Instructor and Alumni in Province's Permanent Art Collection

NBCCD Faculty and Alumni Work Added to the New Brunswick Provincial Permanent Collection

The Province of New Brunswick (collectionArtNB) has acquired works by instructor Jennifer Lee Wiebe and several alumni for its permanent art collection. This recognition highlights the strength of contemporary craft and visual art practice in the province, as well as the meaningful contributions of artists connected to the College.

Jennifer Lee Wiebe

Jennifer (she/her) explores themes of communication, globalization, and hegemony through a settler lens informed by her dual citizenship in Canada and the United States. She is an artist, educator, and Studio Head of the Foundation Visual Arts Online program, as well as a doctoral researcher in art education at Concordia University.

With more than twenty years of post-secondary teaching experience, she works with diverse learner groups in both in-person and online environments, fostering interdisciplinary research grounded in access and inclusion. Her practice is shaped by the intersection of teaching, research, and online visual communities, with a particular interest in mapping, language, and the dominance of English as a global lingua franca.

Among the acquisitions is Wiebe’s #DECOLONIZE (2022), a work from her ongoing collaborative textile series #HEGEMONY. The series combines vintage needlepoint works with stitched Instagram hashtags, exploring themes of communication, globalization, labour, and resistance in contemporary visual culture.

 

 

“Needlepoint bears a direct resemblance to pixels,” says Wiebe. “The visual language of this project works for me on that level. Trending hashtags from Instagram are selected to pair with the vintage upcycled needlepoints to construct meaning.”

The #HEGEMONY series began in 2019 and continues to evolve. To date, the project includes 18 completed and framed works. During her 2022 artist residency at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Wiebe was able to complete, document, and exhibit the series, while leaving space for future additions.

 

 

What began as an individual studio project gradually expanded into a collaborative community-based artwork. Friends and volunteers joined Wiebe in the labour-intensive stitching process, particularly during the pandemic, helping transform the work into a shared creative and reflective experience. “It provided a platform for thinking about the project with others and somewhat collaboratively — something that we as artists don’t necessarily do,” she explains.

The layering of labour is central to the meaning of the series. Vintage needlepoints, often anonymous works historically associated with domestic labour and women’s craft traditions, are transformed through contemporary political language and collaborative intervention. By overstitching hashtags onto these found textiles, the project creates a dialogue between past and present makers while examining systems of power, visibility, and cultural memory.

Jennifer has long used textiles as a form of social and political engagement through community arts initiatives such as KNIT FOR PEACE (2003) and SAVE OFFICER SQUARE (2018).

Her work will also be featured this year in TEXTILES: COMMUNITY, Labour & RESISTANCE, a group exhibition at the Acadia University Art Gallery running from June 24 to November 4, 2026.

Alumni Acquisitions

The Province of New Brunswick also acquired works by several alumni, further highlighting the impact of graduates on the province’s cultural landscape.

Audrey Arsenault – Bemiajiuliaq (Hope will carry us forward each day) (2026)

Foundation Visual Arts program 2018, Jewellery/Metal Arts program 2020, Advanced Studio Practice – Jewellery 2021.

“Created with support from ArtsNB, Bemiajiuliaq (Hope Carries Us Forward Each Day) honours the strength, resilience, and ongoing healing of Mi’gmaq women across generations. This copper-on-wood piece depicts a woman in traditional regalia holding a feather inscribed with its Mi’gmaq title, surrounded by medicinal wildflowers significant to Indigenous people. The removable medallion she wears features a residential school child on one side and a fancy dancer on the other, reflecting both painful histories and a hopeful future.”

 

 

Shane Perley-Dutcher – Strawberry (2025); Pisonut (2025).

Native Arts Studies Certificate 1998, Jewellery/Metal Arts program 2000.

Award-winning silversmith, Shane Perley-Dutcher is from Nekootkook (Tobique) First Nation. His practice honours his Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq heritage, combining traditional forms, motifs, and cultural teachings with contemporary metalsmithing techniques.

His work is widely recognized for its cultural depth and refined craftsmanship, serving as both artistic expression and tribute to his ancestors and community. In 2019, he received first place in the sculpture category at the Santa Fe Indigenous Art Market in New Mexico, an internationally recognized gathering of Indigenous artists.

“My sculptural baskets (Pskihqimins and Eci-pəkunsis) are hand-woven from precious metal and formed into one of a kind works of art.  Each basket weaves together generations of Wolastoqewiyik basket making tradition and metal smithing techniques.”

 

Natasha Sacobie  – Quilled Ostrich Fan (2024).

Indigenous Visual Arts program 2022, Advanced Studio Practice – Wabanaki Visual Arts 2023.

Natasha Sacobie is a Wolastoqiyik visual artist from Bilijk (Kingsclear First Nation). Her multidisciplinary practice spans oil painting, beadwork, birch bark work, and porcupine quillwork, the latter becoming her primary area of focus.

Sacobie’s work reflects a deep respect for the natural world and emphasizes connection, responsibility, and relational teachings. Her work has been exhibited at the Lieutenant Governor’s House, the George Fry Gallery, the Saint John Arts Centre, and internationally at the Boston Museum. She is a recipient of the 2023 Heather Stone Emerging Artist Award and an ArtsNB Creation Grant.

Darren Emenau – Kolk 3 (2026).

Diploma in Fine Craft Major in Clay 1997.

Emenau’s ceramic practice reflects the natural and industrial landscapes of his New Brunswick home. He experiments with clay and glaze, where science and art meet in an ongoing process of discovery. This approach results in distinctive textures, vivid colour, and signature forms that define his work.

Tara Francis – Fire Ship Clutch Purse (2026); Green Turtle (2024).

Certificate in Native Arts Studies 2000, Diploma in Fine Craft in Surface Design 2002.

Tara is a Mi’kmaq artist from Elsipogtog First Nation whose practice includes porcupine quillwork, silk painting, and acrylic painting. Her work is grounded in traditional teachings while engaging with contemporary forms of expression.

Through her practice, Tara explores cultural continuity, spirituality, and identity. She considers her work part of a personal and collective journey that honours Wabanaki knowledge systems and supports the transmission of teachings to future generations.