A Happy Place in a Good World: Art and interviews by patients and residents at Misericordia Health Centre
Blankstein Art Gallery
2nd floor of the Millennium Library
April 1-29, 2026
“A Happy Place in a Good World” refers to themes often drawn upon by patients and residents in the Misericordia Health Centre art program. Memories of home, gardens, music, and loved ones are accessed through a process of drawing and storytelling. The title also refers to the state of mind when people are lost in an enjoyable, creative process. The exhibition includes drawings and paintings made by patients and residents over the last two years, including three collaborative quilt projects.
One of the most fascinating parts of the program is hearing people's stories while they are making art together. In addition to the workshops, we invite people to share stories, memories, and life advice through open-ended, long-form interviews. Paired with the artworks are quotes and excerpts from these interviews.
Three of the display cases are filled with art by Alan. Alan has a tremor and discovered that he could use drawing materials to record the rhythm and texture of his shaking arm and has since become prolific.
If you can’t make it to the library, stay tuned as we’ll be hosting a public exhibition at Misericordia this spring! @misericordiamb
This project was funded by the Manitoba Arts Council and the Winnipeg Foundation, with support from Artists in Healthcare. @mbartscouncil@wpgfdn
We’re so happy to share the news about common leaf, our upcoming public artwork at Railside at The Forks. We thought we’d share a bit about our thoughts and process.
We began our research by looking at what we could see at the Railside site today (a parking lot!) Among many stunted plants poking through the pavement, we found broadleaf plantain, growing between the cracks. Plantain thrives in disturbed soil, sprouting in places of human activity and movement.
Our design is modelled after this tiny plant. The tall seed pods reach up to the sky, creating an optical illusion of a tower of hearts. One of the most common metaphors for the spread of ideas involves the concept of seeds. Their potential for growth is infinite. It is in the care and tending to those seeds that we determine in what direction that growth will bloom.
We hope people will recognize that common leaf represents something they see growing everywhere, even if they don’t know its name. Plantain is believed to be one of the first plants to have reached this continent by travelling with European settlers. But unlike many invasive, non-native plants, plantain has found a good place within this ecosystem. We learned from Robin Wall Kimmerer, an Anishinaabe botanist, that plantain is considered naturalized – “its strategy was to be useful, to fit into small places, to coexist with others around the dooryard, to heal wounds.”
In marking this new generation of settlement at The Forks, we think plantain and common leaf can be a teacher and a symbol for living in a good relationship with this place.
Thanks to @theforkswinnipeg and @wpgfdn for their commitment to supporting artists and public art in Winnipeg. We’re looking forward to making this real!
I'm excited to announce that I'll be returning to the MAWA Foundation Mentorship Program as a mentor for 2026-27! About ten years ago I was a mentee and learned so much from my mentor Natalia Lebedinskaia @surface_city and our cohort.
I'll be mentoring alongside M.E. Sparks, Lita Fontaine, and Sheila Spence @msprks@lita_fontaine@sheila.spence . Rockstars!
Apply!! Message me if you have questions! The program is for women or gender-diverse visual artists based in or near Winnipeg. More details at www.mawa.ca/mentorship @mawawpg
Photo by @matt_horseman
Our dear friend Edith passed away on December 4, 2025. She was ninety-two. We met her in 2014 and became friends by making drawings with her at Misericordia Health Centre. At that time she had throat cancer and thought she would soon lose her voice. Thankfully she continued to speak for many years, and share her beautiful perspectives on living and dying. She used to tell us often that she was ready to die, and yet it still feels sad that she’s gone.
Over the years we would visit her and ask her about her life and imagination. Her streams of consciousness and soft, poetic way of speaking inspired us to make Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying. It was a gift to spend so much time listening to her words and making the film together. While we were planning the film premiere at Misericordia, she said “this will be a good thing to do before I die.” That was more than two years ago now.
When we interviewed Edith we would often ask her to describe what she saw out her window. She always had something to say, about the flowers, the trees, and the sky. She spent a lot of time looking out her window. Edith told us that since her son died, some joy went to the stars. The tender thought that she is reunited with her son in the cosmos feels comforting.
Edith had no living family. The morning she died, the staff at Misericordia Place invited us to go through her room and take anything that we wanted. We found old photos of the views from Edith’s windows from her different homes over the years. It felt surprising, but also familiar, to find so many photos of her window view.
We learned from Edith that through memories and imagination you can continue your relationship with someone who has died. And that that feeling can be as real as anything else.
When someone dies we try to pay extra attention to life and let something in nature serve as a reminder to them. Edith died on the day of the winter supermoon. How lucky she is, she gets the moon.
Call today: The Misericordia Place Life Advice Line! Dial 204-788-8060 to hear advice from personal care home residents and patients in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
This audio documentary project has been so exciting to create and share. The enthusiastic media response has given residents at Misericordia an international platform to share their perspectives. The reason we’ve done art projects at Misericordia for so many years is because the people we meet there are incredible. So in some ways we’re not surprised by the media interest! Our intention has always been to connect people living in the healthcare institution with the outside community. How weird and amazing it was to knock on resident’s doors and tell them the Washington Post was on the phone and wanted to talk to them.
Slide 1. 🔈 Misericordia Place Life Advice Line poster
Slide 2. 🔈 Karl’s advice on following your dreams
Slide 3. 🔈 Susan’s advice on dating
Slide 4. 🔈 Randy’s advice on how to grow in new ways (an excerpt)
Slide 5. Winnipeg Free Press article by @jenzoratti
Slide 6. Washington Post article and podcast by @maggietheoptimist
Slide 7. Cheryl being interviewed on Good Morning America by @dannynewtv
Slide 8. Life advice featured on the Drew Barrymore Show @thedrewbarrymoreshow
The Life Advice Line is an initiative by Misericordia Health Centre and artists-in-residence Francesca Carella Arfinengo, Natalie Baird, and Toby Gillies, in partnership with Artists in Healthcare. This project was funded by the Manitoba Arts Council and the Winnipeg Foundation. @mbartscouncil@wpgfdn
In July we made projections for the last Real Love Summer Fest 💚🌸🌈🐎💥 dancing animated party lights out of things you might find in the woods. Thank you Adam and Gil for inviting us :)
Window Light
Cyanotype photographs on paper
Art at the Bedside
2025
On display at the Buhler Gallery at St. Boniface Hospital as part of Flash Photographic Festival.
These photographs were made by exposing light sensitive paper in the windows of the McEwen psychiatry units. Patients worked with volunteers and artists to make paintings on the windows in their unit, and then capture their paintings using cyanotype photography. The process required that the artists and their artworks soak up some sunlight through their hospital windows. Some of these images were also captured from the existing window paintings, just outside of the unit. Both are records of time shared together, as we turn our attention towards the returning light.
The Art at the Bedside program is a collaboration between Artists in Healthcare Manitoba and the St. Boniface Hospital, led by visual artists Natalie Baird & Toby Gillies and facilitated by volunteers. The program introduces ideas and materials that invite patients to engage in a creative process of self-expression, offering a pleasant diversion during their hospital stay, while enjoying the company of interested and committed volunteers.
@flashphotofest@sbhwpg@galeriebuhlergallery
