Meet Laura Hodgins: selected to attend the 2026 Hnatyshyn Foundation – Fogo Island Arts Young Curator Residency
June 1, 2026
Photo: Justin Parsons. Courtesy of Fogo Island Arts
The Hnatyshyn Foundation and Fogo Island Arts (FIA) are very pleased to announce that Laura Hodgins will be attending this year’s coveted Young Curator Residency. This residency, awarded annually, provides an opportunity for a young Canadian curator to work in residence at FIA, a contemporary arts venue in Newfoundland, for six weeks.
Laura will be heading to Fogo Island from September through mid-October 2026.
About Laura Hodgins
As a born and raised Northerner, Laura Hodgins is passionate about fostering and promoting the arts north of the 60th parallel.
Laura is a white-settler arts administrator and curator from Sǫ̀mbak'è on Chief Drygeese Territory (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories). She is the President and primary curator of the Yellowknife Artist Run Community Centre and holds an MA and BFA in Art History.
Laura’s curatorial philosophy is grounded in a commitment to the arts of the Northwest Territories, where she was born, raised, and continues to live.
“The NWT remains profoundly underrepresented within national and international art conversations. This gap [...] continues to inform my curatorial work.”
“I am humbled by the opportunity to visit Fogo Island for the Hnatyshyn Foundation - Fogo Island Arts Young Curator Residency. During my Residency, I plan to […] focus on developing a curatorial and organizational framework for a future Northern art event like a biennale or art prize.”
Photo: Morgan Tsetta. Courtesy of Laura Hodgins.
As an attendee at Newfoundland’s Bonavista Biennale this past summer, Laura was struck not only by Newfoundland’s landscapes and people, but also by the power of a temporal, community-rooted art event to shape identity, attract visitors, and generate cultural momentum.
During her time on Fogo Island, Laura intends to study this model in depth and consider how comparable approaches might support the cultural and economic future of the Northwest Territories.
Exhibition view, Spring Break Up, at La Guilde, Montreal, QC, 2024. Photo: La Guilde. Courtesy of Laura Hodgins.
“With several major NWT mines projected to close by 2030, the territory faces significant economic challenges. This moment presents an opportunity to reimagine the role of arts, culture, and tourism in shaping a more sustainable future. As an emerging curator and arts administrator, I believe a northern biennale or art prize could play a key role in this transition. A residency at Fogo Island Arts will equip me with the knowledge, context, and time needed to begin building this vision for Yellowknife and the wider NWT.”
Exhibition view, New Address, at Yellowknife Visitors Centre Gallery, Yellowknife, NWT, 2025. Photo: Jonny Vu. Courtesy of Laura Hodgins.
Find out more about Laura at @_laurahodgins and laurahodgins.com.
Exhibition view, It’s Time to Come Home, Yellowknife Visitors Centre Gallery, Yellowknife, NWT, 2025. Image credit: Jonny Vu. Courtesy of Laura Hodgins.
About Fogo Island Arts
Fogo Island Arts (FIA) is the founding program of Shorefast, a registered Canadian charity dedicated to unleashing the power of place so local communities can thrive in the global economy. Fogo Island Arts was founded in 2008 as an international artist residency program with the belief that artists are visionaries with a unique capacity to reveal and respond to the complexities of our time.
The residencies enable artists, curators, and writers to think, create, and connect on Fogo Island, promoting discovery across perspectives and disciplines. The geographic specificity as an island off an island in the North Atlantic is a foundational platform for engagement around issues of sustainability, ecology, economy, and belonging. Over the last 16 years, Fogo Island Arts has grown into a program of exhibitions, public programs, publications, and research projects that aim to explore art and ideas and bridge connections between the local and the global.
The Hnatyshyn Foundation is proud to continue to partner with FIA to run this unique and precious program.
About the residency & past participants
Jury
The adjudicators for this program are Nicolaus Schafhausen, founder of KIN Brussels gallery, Reesa Greenberg, art and exhibition historian, and Zita Cobb, CEO and Founder of Shorefast.
Photo: Fogo Island Arts. Courtesy of Fogo Island Arts.
