Ryley James is a self-taught intuitive abstract artist and empath based in Innisfil, Ontario. Working in mixed media on canvas, she translates emotion, energy and the unseen into layered works of colour, movement and texture. Ryley believes every piece she creates holds a story meant for a specific person — that art, like energy, always finds its way to where it belongs. Her work invites you not just to look, but to feel. 

Katie Green is a local Barrie artist with a passion for community and bringing art into all areas of life, ranging from public to personal and useful to decorative. Building community, sharing experiences and supporting the next generation of artists keep her inspired in her own art practice. She operates from the idea that art is an experience that can positively impact people’s everyday lives. She works across multiple mediums including textiles, pen and ink, and printmaking, most recently the Risograph.  

Pushing the boundaries between different mediums as well as playing with the line between useful design and decorative art informs her art practice. Her work is playful with a sense of whimsy and she is drawn to bright colours especially fluorescent pink. She uses recognizable symbols and icons like gesturing hands and arrows as well as text to explore ideas of the human experience. Her art has an element of advocacy as well as humour. 

Her journey to becoming a practicing artist has been long and winding. She believes every diversion from working construction, playing varsity basketball, living in a ski town and most recently health challenges affecting her energy and vision, has added to her ability to navigate being an artist and increased her ability to support the arts community. 

Meg Leslie is a mosaic and ceramic artist. She lives in Ramara, Ontario, a rural community that is surrounded by lakes and rivers and forests. Her work is deeply rooted in nature, storytelling and community. With a background in interior design and a Master Naturalist certificate, she brings a layered approach to ceramic arts—blending structural and organic, personal and ecological. Her practice evolved from large-scale pique assiette public mosaic installations to more intimate explorations in handmade porcelain tiles for backsplashes for homes and cottages. Meg is guided by a desire to seek out symbolism and find meaning.  Over the past decade, she has led numerous community art projects, workshops, and creative initiatives across Ontario. These experiences have strengthened her belief in the transformative power of collective creativity. 

Maria Kelebeev is a classically trained, artist and educator whose work has been exhibited internationally and is featured in private collections abroad. Through her practice at HannaTess ArtHaus (www.hannatess.com), Maria explores the expressive potential of figurative art, blending academic foundations with a contemporary impressionistic sensibility that celebrates light, gesture, and emotion. 

In her figure drawing classes, Maria teaches the principles of classical structure, proportion, and anatomy while guiding students to capture the vitality and feeling of the human form with expressive immediacy. Her approach helps artists learn to imply correct figure construction quickly and confidently, balancing technical understanding with intuitive observation. Passionate about creative growth and artistic expression, Maria fosters a supportive environment where students can discover their own visual voice. 

TRAUMAQUEEN is a four-piece Canadian rock band with members from Toronto and Barrie, Ontario. Having met as part of an Emerging Artist Program years before, the band formed in May 2025 when four friends combined their raw talent and power with a decision to become unstoppable. Their unique blend of soaring vocals and killer guitar riffs find the perfect balance of paying homage to their classic rock idols of the past while still sounding current. With influences including Aerosmith, Heart, and Van Halen, TRAUMAQUEEN combines catchy melodies and lyrics that bite. Their live performance is something to behold and will leave you feeling electrified for days after. Listen to their debut single ‘Heard of You’ out now on all streaming platforms! 

Christina Leslie is a Toronto-based artist and independent curator whose lens-based art practice delves into decolonization, identity, migration, marginalization, and her West Indian heritage. Using experimental photography and text, she explores the intersections of history, memory, and race to create thought-provoking visual narratives.   

She holds a B.F.A. from OCAD University (2006) and an M.F.A. from the Savannah College of Art and Design (2022). Recently, she served as Interim Assistant Curator at the McMaster Museum of Art in Hamilton and curated their latest collection exhibition THE GREAT UNSEEN (May–Oct 2025).   

Leslie has delivered numerous artists talks at major institutions and conferences, including the SPE Conference in Philadelphia (2010), the Position as Desired symposium at the Royal Ontario Museum (2011), and the McMaster Museum of Art (2022, 2023). She was also a featured speaker at the Caribbean Art Meet-Up at the National Gallery West in Jamaica (2025).    

Karin Foulds is a visual artist and Expressive Arts Practitioner who is deeply moved by the wonder of nature, the process of artmaking and the philosophies of Mindfulness and Forest Bathing. 

She fosters a playful relationship with the arts and invites us to explore our innate creative self through wonder and curiosity.    

Karin’s studio practice “The Breathing Brush” is located in Central York Region. She is a professional member in good standing of the Ontario Expressive Arts Therapy Association (OEATA).