Ongoing input from the Manitoba arts community is important
for Council to ensure that it is effectively meeting
the needs of professional artists and arts organizations.
In 2002, Council established a Multidisciplinary Advisory
Panel, elected by the arts community.
The panel meets twice a year to:
- Provide a forum for open discussion and exchange
of ideas, alerting Council to major issues, concerns
and opportunities in the arts - Encourage communication and foster partnership
- Provide a link back to the community when members
report back to their respective disciplines - Provide broad and direct knowledge of the arts
community
Following is the list of representatives on the Advisory
Panel.
Debra Zoerb
Director of School Business Operations at the RWB
Dance – Organizational Representative
Ms Zoerb joined the RWB School as Director of School Business Operations in 2006. Previously she was Executive Director for six seasons at Dance Manitoba. Ms Zoerb worked with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet from 1995-2000, first as customer service manager and then as systems manager. Ms Zoerb has also worked at various arts organizations in Winnipeg, including the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Manitoba Conservatory of Music & Arts. She has volunteered with a number of arts organizations including the Manitoba Theatre Centre, and served over eight years on the board of directors for the Osborne Village Cultural Centre and its Gas Station Theatre. During her two terms as president of the latter, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival was inaugurated.
Stephanie Ballard
Choreographer
Dance – Individual Representative
Choreographer, dance educator, and dance archivist, Ms Ballard has served as an assessor/jury member for the Winnipeg Arts Council, Manitoba Arts Council, and Canada Council for the Arts. Her full-length A Christmas Carol and International Dance Day celebrations are her most recent artistic activities. Ms Ballard is director of the Winnipeg Dance Preservation Initiative and is devoted to protecting our unique dance legacy.
Faye Thomson
Co-Director of the School of Contemporary Dancers
Arts Education – Organizational Representative
Co-Director of the School of Contemporary Dancers, Faye Thomson has been involved in training most of Winnipeg’s contemporary dance community. Her performance career included contemporary dance and Indian classical dance. She has served as a juror/assessor for the Manitoba Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts, and as a board member of the Winnipeg Arts Council.
Chris Larsen
Visual artist
Arts Education – Individual Representative
Chris Larsen is a Manitoba Métis artist currently researching her mother’s Métis background. Larsen is culminating her research with exhibitions across Canada. Her works include painting and resin sculpture with her exhibition The Story Keeper’s Daughter –Life Line. She has co-developed a unique art program for senior high students that enables them to study with various professional artists throughout the year and receive high school credits. She has helped administer the Rural Art Mentorship Program and has been a mentor with three different high schools in rural Manitoba.
Megumi Masaki
Musician
Music Arts – Individual Representative
Megumi Masaki is a multi-faceted international artist, pedagogue, conductor, champion of contemporary music, and multidisciplinary researcher of Optimal Performance. She is the Artistic Director of the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition and Waterford Summer Music Festival in Utah and is on the faculty at the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival in Italy. She is presently Associate Professor of Piano at Brandon University.
Debbie Patterson
Artistic Associate Prairie Theatre Exchange
Theatre – Organiztional Representative
Debbie Patterson is a Winnipeg actor, director, playwright, composer and musician. She is an alumnus of the National Theatre School of Canada, a founding member of Shakespeare in the Ruins (SIR) and the former Artistic Director of the Popular Theatre Alliance of Manitoba. Her plays include the full length musical Head, produced by SIR in 2006, and one act plays Candy From a Baby, and Molotov Circus (nominated for the Harry Rintoul award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize). Directing credits include Taming of the Shrew (SIR) and Saint Joan (Theatre by the River).
Di Brandt
Writer
Literary Arts – Individual Representative
Di Brandt has published eight books of poetry and three collections of critical and creative essays. She has received numerous awards for her poetry, including the CAA National Poetry Prize, the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award, and the Gerald Lampert Award. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Creative Writing at Brandon University.
Elvira Finnigan
Visual artist
Visual Arts – Individual Representatives
Elvira Finnigan is a multimedia artist who has exhibited in exhibitions in Canada, Japan, and the USA. She has extensive experience in arts education, and has curated exhibitions of work by professional artists and children in Winnipeg, Pittsburgh, and Botswana. She has also served on the boards of many arts organizations.
Christian Perron
Actor, director
Theatre Arts – Individual Representative
Christian Perron was trained as an actor under Jean Asselin, Francine Côté, Alain Doom, Jocelyne Montpetit, Jean-Stéphane Roy and Roland Mahé. In 2002, he successfully completed the mentorship program “Jeunes apprentis” offered by the Le Cercle Molière theatre company. In 2007, Christian took up stage directing. He is currently the Director of Artistic and Cultural Activities at Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface. Christian’s passion is physical theatre and he is interested in the impact of theatre on society and on his community in particular.
Mike Maryniuk
Filmmaker
Film and Video – Individual Representative
Mike Maryniuk is a Winnipeg-based, self-taught filmmaker. He has made over 15 films, which have been screened across the globe at such festivals as the Toronto International Film Festival, the European Media Arts Festival, the New York Film Festival, and Sundance. He has served as the Production and Programs Coordinator at the Winnipeg Film Group for the past five years.
Teresa Burrows
Visual artist
Northern Arts – Individual Representative
Teresa Hudson is a 1984 University of Manitoba graduate who has lived and worked as a professional artist in northern Manitoba for 25 years. Her work has been exhibited in provincial, national, and international shows. She served on the board of the Manitoba Arts Council for five years. She has organized the visual arts for the Thompson Festival of the Arts and has curated exhibitions showcasing the talents of young artists. She is a founding board member of the Thompson Arts Council and served on the board for two years. She is a board member for CARFAC Manitoba and the Manitoba representative for CARFAC National as well as a member of the Manitoba Crafts Council.
The Council members on the Panel are Pamela Rebello and Cynthia Rempel Patrick.
To download the report (PDF) from the Panel meeting of May 1, 2008, click here.
To download the report (PDF) from the Panel meeting of November 15, 2007, click here.
To download the report (PDF) from the Panel meeting of April19, 2007, click here.
To download the report (PDF) from the Panel meeting of November 2, 2006, click here.
To download the report (PDF) from the Panel meeting of April 26, 2006, click here.
To download the report (PDF) from the Panel meeting of November 21, 2005, click here.
To download the report (PDF) from the Panel meeting of November 3, 2004, click here.
To download the report (PDF) from the Panel meeting of April 22, 2004, click here.
To download the report (PDF) from the Panel meeting of October 9, 2003, click here.
To download the report (PDF) from the Panel meeting of April 23, 2003, click here.
(Click here to download the free Adobe Acrobat PDF viewer.)