Thunder Bay Artists
Betty Carpick
Betty Carpick an interdisciplinary artist and educator. Much of her work looks at social, cultural, and environmental issues in both serious and playful ways. She engages in creativity with community of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds as a metaphor to speak to the fragility, strength, and transitory state of our lives and surroundings. Betty is Cree and Ukrainian from Northern Manitoba. She lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Paul Rodermond
Paul Rodermond recently moved to Thunder Bay to play keyboard for the symphony, but his roots are in bands and theatre. If you’ve ever made the trip, you might have seen him playing in Winnipeg for shows with Rainbow Stage, MTC, the Fringe, or Winnipeg Studio Theatre. He spent 2022 at the Shaw Festival as music intern and played in the pit for a number of their shows. Musical theatre is a fundamentally collaborative art form, bringing together actors, musicians, costume and set designers, and so much more, and it’s in this interdisciplinary collaboration that he finds the most joy and value in music-making.
Eleanor Albanese
Eleanor Albanese has spent her life immersed in the arts as a writer, theatre artist, and community-engaged artist. Her plays have been produced from coast to coast and her first novel If Tenderness Be Gold is recently published by Latitude 46 Publishing. Eleanor draws her inspiration from her cultural heritage, her Northern Ontario home, and her role as mother and grandmother.
Tuija Hansen
Tuija Hansen is a textile artist based in Thunder Bay. She learned to felt, dye, weave and embroider at Kootenay School of Arts, and majored in printmaking and social justice studies at Lakehead University. Her practice is influenced by the boreal forest; incorporating organic, found matter into her mixed media and textile works, using foraged plant-dyes, and engaging with her Finnish ancestry.
Áine Schryer-O’Gorman
Áine Schryer-O'Gorman grew up enveloped by the non-profit arts sector and is delighted to be venturing deeper into community arts work as they continue their own career as an artist and musician. Áine has most recently worked for Jumblies Theatre & Arts as a programming assistant, and for World on a String as a fiddle teacher. They have engaged with communities through their work as a fiddle player for over 12 years and have worked with and learned from Thinking Rock Community Arts for over 6 years. They have also been heavily involved with and impacted by AlgomaTrad.
Ruth Howard
Ruth Howard is an interdisciplinary artist and the founding Artistic Director of Jumblies from 2001 to 2022. With Jumblies, she created multi-year residencies with large-scale performances and lasting offshoots, and many other community arts projects. Ruth worked as a theatre designer; taught/mentored in many contexts; and won awards for her work. In 2023, Ruth left Jumblies to work as an independent artist and consultant.
Andrew Gordon Bell
Andrew Gordon Bell is a percussionist in the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Andrew studied at the University of Toronto and the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Andrew’s musical interests expand beyond orchestral music; as a member of the Technology and Performance Integration Research Lab he created and performed music using cutting edge tools to create a new avenue for classical music, culminating in the creation of the Aux-Cord Etudes. Andrew was supported in this research by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and has presented it at musical conferences.
Robert Fleitz
Pianist and composer Robert Fleitz curates artistic experiences that surprise and dazzle. He made his debut at Carnegie Hall in October 2021. His second album, The Silent Voice, will be released on the Latvian record label SKANI in 2024. His recent composition work emphasizes performer and audience agency and co-creation. Notable commissions include Jumblies, the Metropolis Ensemble, and Hilary Easton Dance Company. He is the co-founder of the Swan City Piano Festival in his hometown of Lakeland, Florida, and also works as a content creator for Tonebase Piano. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Music at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland.