School of Art News Archive

November 28, 2025 — 
Students in the Master of Fine Art program are refining their craft in a vibrant studio-based program. Now, these students also have the opportunity to consider possibilities and build skills for an entrepreneurial future.

November 6, 2025 — 
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.

November 6, 2025 — 
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.

November 6, 2025 — 
The School of Art at the University of Manitoba mourns the passing of artist and alumna Monica Mercedes Martinez (MFA ’12), whose powerful and poetic works explored memory, identity, and belonging.

November 5, 2025 — 
I have more of a familiarity or comfort with being outside, just lying down on the ground. I always had a desire to put my hands in the dirt or just lie down in the grass,” says Ciurysek, an associate professor in the School of Art at the University of Manitoba.

October 23, 2025 — 
Wally Dion: a thousand tiny prayers opens at the School of Art Gallery

October 14, 2025 — 
The School of Art Gallery presents Robert Archambeau: One Leads to the Next, a retrospective exhibition celebrating the life and work of one of Canada’s most influential ceramic artists, on view October 16 – November 14, 2025.

September 29, 2025 — 
The School of Art Gallery (SOAG) invites the UM community and the public to Exchange as a Symmetrical Gesture, an evening that celebrates the culmination of SOAG’s multi-year Visiting Curator Program with a reading, a curatorial panel, and the launch of three new publications.

September 16, 2025 — 
St John's College invites you to explore Colouring 'da Rock, a solo exhibition by Liv Valmestad, an Art Librarian and Senior Fellow at St John's College. This exhibition will be on display in the Quiet Room, room 111 St John's College, from September 22 to December 24, 2025. It is open to public viewing on Mondays to Fridays, from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, and will have an opening on Thursday, October 23rd from 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM. 

September 10, 2025 — 
The Merit Awards recognize excellence in teaching, research, scholarly and creative work, service, and include a special category dedicated to Indigenous Achievement. Congratulations to all the recipients of the 2024 Merit Awards.