Meet our Art Buddies!

Through social art, Melanie Schambach (she/they) invites the public to challenge the narratives of identity, belonging, and social transformation through participatory painting. As an Artivist Melanie acts against injustice and oppression by raising social and environmental awareness through participatory creative expression. Pushing the edges of one's imagination, Melanie's arts practice wants to mirror what evolution is possible. For more information, visit www.melanieschambach.com

My name is Gaia Lukomska-Peart. I’m a 25 year old Registered Early Childhood Educator and an Artist. Art has been a passion of mine ever since I was a toddler. I love doing realistic and surrealistic artwork using Acrylic Paints and Pencil Crayon. I also have a love for mixed media and sculpting. After graduating high-school, I completed 1 year of my Bachelor of Art degree at Georgian College. Then switched to my Early Childhood Education diploma. My love for teaching children has also always been a passion of mine since I was 13 years old. I now have the privilege and opportunity to help children ignite their incredible talents and creativity everyday! I’m very excited to work with GNSC and become an Art Buddy. I look forward to meeting new people with their incredible ideas and amazing skills.

Hi, My name is Braydan and I am 14 years old! 

I enjoy Video games, late nights out with friends and I may not be the best at art but I'm ready to learn different strategies!!

Kavi (she/her) is a media artist and arts-based facilitator. In her work, she looks at the human condition and hopes to agitate people to explore inward within themselves. She believes in the extraordinary power that seemingly ordinary stories hold when they are shared. She is the founder of the Leaders of Today Program which works to create space for youth community engagement and activism through arts-based storytelling. 

Christina (she/her) uses creativity and artistic expression as a way to communicate. It helps her through the journey towards good mental health, healing, and growth. She is looking forward to meeting you!

I’m Manny (he/him). I’m a former basketball player turned artist. More accurately, I’m an artist turned basketball player, now an artist again. 

I’m Nigerian, born with the gift of artistic talent since I was a child, left Nigeria for NY at 14 years old because I was 6’6ft tall, and played ball up until University when I stopped due to injuries. While I played ball, I made art in High school and Studied Art and Marketing at the University of Guelph (class of 2022). Art for me has been a way to connect, and bond with people I call family today. I believe art is the most potent form of communication, as pure as it gets. Most of my art is a quest for beauty, but every now and then, the trauma that has shaped my understanding spills out, and I let it.

I believe that my art is still evolving, and I admit I’m not sure where it’s going. But if you hang around, we’ll find out together. I’ve worked with a lot of wonderful clients, including people you may know like; Allan Houston (for NBA basketball lovers), and Stu Lang (for the University of Guelph, Lang School of business grads, or Gryphon’s Football lovers). I also sold out during my last two shows; one at the University of Guelph in 2020, and another in New York in 2021.

Maeve (they/she) is a queer interdisciplinary artist living in Guelph, ON. They explore anxieties, emotions, and their surrounding urban and natural landscapes. Exploring their own limits and capacities, they venture into the world as a sensitive receptor and create scenes of the world they experience and the worlds they imagine. They work primarily in painting, sculpture, and performance. Maeve can’t wait to be an Art Buddy this year!

Alexa (she/her) holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Guelph, with majors in Studio Art and Psychology. Working primarily in drawing and painting mediums, her work extends to murals, illustration, and most recently work with textiles. Her practice revolves around the body, emotions and the psychological experience. Working through her own experiences, she explores the capacity for creating human connection and empathy within her work.

For Carla (she/her), art is like an open door. The experience of living in northern India as a teenager has shaped who she is in countless ways.

Mei Lein (they/them) is an emerging interdisciplinary artist whose practice centers around performance and interaction, with an aim to foster the connection between the viewer and artwork. Their passion for creativity fuels their eclectic ventures across music, theatre, comedy and visual arts, acting as a medium for connecting with and supporting others.

Mia (she/they) is involved with the Kortright Hill Neighbourhood Group and has been partaking in volunteering and other events/activities at the Neighbourhood Group for the past 5 years. Over the past summer, Mia was a Camp Counselor for LifeGears Academy. They enjoy creating textile art and hope to help all of the project participants enjoy their time as an Art Buddy!

Ahmri (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist, curious-hearted collaborator, and community facilitator. Her passion for spacemaking is an essential tool in both her personal art practice and her work as owner of Otherwise Studios, an inclusive studio space for art-making and community building. Ahmri uses art as a way to explore risks, play like a kid, share moments, feel things, and create space for community.

annais (she/her) is a sonic performer, social practitioner and improvisation student at the university of Guelph. she was raised in the sunny desert town of palm springs, which has shaped her dry sense of humor and love of heat. you can find her developing artistic community programming, singing, and eating pasta.

Hi there, my name is Charity (they/them)! I'm an artist, musician, community activist, wellness educator, researcher, and facilitator. I love all things that revolve around sharing and communicating ideas, especially when it involves everyone comfortably learning all together. In this sense, art has become an integral part in how I've connected and exchanged ideas with others. For myself, art has helped to support a cultivation of a free-flowing expressive space for everyone.

Ame is a passionate Inuit artist, story teller, designer and illustrator. Ame was born and raised in a little community called Pangnirtung on Baffin Island in Nunavut. Everybody up north knows him by his Inuit name, Siqiniq, but down here it’s Ame. Ame is famous for his technique of drawing simultaneously with both hands in perfect symmetry, which is why he is often referred to as 'Ame-dextrous'. He has designed many drawings and paintings, numerous logos, murals, tattoos, and animations using images from his cultural heritage. He loves to create inspiring art with kids and community members. You can catch him making art with other community members at Art Etc. or selling his paintings at the Guelph Farmers Market.

Through social art, Melanie Schambach (she/they) invites the public to challenge the narratives of identity, belonging, and social transformation through participatory painting. As an Artivist Melanie acts against injustice and oppression by raising social and environmental awareness through participatory creative expression. Pushing the edges of one's imagination, Melanie's arts practice wants to mirror what evolution is possible. For more information, visit www.melanieschambach.com