Meet The Artists

Meet the makers, dreamers, and storytellers shaping Thunder Bay’s creative heartbeat.

Aklima Ferdous Jubika is an artist from Bangladesh whose love for art began in childhood. Surrounded by color from an early age, she developed her skills through art academies, competitions, and festivals that shaped her creativity. Painting is her personal universe, a place where she feels free to express herself. Though not her main profession, it remains a deep passion and an essential part of her life.

Aklima holds a Master’s degree in Education from Lakehead University and lives in Thunder Bay, Canada. As part of the Community Arts & Heritage Education Project (CAHEP), she enjoys creating, sharing her passion, and learning from other artists every day. For her, art is about connection, emotion, and finding beauty in every color and story.

Alyson Chassé was raised along the north shore of Lake Superior and completed her Visual Arts Degree at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, ON. Alyson’s rural upbringing plays a major role in influencing the art she makes. Inspired heavily by her ancestors’ stories and traditions, her ceramic and sculpture work aim to weave past and present. Alyson has participated in group exhibitions in Thunder Bay, Toronto, and Waterloo and has received several awards for her work. Alyson recently completed the Bachelor of Education program at Lakehead University and hopes to share her love of art with her students.

Ashlyn Chilson is a Digital & Traditional artist with a love of painting and animation. She is a proud Thunder Bay local who has been able to participate in Canadian animated shows, selling her art across North America, as well as teaching in the Thunder Bay Art Gallery & for CAHEP.

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Juddy Mayor has been part of CAHEP since its inception. For more than 25 years, she has been deeply engaged in CAHEP’s art projects, sharing her artistic knowledge and passion with people of all ages. A dedicated visual artist, Juddy primarily works in acrylic and oil painting, though she also enjoys creating with watercolours and natural materials such as driftwood to craft small sculptures.

Her work has been featured in numerous juried art exhibitions, and she has exhibited internationally. Juddy had the privilege of mentoring under an international artist, an experience that greatly expanded her artistic perspective and refined her technical skills. In recognition of her contributions to the arts, she was honoured with the Cultural Professional of the Year Award from the City of Thunder Bay.

Judy continues to nurture her craft through ongoing education, participating in workshops and college courses. Art remains her lifelong passion, and she believes that being an artist is her true calling.

Julia Mills is a Thunder Bay born and raised visual artist. Although she was always interested in art, her journey really began at the age of 15 after taking elective art classes in high school. Julia wanted to pair her love of creation with an education, this led her to obtain an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts at Lakehead University. During her four years, she recieved many awards including Lakehead University’s Alumni Association Award. Her work is now displayed within the Univeristy for years to come. After her Visual Arts Degree, Julia finished her Bachelor’s of Education in 2023. With her knowledge of both Visual Arts and Education, she hopes of branching art education in the community and to make art more accessible for all. Her preferred art forms are ceramics, print making, and painting.

Julie Cosgrove’s practice is primarily rooted in painting, but she’s also explored various kinds of collaborative new media, education, and community-engaged projects. Her work considers concepts of place, and visits themes of navigation, wilderness, technologies, and processes, while exploring abstraction and maintaining painting as the primary language of expression. She has been the recipient of awards, grants, and scholarships and has participated in exhibitions and artist residency programs in Canada and Europe. Julie divides her time between her painting practice, parenting, and teaching art at Lakehead University and in community projects in Thunder Bay.

Kayeleigh Larocque is a mixed media artist creating from the North Shore of Lake Superior. A painter + pyrographer, Kayeleigh’s art aims to reflects their uniquely Northern Ontario experience.

Lorraine enjoys working with a variety of media and has exhibited and taught workshops and classes at various venues in the region throughout the years. She attended Lakehead University’s Visual Arts program. Taught workshops and classes at The Thunder Bay Art Gallery, 55 plus, through The Painted Turtle Art Shop and The Baggage Building Arts Centre as well as CAHEP.

She is co-owner of The Painted Turtle Art Shop and was Co-Operator of The Baggage Building Arts Centre until 2019 when it closed due to Covid. She embraces the concept of playing with creative materials & has done through her work with both above venues. She has worked with small children through to seniors of various levels of abilities. The best part of art for her the is the fun of exploring media and helping others to as well.

Her exhibitions have been sporadic as a business owner and volunteer with various organizations on committees limits the time available to create. Hopefully with retirement from store ownership she will have more time to create and exhibit. Her preferred media are soft pastel and coloured pencil, but she does graphite drawings, sculpture, paintings and multi-media work as well.

Nathan Cross is a ceramic and sculptural artist based in Northern Ontario. A graduate of Lakehead University’s Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts program, his practice is rooted in exploring identity, resilience, and the emotional landscapes of the human experience. Working primarily with clay, Cross is drawn to its ability to record every touch and gesture, seeing the material as a metaphor for memory, endurance, and transformation.

His work draws on lived experiences with mental illness, addiction, and recovery, reflecting a deep interest in how social constructs, technology, and media influence perception and self-identity. Through surreal hybrid forms and fragile, layered structures, Cross investigates the tension between vulnerability and strength, the natural and the artificial, and the internal and external forces that shape who we are.

In addition to his studio practice, Cross teaches with the Community Arts and Heritage Education Project (CAHEP), facilitating art workshops in local schools and communities. His work continues to evolve through a commitment to empathy, connection, and the transformative power of art.

Interested in joining our artist community?

Join a network of artists making a difference through community-based art, collaboration, and education.