City of Maple Ridge

Date Range: 2024 - 2027

Role: Artist in Residence

Objectives Achieved: Gift Over 200 Portraits (and counting) and Thank-You Notes to Celebrate the Creative Community, Create an Illustrated Maple Ridge Calendar Featuring Local Community Gatherings, Host a Community Concert Fundraiser for Gaza with SideDoor, Develop a Network of Community Collaborators, Mentor Local Emerging Artists

Skills Used: Illustration, Community Building, Graphic Design, Large-Scale Planning, Copywriting, Storytelling, Interviewing, Artistic Administration, Archival Organization

Connecting with community, immersing oneself in local culture, and exploring the individuals who call that culture and community theirs makes for a fast-paced, engaging, and rewarding experience! It has been a pleasure and privilege to share my Drawing Thanks process with my hometown, The City of Maple Ridge. Over the first year of this three-year residency, so many exciting things have happened. From storytelling with collaborators such as Coast Mental Health, Maple Ridge Community Foundation, Side Door, and more, to opening up the doors for studio tours and live music—there is so much more happening in this space than simply portraiture. In the first year of the portrait and gratitude sharing initiative, over 150 local Maple Ridge residents were drawn. As that number continues to grow over the next three years, it will be so rewarding to make the stories of these encounters public through The City’s social media channels and drawingthanks.com.