The Riding Mountain Artists’ Residency gives Manitoban artists time to focus on their work in the beautiful natural setting of Riding Mountain National Park.
The next artist-in-residence for 2025 is Pablo Javier Castillo Huerta. Ahead of their time in the historic Deep Bay Cabin, Pablo answered a few of our questions about their work and how they’ll be spending their residency.
MAC: Tell us a little about yourself as an artist and your practice.
Pablo: My name is Pablo Javier Castillo Huerta and I am an interdisciplinary artist and musician. I am based out of Winnipeg, but my family is from Guatemala and I take a lot of inspiration from both places I call home. I love spending time in nature and going on adventures, so I’m really looking forward to exploring and creating in Riding Mountain! A lot of my work focuses on creating installations for people to interact with and pass through. I enjoy using found materials to tell stories and arranging my sculptures in such a way that takes the viewer on a journey.
Tell us about your project—what will you be working on in the Deep Bay Cabin?
I will be attending a textiles intensive residency during my time in Guatemala this spring and I will be continuing my exploration of traditional Guatemalan textiles while I work in Riding Mountain. As a continuation of my textiles research I want to create sculptural work with the traditional backstrap weaving techniques that I will be learning about. In addition to weaving, I will also be learning how to make natural dyes in Guatemala and would like to do the same in Manitoba to dye my fabrics by hand.
What is your relationship with the park, and what are you most looking forward to exploring?
I have been to Riding Mountain National Park various times, but unfortunately I’ve never stayed for very long, so I’m really looking forward to connecting to these lands for an extended period of time. I once went out to a friend’s property near Elphinstone where we camped out, worked on music and had a delicious potluck amongst friends. That is probably my fondest memory staying in the area and I am very grateful for the opportunity to explore more and learn from the land once again. I really enjoy camping, hiking and mountain biking and most of my other memories in Riding Mountain are related to these sorts of activities. I do hope to do more of these things, but I am also excited to hunker down and make art in the Deep Bay cabin!
How do you hope the park will influence or inspire your project or practice?
I know that the park will inspire me in many ways, as being in nature usually does. I do hope to learn more about the flora and fauna native to the region and I would like to pay homage to these things in my work. I also want to pay my respects to the Indigenous people who have cared for these lands from time immemorial. I believe we as humans belong to the land, and not the other way around, so I hope my work reflects this concept. I want to immerse myself in the ancestral knowledge of the people who have been here forever; in the same way that I connect to my own ancestral knowledge when I am in Mesoamerica.
Anything else you’d like to share with readers and the Riding Mountain National Park community?
I recently climbed Volcán Acatenango here in Guatemala and it is the third volcano that I’ve climbed in my life. This one was definitely the most challenging thing I’ve ever put my body through physically. It felt quite surreal to be camped on the side of a volcano, above the clouds and beside an extremely active volcano (Fuego) as I watched the lava spew from its crater. This experience definitely charged me up with a lot of energy to complete this project. Maybe I will also pay homage to these naturally-occurring monoliths in the work that I end up making in Riding Mountain National Park!
The Riding Mountain Artists’ Residency is offered in partnership by the Manitoba Arts Council and Riding Mountain National Park.
Interested in the staying in the Deep Bay cabin? Find out how to apply to the Riding Mountain Artists Residency through the Learn – Residencies grant stream. Apply by January 15, 2026 for a residency in the summer of 2026.
