Arts & Culture Education & Management Consultant
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Artist Biography
Stephanie served as Manitoba’s Trainer from 2019-2022 for Cultural Human Resources Council's, Maintaining Respectful Arts Workplaces As a Trainer, she educated arts and cultural organizations on how to create safer spaces for artists and arts administrators across all disciplines. In 2019, she founded Difie Inc. (www.difiedance.org) and currently serves as the Artistic Director. D.I.F.I.E Manitoba’s 1st cross-cultural dance and wellness not for profit organization, a not for profit focused on removing barriers to performing and education services for performers with disabilities. In 2008 she formed Difinity Dance Studio & Productions (www.ddsp.ca), a mobile cross cultural dance and fitness education company that provides workshops, online classes and summer camps to communities across MB. D.D.S.P offers online educator certification/ program license for educators in WorldDance TM. Yoganastics TM. StreetDance TM. She has spearheaded several dance theatre productions in Winnipeg mentoring emerging performers with varying disabilities providing them unique opportunities to explore and discipline their craft. In addition she has provided performance arts and fine arts education and mentored educators in rural communities through partnership with cultural organizations to establish accessible arts education. As a former body artist, with her old company SASDesigns she provided professional family and corporate entertainment as a certified temporary tattoo artist, face painter, caricaturist, clown, mascot, and Emcee. She has entertained audiences working in theatre, web series, and independent films. |
Artist 2017-2022 Collection of Works Statement:
I invite you to tour the world through my works, and discover the glorious colors hidden in the spirit of people, nature and animals from various cultures. My hope is that you will experience joy, healing, and inspiration from my work. I am a person with a learning and physical disability which has greatly shaped my work. My paintings and sculptures use up-cycled materials, neon (glow) paint that changes depending on the light it is exposed under. I feel this is a reflection of my journey as a mother of 3 year old and how I experienced pregnancy. post partum recovery, and parenting as a person with a disability. My paintings showcase how there is more than meets the eye if you are willing to look at art "life" from a different perspective. In 2016 I gave birth to my son, and became an Artist Mother, and was inspired to create. During my pregnancy I created 15 paintings that expressed the emotional and physical awakening that I experienced that gave me life alternating perspectives on the kind of human I wanted to become. It also gave me a desire to reach out to moms. and people with disabilities to show them the empowerment and healing that can come from engaging in art activities. Throughout my artist collection you will see the variety of emotions from the journey of motherhood and the pain that encompasses living as a neuro-divergent person with disabilities. To live is the rarest thing in the world. |
