STAFF

“Supporting artists while listening and responding to the unique needs of diverse Saskatchewan communities is at the core of every successful program we offer.”

— Lenore Maier, former Executive Director —

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
DANIELLE RICHARDSON

Danielle “nee Altrogge” (she/her) is a queer spoken word poet, Canadian national poetry slam champion, and community organizer from Saskatoon, SK. She is a white settler of German and French heritage with family sprinkled across the prairies. A graduate of the MFA in Writing program at the University of Saskatchewan, Danielle is an independent theatre creator, producing and writing Our Four Walls (Thigh-High Theatre, MuD Collective, 2015) and Elemental (Live Five, Embrace Theatre, MuD Collective, 2019). Her writing can be found in Untethered, Oratorealis, Isms, Folklore magazine, Wilding & Sprout, and Poetry All Over the Floor. In 2020, Danielle, with three collaborators, published Prairie Girl Collective with Party Trick Press, which was released as an audio album with American Radio Cassette in 2021. Her work explores liminal space, or the in-between that straddles often opposing worlds. Danielle is particularly drawn to the ocean, despite her landlocked roots. Before joining the Common Weal team, Danielle served as the Executive Director for both Tonight It’s Poetry and the 25th Street Theatre Centre. She most recently worked for OUTSaskatoon as their Development Officer. Danielle loves collaborative writing, cross-stitch, and mermaids. She lives with her spouse, child, and cat in Saskatoon. Danielle has been with Common Weal since 2023.

NORTHERN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
JUDY McNAUGHTON

Judy (she/her) is a visual artist and cultural animateur living in Prince Albert, Treaty Six territory. Throughout her career she has been socially motivated, which manifests in cultural activism and socially engaged projects. With a lifelong dedication to Saskatchewan cultural life, she often integrates national artists into locally relevant interdisciplinary settings, bringing mentorship and enrichment into our cultural ecosystem while highlighting the strengths and beauty that already exist. She received a bachelor of fine arts degree in ceramics sculpture from the University of Regina and a Master of Fine Arts degree through the Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Judy serves on numerous panels, juries, boards, and consultation engagements both provincially and nationally, always striving to bring the priorities of a rural and northern perspective into the discussions. Her studio practice has produced several public ceramic murals and gallery exhibits, most recently in the solo exhibition Being Among at the Mann Art Gallery in Prince Albert in 2019 and group exhibitions Uber Gurlz: Denizen Femme at the Art Gallery of Regina in 2018, Kingdom at the Dunlop Art Gallery in 2016, Relative–Connections at the Mann Art Gallery in 2014, and Offline at the Charles H. Scott Gallery in 2013. Judy has been with Common Weal since 2002.

SOUTHERN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
IBUKUN FASUNHAN

Ibukun (he/him) is a director, stage manager, producer, playwright, and researcher. As an international artist whose works have been staged in different theatres in over five countries across three continents, his professional work spans the areas of musical theatre, children’s theatre, and site-specific performance, amongst others. Since 2007, he has stage-managed over 50 plays with more than 600 performances. As a playwright, he was selected for the Saskatchewan Playwright Centre’s “Write Like You Mean It” program in 2022. His play, “Beertanglement,” won the second runner-up for the 4th Beeta International Playwright Competition 2021, and he also won the Canada Council for the Arts grant in 2023 to direct and produce his play; “Rites of Passage” for On Cue Performance Hub’s Riser Regina program. In 2019, he was selected as the British Council’s Lagos Theatre Festival producer. As a theatre artist, his interests lie in anti-racism, site-specific performance, immigration, and social-engaged works. He holds a B.A. and an M.A. degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Lagos in Nigeria and is currently undergoing his doctoral program at the University of Regina, Canada. Ibukun has been with Common Weal since 2023.

COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
QIMING SEZAVA SUN

Qiming “Sezava” (he/him) is a visual artist, curator, and practicing witch based in Saskatoon on Treaty Six Territory. He specializes in oil paintings and sculptural works inspired by nature, symbolism, magic realism, and animalistic paganism. Other areas of his artistic practice include land art installation, drawing, jewellery making, and, most recently, performance art in a ceremonial and socially engaged context. Qiming received his MFA and High Honours BFA degrees in Studio Art from the University of Saskatchewan. His works have been widely exhibited, many of which are included in the permanent collections of several Canadian institutions and galleries. Qiming uses visual art as his vehicle for navigating his spirituality and the intimate connection between humans and nature as a practicing witch. He also uses visual language to explore his heritage and to narrate and preserve the enigmatic and often misunderstood traditions of minority ethnic groups as an Asian-Canadian Pagan artist. As a proud member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, Qiming strives to represent the marginalized and underrepresented and tell those untold stories through his artistry. Qiming has been with Common Weal since 2023.

DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR
IAN CAMERON

Ian (he/him) is a musician, collaborator, and gardener located in Treaty Four Territory who specializes in steel guitar and growing heirloom tomatoes. His main artistic endeavour is drumming in Wolf Willow, a Regina-based band that “plays original country and western inspired by honkytonk, Western swing, and countrypolitan retro sounds.” Ian also enjoys a fulfilling career as a freelance musician, having toured across Canada, the United States, and Europe, playing pedal steel in concert and on dozens of records for artists including Marshall Burns, Belle Plaine, Etienne Fletcher, and Kara Golemba (to name a few). Making music with his friends has always been top priority for Ian, but so has engaging with and supporting his community. From 2015 to 2020, Ian supported underserved youth through many roles at Street Culture Project, most recently acting as the Community Initiatives Coordinator. In 2020, Ian moved into a role as Educational Assistant with Regina Public Schools, working with students in community schools across the city. Throughout this time, Ian has witnessed firsthand the positive impact that the arts can have on people who are experiencing challenges in their lives. Ian has been with Common Weal since 2021.

Common Weal also employs part-time administrative, project, and communications support when funding is available. In addition to our artistic and administrative staff, projects rely on the support of contracted professional artists. Professional artists are at the core of our model, which connects them with the people of Saskatchewan through participatory arts experiences. The artists we work with typically have a strong community practice and understand the mutual benefit of workshop and residency activity. They are able to contemplate differing perspectives and explore new areas of interest, while expanding their bodies of work and developing their capacity to connect with the public. In return, they are able to share their knowledge, skills, and creativity with the community. In this way, artists are also developing a broader audience for their work, while breaking down barriers for the public to access the arts. We believe strongly in the capacity of artists to build authentic relationships with project participants, the impacts of which tend to have a ripple effect for years to come.