Public Art Roster
2025-2027 Public art roster
Afagh Advay is a sculptor and visual artist born in Tabriz, Iran, now based in Burnaby. With over 18 years of experience in public art, sculpture and ceramics, she draws inspiration from Persian miniature paintings and traditional carpet motifs. She has learned her craft experientially through various workshops. Afagh has created over 40 permanent ceramic relief murals in public spaces such as Tehran Metro stations and cultural institutions in Turkey. Her work reflects cultural narratives, human connection, and nature, thoughtfully integrated to engage diverse audiences. As an educator, Afagh has led workshops and taught ceramics and sculpture in various universities and cultural institutions across Iran and Turkey.
Moozhan Ahmadzadegan is an artist based on the unceded and traditional territory of the Syilx Okanagan people, commonly known as the Okanagan. He received a BFA from the University of British Columbia, Okanagan with a major in visual arts and a minor in art history and visual culture. His work explores Iranian diasporic and queer themes, most often engaging the mediums of painting, screen printing, textiles and installation. Moozhan has participated in the BCAC Early Career Development Program under the mentorship of Tania Willard and received a Canada Council Concept to Realization grant. In 2025, he was awarded the 9th Annual Tanabe Prize in the emerging artist category.
Hana Amani is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, jewellery designer and cultural programmer based in Vancouver. Her practice weaves together themes of ancestry, feminism and Asian Futurism through performance, sculpture, design and storytelling. She has a background in Visual Communication Design and Curatorial Studies from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. As a jewellery designer, she specializes in Sri Lankan sapphires, pearls and custom pieces that blend traditional craftsmanship with a futuristic edge, leading to "wearable stories." Hana has collaborated with leading art institutions to conduct curatorial research, public programming and community engagement She is committed to creating accessible and meaningful cultural spaces.
Cherry Archer is a Black-Latinx, Trinidadian-Canadian, Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist whose practice delves into the intricate relationship between humanity and nature. Cherry's work is informed by ecological awareness and explores the positive effects of nature on mental, physical and emotional well-being. Botanical Ice Tiles, is an ongoing series exploring botanical elements within ice, creating visual narratives to capture a balance between transition and preservation. Her photography has garnered international attention, appearing in Human, the 10th issue of the prestigious Prix Pictet photobook celebrating sustainability and photography, as well as in the 2022 botanical issue of PhotoEd Magazine.
After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in visual arts from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in 2019, Adriele Au has won the People’s Choice Award in 2021, during the ArtRich exhibition held at the Richmond Art Gallery. Born and raised in Vancouver B.C, she has recently participated in the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair 2024, and has been in involved in commissioned projects with individuals and multinational corporations like Amazon and Google. Informed by her experiences as a caregiver, her works made from found objects explore the meaning of home, time and memory. She currently lives in Burnaby, BC.
Margaret August is a two-Spirit, Coast Salish artist and is a member of shíshálh Nation. Born in 1983, in the traditional unceded L ək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ territories, now referred to as Victoria B.C, Margaret’s work is inspired by the archival art pieces of their ancestors in combination with their spiritual encounters with nature. Margaret was introduced to Coast Salish art through the late Tlingit artist Mark Preston in 2016; which lead them to seek mentorship by Coast Salish artist Dylan Thomas from 2016-2023. Some of their artistic influences include renowned Coast Salish artist Susan Point, Dylan Thomas and John and Luke Marston (Coast Salish). They practice in multiple mediums such as serigraph and giclee prints, glass, cedar sandblasted pieces and following into advancement with wood carving.
Dan Bergeron is a Toronto-born and based artist who creates large-scale murals, functional sculptures and photo-based works. Blending street art aesthetics and a deep engagement with communities, Dan’s work employs urban visual culture’s immediacy to foster reflection upon issues of personal identity, social relationships and the spaces that we collectively inhabit. His projects are site-specific: the shape and texture of a wall, the history and human uses of a location, or an individual’s connection to a place dictate its content, placement and form. Dan has installed uncommissioned works in cities around the world including London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Paris and Amsterdam.
Ben Bogart (they/them) is a neurodivergent non-binary agender adisciplinary artist working for 25 years with generative computational processes (including physical modelling, chaotic equations, feedback systems, evolutionary algorithms, computer vision and machine learning) and has been inspired by knowledge in the natural sciences (quantum physics and cognitive neuroscience) in the service of an epistemological inquiry. Ben has produced processes, artifacts, texts, images and performances that have been presented at galleries, art festivals and academic conferences in Canada, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Turkey, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Brazil, Hong Kong, Norway and Spain.
Steven Brekelmans received a Diploma in Media Arts from the Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and a Masters of Fine Art from the University of Victoria. Through both a studio and public art pratice, his work includes sculpture, ceramics, video, photography and drawings where he investigates the value of labour and worth, the legacy of modern art, and the specificity of living and working within Vancouver and its histories. Steven has exhibited in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, with his most recent exhibition at the Monica Reyes Gallery in Vancouver. His work is held in both private and public collections.
Ghislain Brown-Kossi is a French born artist whose work bridges archaeology, symbolism and contemporary aesthetics. His artistic approach, defined as "Archaeological Pop Art," merges the historical depth of ancient symbols with the vibrancy of modern abstraction. Ghislain explores how symbols transcend time and cultural shifts, engaging with their enduring power and their impact on contemporary design, branding and digital culture. Ghislain has also had a distinguished career in fashion working with a renowned French luxury brand, styling for fashion magazines and designing for film. In his work, clean lines, layered textures and striking color contrasts create a dialogue between the past and the present, tradition and innovation.
Xinwei Che creates site-responsive installations, photography, and films with clay, medicinal herbs and water to expand our experience of time. Her works change gradually and cyclically, inviting viewers to slow down and reflect on the impermanence of our material world. Che lives and works in Vancouver, BC, the traditional and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. She holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design (2015) and an MFA from Emily Carr University of Art & Design (2022). With support from the National Arts Council of Singapore, Richmond Art Gallery and Shumka Centre, Che has collaborated with communities to create works that explore collective memory, ecological history and tactile communication. Che is also a sessional faculty at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
Jenie Gao (they/she) runs an anti-gentrification arts business, specializing in printmaking, public art, social practice and community storytelling. They consult for cultural organizations and the public sector on equity and ethics. Gao pulls from personal and professional experiences as a descendant of Taiwanese and Chinese immigrants and working-class immigrants. Through their cross section of experiences, Gao has become attuned to issues of artists’ labour, cultural power and institutional accountability. She runs a paid apprenticeship program and has thus far mentored 25 emerging artists. Gao has a BFA in Printmaking/Drawing from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Gao is a TEDx Madison speaker and gave a talk entitled The Power and Purpose of Creativity.
Jordanna George is an artist and emerging curator of mixed T’Sou-ke and Ukrainian ancestry. Originally from Sooke, BC, they now live on the unceded territories of the ‘xʷməθkʷəy̓əm(Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh(Squamish), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and kʷikʷəƛ̓əm(Kwikwetlem) nations in Coquitlam, BC. They received a BFA from the University of Victoria in 2019 and have since then primarily been making comics and illustrations, exploring themes of identity, belonging and hope, and pulling influence from Indigeneity, queerness and science fiction, with a graphic novel coming from Conundrum Press in 2026. The rest of George’s artistic practice involves painting, sculpture and textiles, following similar themes to their illustrative work. They curated XIÃM, an exhibition about Indigenous comics, for the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art in 2024 and have led numerous comic-making workshops. They are passionate about uplifting marginalized voices and decolonizing art spaces. They can be found at jordannageorge.com and on social media as @raebirdart.
The experience of viewing an artwork outside the walls of an art gallery aligns with Cheryl Hamilton's personal values of inclusivity, diversity, interaction and integration of art in everyday life. Burnaby’s desire to use art to brighten or deepen residents and visitors experience is an effective way to bring together community and create a better sense of belonging and place. She would approach a commission from the public art call with this principal at the top of her intentions. Hamilton develops art concepts by drawing upon decades of public art discourse and a high degree of craft. Experience and skills needed for success and longevity is considered before she begins a public artwork. An open mind, considering viewer experience and creating dialogue between the artwork and the viewer are critical ingredients.
Whess Harman (he/they) is a member of the Carrier Wit’at Nation, a nation amalgamated by the federal government under the Lake Babine Nation. He resides in the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. He believes in land sovereignty for Indigenous peoples across the globe, including Palestine. He works primarily in drawing, text and textiles, is the curator at grunt gallery and an occasional editor and contributor to a variety of small publications that prioritize queer and BIPOC cultural workers and artists. Working through ideas of resistance and from the foundation of his identity as a queer, trans member of Carrier Wit’at nation living away from his territories, he considers his Indigeneity to be both a cultural and spiritual reality, as well as a political identity.
Cambium Arts Collective is a collaboration between artists Amal Ishaque and Erv Newcombe. They are based out of unceded ‘xʷməθkʷəy̓əm(Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories. For several years they have collaborated with communities to create art in various contexts, from the Downtown Eastside to New Westminster to a studio in Clayton Community Centre, Surrey, where a large scale, multimedia, public art installation celebrates the histories of Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities while orienting towards inclusive futures. Years of community engaged art practice, combined with expertise in technical aspects of public art provide a strong foundation for creating municipal public art projects that require a depth of knowledge regarding design-based approaches, mold making, safety requirements, durability and suitability of materials.
Ebony Jansen earned a BA in Art and Art History from Sheridan College and the University of Toronto, Mississauga. She works in collage, photography and print media, focusing on finding humour and beauty in the simple moments of everyday life. Her work has been exhibited at venues such as the Gladstone Hotel’s Art Bar, Black Cat Artspace, Project Gallery, Hart House’s Arbor Room, and Blackwood Gallery. Ebony's latest body of work explores storytelling and personal history through the lens of the pandemic. Created as a means of play, therapy and a cure for loneliness, this series delves into themes of heartbreak and the experience of rediscovering a city in solitude.
Sandeep Johal is a Canadian visual artist whose practice engages drawing, collage, textiles and large-scale murals. Through her Indo-folk feminine aesthetic, she confronts themes of bleakness, despair and ugliness with their dissonant opposites: brightness, hope and beauty. Johal’s work typically centers around the stories of women and while she highlights female suffering in its many forms, these are ultimately stories of resistance and resilience. Johal has worked on a number of notable site-specific commissions with the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver Mural Festival, Burrard Arts Foundation and Indian Summer Festival. Her clients include Apple, the Vancouver Canucks, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Holt Renfrew and Estee Lauder Canada, as well as the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University.
Keerat Kaur is a Canadian-born, Sikh-Punjabi artist with a background as a licenced architect (OAA). Her work takes shape through the disciplines of painting, sculpture, writing, music and architecture. Drawing inspiration from spiritual poetry, she employs the art of metaphor and symbolism to revolutionize our relationship to nature and spirituality. Her aesthetic sensibility lies within a realm where the ordinary merges with the dreamlike. Kaur’s work is rooted in the written word, serving as a pivotal starting point. Having a passion for languages, she is able to read, write and speak Panjabi, French and Hindi. She is currently learning the Shahmukhi script and is studying the ancient language of Braj through the examination of historical Sikh texts.
Nicole Larsen is a Vancouver-based muralist, artist, illustrator, graphic designer and the creative behind Ripple & Rise. With over a decade in the design industry, Larsen has cultivated a deep passion for art and creative expression. Larsen believes in the power of art to bring people together and create a sense of connection. Larsen's work is all about celebrating joy, community and the little moments that make life meaningful. Larsen is inspired by the emotions we all share, the beauty of everyday life and the natural world around us. Larsen's visual style is shaped by their deep connection to nature, their Japanese-Canadian heritage and a love for bold, vibrant colours.
Growing up in both Hong Kong and Canada, Dawn Lo is an artist that currently resides in Burnaby, BC. Lo tends to create quirky and whimsical works that are inspired by little moments from everyday life with a nod to the Asian diaspora. Her work has appeared in picture books, zines, stationery, public art installations and more.
Michael Love is an artist, photographer, curator and educator living and working in the ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Love was the co-founder and curator of Gallery 295, an exhibition space which amplified emergent photographic practices. His art practice has largely been in dialogue with the histories surrounding the Cold War conflict, with a focus on the remnants of militarized sites. His work has been published in Esse, Next Level, Prefix Photo and BlackFlash magazines. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the Roloff Beny Travel Fellowship (2009), BC Arts Council Project grant (2014, 2017, 2020), the Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation Grant (2010, 2020). Michael has exhibited his work both nationally and internationally.
Wen Wen (Cherry) Lu is a multimedia artist interested in exploring the hidden, the small and the forgotten through installation, illustration and animation. Taking inspiration from her family history, she seeks to combine it with the present experiences of culture, nature and community to create something that questions. Her work has been installed in spaces such as parks, bus stops, walkways and hidden in nooks and crannies. For example, The Seed of Happiness, 2021 for Port Coquitlam Public Art, Isolated, 2020 with Vancouver Public Art and Hidden Stories, 2019 at Richmond Nature Park. She graduated from Emily Carr University with a Bachelor’s in visual arts in 2017 and has been a visual arts instructor at Shadbolt Centre for the Arts.
Kate MacDonald is a multidisciplinary artist based in Vancouver, Canada. Her paintings, digital collages and videoart have been exhibited throughout North America and Europe. Her series of Last Meals paintings - what she believes may be her most important work - have been featured in Wired and international editions of GQ magazine. She has been recognized as a Top Ten digital artist in international competition by the Los Angeles Centre for Digital Art three times - in 2012, 2017 and 2024. She shares a studio and collaborates with artist Les Sears as K8L35.
Born 1992, Tiohtià:ke/ Montréal, Bosny is interested in how images are fabricated across various media and has been actively experimenting in muralism, printmaking, papermaking and graffiti. Having found education at an all boys’ high school rigid and lonely, as a teenager he took drawing and painting courses at Atelier de Brésoles before enrolling in fine arts at Dawson College, during which time he began painting murals. After painting 400+ sq. ft. murals, working at Galerie Bellefeuille and co-founding Galerie LOCK, Bosny attended NSCAD in printmaking, ultimately completing a degree at Concordia University. He now makes art full-time, working primarily as a mural artist while focusing on indoor media such as printmaking and papermaking during the colder months.
Sora Park is a Korean-Canadian interdisciplinary artist living on the traditional territories of the Qwó:tl'el (Kwantlen), q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), Máthxwi (Matsqui) and Se’mya’me’ (Semiahmoo) First Nations, also known as Langley, British Columbia, Canada. She received her BFA in Photography from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver and an MA in Fine Arts from Bergen Academy of Art and Design in Bergen, Norway.
Marian Penner Bancroft is a Vancouver artist active since 1969, working primarily with photography, text, video, sculpture and sound. She studied at the University of British Columbia, the Vancouver School of Art (Emily Carr University) and Ryerson University (Toronto Metropolitan University). Bancroft’s recent work addresses issues of landscape, material culture, public and personal histories and the construction of the visual imagination. Public Art commissions include LOST STREAMS (Vancouver 1995) ROOT SYSTEM (Vancouver 2006) BOULEVARD (Vancouver 2014) WINDWEAVEWAVE (Burnaby 2019) and REFUGE/LODGE (Vancouver 2023). Bancroft was the 2009 recipient of the City of Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award for Visual Art, the 2012 Audain Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts and the 2018 Overseas Photographer Award at the Higashikawa International Photography Festival in Japan. She has taught at NSCAD University, SFU and is a Professor Emerita at Emily Carr University of Art+Design.
Atheana Picha is a Coast Salish artist belonging to the Kwantlen First Nation. She carries the name Xwii Xwa meaning "echo" given to her by her uncle Sulksun, Shane Pointe, from Musqueam. She also carries the name Nash'mene'ta'naht meaning "go-getter woman" given to her by Saa Hiil Thut, Gerry Oldman, from St'at'imc Nation. Atheana is a multidisciplinary artist working in 2D and 3D media, such as printmaking, painting and wool weaving. Atheana began learning wool weaving in 2020 from Musqueam weaver Debra Sparrow. In 2018 she began working with Aaron Nelson-Moody on Coast Salish design, wood carving and some silver engraving. Atheana is the two time recipient of the YVR Art Foundation emerging artist scholarship and recipient of the YVRAF Bill McLennan Masterpiece Study Program.
Angie Quintanilla (keen-tah-knee-yah) Coates is a visual artist born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, based in Port Moody, BC. When she’s not in her studio, she can be found exploring the nearby ocean and mountain trails. Coates didn’t discover her art practice until later in life. Growing up in Mexico, art seemed like a luxury and certainly not a viable vocation. She took the ‘practical’ path, acquiring a BA in International Relations. Not until coming to Canada and finding sobriety did she return to art, realizing that creating had never been a luxury. It’s a necessity. A deeply curious artist, her work is deeply influenced by her cultural heritage and personal journey. Through bold color and geometric forms, she creates compositions that radiate joy and an unapologetic, relentless optimism. This is a nod to her Mexican roots and an invitation for anyone who needs it, to get a dose of what she likes to call dopamina mexicana.
George Rahi is an artist and composer based in Vancouver, unceded Coast Salish territories. His work spans installation, instrument making, composition, solo and ensemble performance and works for radio, theatre and public spaces.
Mustaali Raj is an independent visual artist and designer with a multi-disciplinary practice. Along with celebrating and advocating for diversity in the creative sector, Mustaali’s creative approach centers around community building, elevating concept and designing for social good. Being both a third culture kid and an avid traveller, his sense of belonging extends well beyond geographic boundaries. This multi-faceted sense of belonging and experiences play an important role in exploring intersection of identities through his work. He is a circle, living in a square, drawing triangles.
Erick Ramos is an artist deeply committed to crafting rhythmic compositions that transform everyday moments into gently otherworldly scenes. In his work, the mundane blossoms into extraordinary, vibrant communities.
Jessie Sohpaul (b. 1991, Vancouver, BC) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work bridges inherited cultural histories with contemporary expression. His work explores identity, migration and cultural storytelling, blending South Asian motifs with contemporary street culture. Rooted in Punjabi heritage, Sohpaul engages with themes of colonialism, casteism and classism, using bold, graphic visuals to shed light on injustices past and present. As a first-generation Punjabi artist raised in Vancouver, his practice navigates the tension between tradition and reinvention, bridging the inherited and the imagined. Storytelling is central to his work, drawing from oral traditions to explore shared human desires for connection and belonging. Through painting, typography and public installation, he reinterprets traditional symbols in contemporary settings, transforming spaces into sites of dialogue and inclusion.
Carmilla Sumantry is an interdisciplinary creative based in Vancouver, Canada, specializing in 3D art, animation and creative technology. Her work, described as “surrealist dream states and visions of alternate realities,” explores the intersection of art, technology and human experience through an existential lens. Drawing from her second-generation Indonesian-Canadian heritage and queer identity, Sumantry examines the impact of digital technology on social and psychological life, emphasizing the importance of nuance and diversity in a divided world. Her work has been showcased internationally, including Gallery TPW, Wonderfruit and Superchief Gallery. She is also a co-founder of Chroma Link Collective, creating immersive and interactive installations using emerging creative technologies.
Taryn Walker is an award-winning queer, interdisciplinary mixed-Indigenous artist of Nlaka'pamux, Syilx and European ancestry currently based in the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh and Səl̓ílwətaɬ Nations. Their work explores themes of futurity, spiraling time, utopia, tenderness, playfulness, healing and cycles of life and death through drawing, printmaking, installation, video and sound. In 2018 Walker graduated from the University of Victoria's BFA program with a Major in Visual Arts and a Minor in Art History & Visual Studies. In December 2024, Walker completed their MFA at Simon Fraser University in Interdisciplinary Contemporary Arts. Notable recent achievements include receiving the SSHRC award (2023), and a research residency at the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) which included mentoring with Koichi Yamamoto (2024).
Janet Wang is a visual artist and educator working within a traditional painting practice, integrated with sculptural installation practices and digital media. A second-generation settler of Chinese heritage, she is based in Vancouver, Canada, the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. The artist received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia and her Master of Arts in Studio Practice from the University of Leeds in England. She is an Associate Professor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. The artist’s practice explores the construction of identity through the appropriation and disruption of social patterns and familiar gestures. The artist pays homage to the canons and traditions of history, both the artistic and the quotidian, in order to use the familiar as a meeting point with the viewer.
Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun (he/they) is an artist and storyteller from the Snuneymuxw First Nation in Nanaimo, BC. His family has roots in Penelakut and in Hupacasath. His interdisciplinary art practice is rooted in honouring and celebrating the stories and teachings passed down by his family, communities and culture. He works across a range of mediums, including digital art, painting, sculpture, installation, creative writing and curation. An award winning artist, his work has been exhibited internationally across Canada, the United States and England. He graduated with a Master's of Fine Arts degree from Emily Carr University in 2023. He currently resides on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Peoples.
Marlene Yuen 袁慧嫻 (she/her) is a second generation Chinese-Canadian visual artist who lives, works and makes on the unceded and ancestral home territories of the xwməθkwəyə̓ m (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl ̓ ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Her practice varies from illustrations, prints, comics, zines and handmade books. She has also created artworks about Vancouver’s historic Chinatown and Chinese Canadian labourers for museums, galleries and public art programs. Her mural, The Journeys Here, will be part of a traveling exhibition, Odysseys and Migration, at the Royal BC Museum in 2025 and Barkerville Museum 2026. Marlene is also a parent and has worked on artworks, residencies and endeavours pertaining to labour and caregiving.
Karen Zalamea (she/her) is a Filipino-Canadian artist, educator and cultural worker. Her photographic projects have received support from the Canada Council for the Arts, British Columbia Arts Council and Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. Karen is the recipient of the Prefix Prize and the Barbara Spohr Memorial Award for Photography and she has attended artist residencies in the Philippines, Iceland and Canada. Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions and as public art projects across Canada and internationally. Zalamea holds an MFA from Concordia University, Montreal and a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver. Zalamea was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada and now resides in Burnaby, on the ancestral and unceded homelands of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples.
Stella Zheng is an illustrator who graduated with a BFA (2020) from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Since graduating, she has been working as a freelance illustrator and her work includes package design, editorial illustration and painting. Zheng’s practice utilises a mix of traditional and digital tools to create illustrations that explore the complexities and multifaceted stories of Chinese culture and identity. Her interests lie in portraying narratives that are often ignored in Western media.