiple countries across continents. Tope’s work largely covers moments and memories on life’s journey.

Tope is part of artists’ collectives across Alberta, sharing and exploring the influence of art in community development which he has committed to volunteerism and in 2021 was recognized for his contributions in the community building and advocacy space by the Government of Alberta. (2021 Alberta Northern Light Volunteer Award)

Tope had his solo Photo Exhibition Light In Darkness in summer of 2022 and one of his work, recently won the People’s Choice Award at the InFocus Photography Exhibition 2023. https://www.infocusphoto.ca/

Tope’s professional career aside the arts, includes being a Business Analyst and Process and Performance Specialist, he is also the Co-founder of Hexagon Wellness Solutions.