Celebrate the launch of fall exhibitions at Carleton University Art Gallery

Sunday, October 4, 2026 from 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm

• In-Person event
• Carleton University Art Gallery, St. Patrick’s Building, Carleton University
• 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6

• Contact
• Fiona Wright, fiona.wright@carleton.ca

Two artists, two acts of world-shaping: Joi T. Arcand stakes out a Cree utopia and Faisa Omer threads together stories of home.

Join us to celebrate two local artists — Joi T. Arcand and Faisa Omer — in their first major solo exhibitions in Ottawa. International star Arcand brings her snappy pop nostalgia style to asserting Cree identity and envisioning Indigenous urban spaces. At the same time, Omer uses photography and textiles to reflect on the enduring connections between family history, cultural inheritance and belonging.

New works by Arcand include murals and sculptures, featuring a collaboration with Anishinaabe artist Cedar Eve that transforms the gallery into an urban ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ environment. Enlisting her family in its development, Omer’s Threading Roots includes a site-specific textile installation and transports visitors into the multi-sensory experience of a family living room.

Both artists will be in attendance. The opening party is a chance for the Carleton University community to embrace two artists shaping how their communities are seen: internationally renowned nēhiyaw (Plains Cree) artist Joi T. Arcand from Muskeg Lake, who has made Ottawa home for the past decade, and Faisa Omer, whose work celebrates the creativity, resilience, and cultural continuity that sustain Somali Canadian communities.

Celebrate the opening of Joi T. Arcand: ᑳᐃᓯᓈᑿᐦᑭ ᐃᑘᐏᓇ kā-isinākwahki itwēwina: The Shape of Words and Faisa Omer: Threading Roots — free and open to all — Sunday, October 4, 2026, 2:00–4:30 p.m., with opening remarks at 3:00 p.m. and music by MusicByJayel. Both exhibitions run September 29 – December 13, 2026.

Access: CUAG is an accessible space with barrier-free washrooms and an elevator.

Arcand’s exhibition is generously supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Special thanks to Khayrhaye Somali Cultural Museum Centre for their contribution to Faisa Omer: Threading Roots. 

Image credit: Joi T. Arcand, Relics For The End Of The World, 2021, commercial sign. Image by Patrick Lacasse.