Board of Directors

CARFAC Ontario has an seven-person Board of Directors who each serve a two-year term. The Board of Directors are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yvonne Wiegers (President) has spent more than 15 years in the visual arts field in various roles including practicing artist, arts educator and arts administrator. Yvonne’s studio practice – as a mixed media sculptor , painter, photographer and installation artist – currently focuses on issues related to accumulation and identity . Her works have been exhibited throughout Canada as well as in the US, Russia and Sri Lanka.  As an arts educator, Yvonne has taught at the university, college and secondary school-levels both in Canada and overseas. Yvonne has also held senior leadership positions in both non-governmental arts organizations and in educational institutions. Yvonne holds an BA in Fine Art from the University of Guelph and an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Calgary.
Henrjeta Mece Photo

Henrjeta Mece (Treasurer) is a multidisciplinary artist, and curator. She developed her art foundation and began exhibiting in Europe. After relocating in Toronto, Canada she completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Ontario College of Art and Design and later, her Masters of Fine Arts. She also holds a Certificate from the Commedia dell Arte Carnavale di Venezia and numerous awards. Henrjeta Mece has been invited to many national and international residencies and her art work and curatorial projects have been exhibited throughout Europe, Asia and North America.
Treasurer: Hans Engel Hans Engel is a visual artist who works in mixed media painting as well as installations. He has a background that includes years as a young actor in film, television and stage and is a graduate of the National Theatre School Directing Department in Montreal. While working as the Assistant Artistic Director of Theatre at the Banff Centre for the Arts in the late 90s, Hans began painting and has since had solo shows across Canada and is in collections internationally. Currently Hans works for the Directors Guild of Canada and is on the Board of the Actor’s Fund of Canada. Hans is represented by Trias Gallery in Toronto.
April Steele is a practicing visual artist, arts administrator and freelance curator based in Peterborough, Ontario. Her studio practice focuses primarily in painting and mixed media sculpture and installation. She recently graduated with distinction from the Ontario College of Art and Design's drawing and painting program, and studied abroad in OCAD's Florence program. April is currently Communications Coordinator at the Peterborough Arts Umbrella, serves as faculty at the Art School of Peterborough, and coordinates Artsweek, Peterborough's annual city-wide festival of the arts. She is highly interested in advocacy for artists and cultural policy.
Devon Ostrom holds an MA in curating from Goldsmiths College, University of London, and has graduated from programs in Non-profit as well as Human Resource management from Ryerson University. His career as an organizer started at fourteen when coordinating a street art contest at the Central Canadian Exhibition in Ottawa. From the Art Gallery of Ontario to a mural and research project at Kingston Penitentiary, he has since gone on to organize countless installations and exhibitions. His exhibition record includes the highly acclaimed Streetscape programming for Luminato 2008 at Regent Park and the Parliament St. Slip / Former Tent City. Other highlights include “Housepaint, Phase 2: Shelter” at the Royal Ontario Museum. As a community organizer Devon was a founder of them.ca (Canada’s largest organization of street artists) and serves as the Visual Arts Director of Manifesto Community Projects. Devon’s advocacy work includes founding BeautifulCity.ca – an alliance of over 60 organizations that recently defeated the world’s dominant media conglomerates in a 29/11 council decision to put a new tax on billboards. (The dedication of funding to art in the public sphere will happen in the budget cycle.) He is also a member of the Toronto City Summit Alliance’s Emerging Leaders Network and was selected as one of Ryerson Alumni’s Top 30 Under 30.

Jordan Nahmias

Prior to establishing his own law practice, Jordan spent his summer and articling years with Goodmans LLP, one of Canada’s largest and most prestigious law firms. His experience there provided him with insight and working knowledge in all areas of corporate and commercial law, and a view into the mechanics of corporate and commercial legal matters, both large and small. While attending law school, Jordan’s involvement was wide-ranging, including leading the financing committee for Orientation, editing the yearbook, and aiding on various other matters. After leaving law school, Jordan not only began his career in the law, but also as a full-time photographer. That involvement in the world of media, arts and entertainment awoke a passion in him to not only help those whose business was art, but to provide legal services related to all business.

Tena Campbell (Secretary) graduated from the University of Windsor’s BFA program, where she is now pursuing a Bachelor of Education in Intermediate/Senior Art and English. She is a mixed media artist, who is heavily influenced by the continued travels that lend her a global perspective, while allowing her to return home with a deeper appreciation for the multiplicity of culture celebrated in Canada through the arts. She hopes to bring this dialogue into the classroom through the study of literature and visual art.

Stephen Remus (Vice-President) is a visual artist who works in a variety of media including 16mm film, video, print and paint. He is the Minister of Energy, Minds, and Resources at the Niagara Artists Centre, the hardest working artist-run centre in the nation!

 

Past Board members include Tony Urquhart, Greg Curnoe and Jack Chambers.