Winter Institute Events
Way Too Spirited for You | Adrian Stimson Artist Talk | February 12 | 7 PM
Open Studio | February 19 | 7PM
Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art | 1, 460 Portage Ave | Winnipeg MB | Canada
Join us on February 12, at 7PM where Adrian Stimson will give an artist talk referencing his Two-Spirited and Indigiqueer art, as part of the theme of this year’s Winter Institute. Way Too Spirited for You will include Buffalo Boy’s history, Naked Napi painting/process and his current works. His performance art looks at identity construction, specifically the hybridization of the Indian, the cowboy, the shaman and Two Spirit being.
An open studio event highlighting the participants activities over the course of the Winter Institute will take place on February 19 at 7PM.
Plug In ICA’s Winter Institute is part of its educational programs open to artists, writers, thinkers and various cultural workers from all backgrounds. It is a critical pedagogical context for communal learning, collaboration, and exchange.
This year’s iteration of the Winter Institute is being led by Adrian Stimson. It runs from February 9 to February 20, 2026. In Winnipeg in 1990, Elder Myra Laramee proposed the term Two-Spirit at the Third Annual Intertribal Native American/First Nations Gay and Lesbian Conference. Its purpose was to unify, giving a pan-Indigenous word to reclaim spiritual, gender, and sexual identities suppressed by colonization. Embodying both masculine and feminine spirits, it comes from the Anishinaabemowin niizh manidoowag, meaning “two spirits,” representing a unique blend of male and female energies revered in many Indigenous cultures for wisdom and healing. Further, coined by Theo Cuthand and popularized by Joshua Whitehead, Indigiqueer is a modern term for Indigenous people who are also LGBTQ+, created to offer an inclusive identity for those who may not identify as Two-Spirit but still connect with both their Indigenous heritage and queer identities, blending cultural pride with queer resilience, and acknowledging the diverse ways Indigenous LGBTQ+ people exist beyond traditional frameworks.
FACULTY:
Adrian Stimson is a member of the Siksika Nation. He holds a BFA from the Alberta University for the Arts and a MFA from the University of Saskatchewan. Stimson is an interdisciplinary artist exhibiting nationally, internationally with several Public Art Projects. Among many awards, he has received the Governor General Award for Visual and Media Arts in 2018. Stimson is the current Chair of the Board of Governors, Alberta University of the Arts.
PARTICIPANTS:
Based in rural Saskatchewan, Alejandro Romero (he/him, they/them) is a multidisciplinary “artivist” whose 35-year practice maneuvers through social interventions, performance, and public art. His work orchestrates an “Architecture of Belonging,” weaving his Puerto Rican heritage with neurodiverse and queer perspectives to reclaim spaces of exclusion. A dedicated Paso Fino horse conservationist, Alejandro, utilizes ritual and site-specific materiality to transform neglected landscapes into sovereign sanctuaries, bridging the gap between colonial histories and a decolonized future.
bailey macabre (they/them) is a queer, disabled, neurodivergent agender nêhiyaw + Ukrainian artist born on Snuneymuxw territory, connected to Beardy’s & Okemasis Cree Nation. Their interdisciplinary practice spans illustration, textiles, writing, sculpture, and media art, centering Indigenous joy, queer intimacy, deviance, and healing as resistance. Indigiqueer Métis/Cree/German artist Corwin Woiwod (he/him, they/them) (Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement) works alongside macabre as an artistic collaborator and support worker. Rooted in relational process and community collaboration, macabre’s work foregrounds pleasure, care, humour, and sovereignty as Indigenous worldmaking.
Don Ball (he/him, they/them) is a Queer (settler) art educator. He encourages everyone to look at art, and to choose art that informs, expands and deepens one’s thinking. Queer and Indigenous art adds perspective for all and is essential for 2SLGBTQIA+ folx. His artwork often deals with body, layers, and traces. He lives in an isolated rural place and looks forward to being in this community and creating a safe space.
Jason Baerg (he/him, they/them), a Red River Métis artist from Saskatchewan and a member of the Métis Nations of Ontario, is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and activist. An Assistant Professor at OCAD University, Baerg co-founded The Shushkitew and Métis Artist Collectives. He has exhibited internationally, integrating digital media with traditional art forms, and has received awards from major Canadian arts councils. Baerg holds degrees from Concordia and Rutgers Universities. Explore his work at JasonBaerg.ca.
Justin Bear L’Arrivee (he/him, they/them) is a printmaker, new media artist, and curator. He is of mixed Cree and Scottish ancestry from Peguis First Nation (Maternal) and a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation (Paternal). He’s currently the Artistic Director at Urban Shaman Gallery and is a co-founder of the Indigenous DJ collective Nimi’idiwin. Justin is also a co-founder of Red Rising Magazine, worked as an arts facilitator with Art City Inc., Martha Street Studio, and Ndinawemaaganag Endaawaad Inc., and served in the community as a support & cultural worker. His practice is firmly rooted in community needs and informed by his work within the social service and artist-run centre sector.
Katsitsanoron (Kat) Dumoulin-Bush (they/them, iel/iels) is an Onkwehonwe/Québecois educator, curator, and artist from Oshahrhè:’on, Quebec. They received their BA in linguistics from Concordia University in 2017. As an artist, they have completed residencies at Artexte and The Banff Centre. Kat was the Indigenous art and design curatorial intern at the MMFA in 2025 and is currently an invited guest curator at the MAC. They also serve on the board of directors of the CACPA and MOMENTA biennale.
Kay Nadjiwon (they/them) is a queer interdisciplinary Anishinaabe artist and member of Batchewana First Nation currently working on Williams Treaty territory. Their practice spans photography, video, beadwork, sculpture, and installation. Nadjiwon embraces ambiguity as they address the multiplicities of identity, trauma, and desire. Grounded in autoethnography and storytelling, their work situates grief as a site for political engagement and spiritual connection. They hold an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art, Media, and Design from OCAD University and a BFA in Photography Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Lacie Lee Burning (he/him) is a multi-disciplinary artist from Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Southern Ontario. He holds a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design and has exhibited across Canada. He was also named First Runner up for the Philip B. Lind Prize and longlisted for the National Gallery’s New Generation Photography award both in 2019 respectively for his work in lens-based media.
Lucy Lindell (she/her, they/them) is a queer Metis artist from Treaty 2. She is a freehand beadwork artist, works with textiles, digital art, and short films. Her work focuses on decolonizing all ways of creating through listening to spirit connections and reflections that colonialism tried/tries to sever. She recently had her first solo exhibit, I Belong Here, at the Manitoba Museum and has been in group shows at Gallery 1c03 and Matter Manitoba. She is completing a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies and is writing her auto-ethnography / storytelling based thesis titled Beaded and Braided Stories: The Need for Reflection on Everyday Peace and Conflict.
Quinton Delorme (he/him, they/them, she/her) is a Cree, Two-Spirit artist from Winnipeg, MB. A band member of Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan, they have familial ties in both Treaties 4 and 5. Their interdisciplinary arts practice spans across several mediums, including linocut relief print, screen print, etching, acrylic paint, ink and collage. Their work explores themes of an Urban Indigenous experience, through traditional and contemporary techniques. Their identity informs their artistic practice, worldview and presence in the arts.
Sylvia Dreaver ᑳᓂᑲᒧᐟ ᐱᔨᓯᐤ (she/her) is Nēhiyaw (Plains Cree) and a member of Mistawasis First Nation. She is a independent curator, arts administrator and cultural worker. Sylvia has had the privilege of working with organizations such as Mentoring Artists for Women’s Arts (MAWA) The Banff Centre and with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR). Dreaver is passionate about Indigenous art as well as Indigenous research methodologies and is committed to the advancement of curatorial research and museological practices related to Indigenous art collections and their associated histories. Dreaver recently held the inaugural position of Emerging Curator of Indigenous Art at the Canadian Museum of History and currently works at The Canada Council for the Arts with the Creating, Knowing and Sharing: The Arts and Cultures of First Nations, Metis and Inuit Peoples team.