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Ilisarniq Series: Career Paths for Artists

Kick off the new year with inspiration and insights from an all-Inuit panel on building a career in the arts!


Join us on Thursday Jan. 26 at 2pm ET/11am PT for a discussion with Heather Campbell, IAF’s Strategic Initiatives Director, in conversation with photographer and arts administrator Barry Pottle, filmmaker and curator Jocelyn Piirainen, and animator and filmmaker Glenn Gear.


Defining a ‘career in the arts’ can look very different depending on one’s background, skills and interests. Take a peek into the daily life of leaders in the arts who have each walked a different path, and hear their incredible stories about how their passion for the arts led them to where they are today. 


The panel will discuss key moments and specific resources that have supported them on their journey. Gain valuable advice about the many different opportunities that exist for Inuit in the arts. This includes opportunities for artists who are also interested in arts administration, as well as non-artists who are still passionate about the arts.


Bring your questions for the panel, we’ll leave ample time for Q&A! Click here to register online at eventbrite!


Barry Pottle is an Inuk artist originally from Labrador (Rigolet, Nunatsiavut) now living in Ottawa, Ontario. He has been interested in photography as a medium of artistic expression and as a way of exploring the world around him. Barry’s artwork has been featured in exhibitions in Canada and in the United States and his photos have been published in a variety of books and magazines and he has also contributed images to several community initiatives.

Jocelyn Piirainen is an artist, curator and filmmaker originally from Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay), NU and currently based in Winnipeg, MB. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Carleton University, majoring in Film Studies, and has also attended Algonquin College and the New York Institute of Photography. Piirainen's educational training has focused on the arts, particularly film and new media, and her current artistic practice primarily involves analog photography. In 2022, she was named Associate Curator for the Indigenous Ways and Decolonization department at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC).

Glenn Gear is an artist from Newfoundland now based in Montreal, QC. He is an animator, filmmaker and visual artist. Gear finds inspiration by exploring his identity as an urban Inuk with ancestral ties to Nunatsiavut. He frequently creates animated short films related to these explorations. His current work centres on individual and collective history, exchange between Indigenous and settler populations, folklore, gender and archival material. Gear’s films have screened across Canada and throughout the world.


The Ilisarniq Series is a new series of workshops for all Inuit artists, curators, writers, and art administrators to learn new skills and expand their practices organized by the Inuit Art Foundation and Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership. Join us for practical tips on how to apply for funding, price your work, make new kinds of work and more!