Announcing the 2026 DARC Indigenous Artist-in-Residence
September 22, 2026
Courtesy of the Digital Arts Resource Centre
We are thrilled to announce that Dominic Lafontaine has been selected to participate in the 2026 DARC Indigenous Residency, a one-month intensive on-site artist residency offered to mid-career Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) artists who are seeking to develop their current practice, experiment with a new medium, or continue an existing project.
The Hnatyshyn Foundation is proud to support this program, wherein participants receive access to the Digital Arts Resource Centre (DARC)’s facilities and resources in Ottawa for a month, as well as an artist residency fee, travel and housing subsidy, and other supports. It’s an opportunity to explore, create, and collaborate in an environment that encourages hands-on technological play and artistic experimentation.
About the artist
Dominic Lafontaine is an Algonquin multimedia artist, essayist, and musician. His bold, witty, and often absurd works examine the ideas of cultural identity, meaning, and belonging. A graduate of the Visual Arts program at the University of Ottawa, he brings together traditional art forms and new media to reimagine the visual language of contemporary Indigenous art. His motto: « Research, remix and repeat! »
Residency outcomes
While at DARC, throughout the month of October, Lafontaine will work on an electro-acoustic sound installation utilising birch bark – thereby bringing a traditional medium into the digital and media art space. Following the residency, Lafontaine will present an artist talk, the details of which will be posted to DARC’s website.
We look forward to hearing the work that will emerge from Lafontaine’s time at DARC!
Jury
Lafontaine was selected from a pool of applicants by Jason Baerg, Lori Beavis and Greg Lowe.
Jason Baerg is a Cree-Métis interdisciplinary artist, curator, educator, and Indigenous activist who is currently an Assistant Professor in Indigenous Practices in Contemporary Painting and Media Art at OCAD University. Raised Red River Métis in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and a registered member of the Métis Nation of Ontario, his ancestral roots encompass family names such as Moreau, Ledoux, Desjarlais, and Montour. A pioneering new media artist, Baerg’s 30-year practice pushes the boundaries of digital intervention by integrating drawing, painting, laser-cutting, and immersive installations to critically explore Cree cosmology, language revitalization, and Indigenous futurisms.
Lori Beavis is the Executive Director of Centre d’art daphne, Tiohtià:ke and Quebec’s first Indigenous artist-run centre. Lori is also an independent curator, art educator and art historian living and working in Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang / Montreal. Identifying as Michi Saagiig (Mississauga) Anishinaabe and Irish-Welsh settler, Beavis is a citizen of Hiawatha First Nation at Rice Lake, Ontario. Her curatorial work, art practice and research articulate narrative and memory in the context of family and cultural history and reflect on cultural identity, art education and self-representation.
Gregory Lowe is a writer/ filmmaker/ performer based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Greg has a profound love for making people laugh and exploring lingering curiosities of the world and memory through imagination and honesty. Over the past decade he has produced dozens of short films and several full length original television pilots, and written many Canada-centric feature screenplays. He strives for substance over style with a belief that art should be about authentic human expression and connection rather than serving the algorithm. As a proud member of the Métis nation of Ontario, Greg believes in the power and tradition of supporting Canadian voices of all different perspectives and experiences. He is currently in production on a fun new local history docu-series called “The Legend of Pooley’s Cave!”
The Hnatyshyn Foundation extends a heartfelt congratulations to Dominic Lafontaine! Miigwech/thank you to the members of the jury for their careful consideration of this year’s applicants, and to DARC for administering this fantastic program.
