Anna Binta Diallo stands with her 2025 artwork, Sun Waves. The piece is appearing in Heliophile, an exhibition at Galerie Buhler Gallery in Winnipeg. Photo by Karen Asher, Courtesy of CBC Manitoba.

CBC Manitoba: To Canadians, he’s Manitoba’s greatest architect. To this artist, he’s grandpa

Anna Binta Diallo, an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba’s School of Art, is opening a new exhibition at Galerie Buhler Gallery that reflects on the legacy of her grandfather, renowned Manitoba architect Étienne Gaboury.

Gaboury, often celebrated as the province’s greatest architect, was known for his masterful use of light in buildings such as the St. Boniface Cathedral and Precious Blood Church. He passed away in 2022, but his influence continues to shape Diallo’s work.

“It’s a meditation on life, on the journey of life, the cycles of life and time and perhaps memories as well,” said Diallo, whose exhibition Heliophile features glass sculptures, installations, and projections — her first time working in this medium.

The exhibition draws on themes of family, memory, and place, while paying tribute to Gaboury’s artistry and Métis heritage.

Heliophile runs until August 22, 2025, at Galerie Buhler Gallery in Winnipeg.

To read the entire article, please follow the link to CBC Manitoba.

School of Art

Anna Binta Diallo, Art, exhibition, faculty, School of Art

The Free Press: Singular footsteps on a shared path

School of Art Alumna Ekene Emeka Maduka carves a personal signature out of broad social themes. Young Winnipeg painters are having an exciting moment. For the past six weeks or so, Dee Barsy’s signature aqua blues have washed over the 300,000 people who daily visit Toronto’s Union Station, which is decorated with a dozen of her bird-themed murals, buoying Toronto Blue Jays fans during the World Series. Last month, artist, curator and writer Chukwudubem Ukaigwe was shortlisted to represent the Prairies region for the Sobey Art Award 2025 — Canada’s largest prize for visual artists, which will be handed out on Saturday. Ukaigwe is perhaps best recognized for his paintings, often colourful to the point of psychedelic while refined in their details and lifelikeness, blending elements of realism, pop art and surrealism. The artist is among a small group of artists around 30 or under, many of whom went to art school together at the University of Manitoba, and who may appear — at least at first glance — to be working in similar directions.

The Free Press: Pulling focus Through, and through a green, green lens

Compelled to touch grass — to silence urban and technological distraction to reconnect with the natural world — Ciurysek often heads to the forest, an environment that served as an inspiration for her solo exhibit Through, and through, on view at the Platform Centre for Photographic and Digital Arts (100 Arthur St.) until Nov. 15.