Artist and professor Tara Cooper was the City of Kitchener's 2025 Artist in Residence. Tara's residency was an experimental opportunity to develop and site a permanent public art installation at Doon Pioneer Park Community Centre. Inspired by the idea and symbolism of a potluck and the folktale “Stone Soup,” which emphasizes the power of cooperation and generosity, Tara collaborated with the Doon community to develop the concept for the installation. The final community-informed artwork was installed at the community centre, animating the centre's patio, and joined the City's public art collection in fall 2026.
Artist in Residence
Each year, we invite a local artist, or an artist with a connection to our Region, to share their practice with our community as our artist in residence.
On this page:
- About the artist in residence program
- Current artist in residence
- Past artists in residence
- Call for proposals
- Newsletter
About the artist in residence program
Our artist in residence program advocates for and supports artistic innovation and excellence in various disciplines of contemporary art.
Through this program, we aim to facilitate and develop meaningful relationships between the community and the artist. Artists may take non-traditional routes to develop their careers, and as such, we want to support local artists with diverse cultural backgrounds, lived experiences and practices.
The 2026 Artist in Residence program is focused on music and community building. The residency invites musicians, music educators and music entrepreneurs to develop innovative, community-engaged programming that creates meaningful musical experiences for residents of all ages.
Current artist in residence
Amanda Braam is the City of Kitchener's 2026 Artist in Residence. A Kitchener-based singer-songwriter, performer and recent graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University's music therapy program, Amanda is known for blending folk, jazz and pop influences in her work and for her commitment to community-focused music-making. Alongside her performance career, she is involved in music education and community music initiatives that use music as a tool for connection, creativity and wellbeing.
Amanda's residency project explores how music can connect people across generations. Through collaborative musical experiences, workshops and community engagement activities, the project will bring together youth, adults and older adults to share stories, develop relationships and create music together. By encouraging participation from people with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences, the project aims to foster belonging, reduce social isolation and strengthen community connections through the shared experience of making music.
The 2026 Artist in Residence program – the first Musician in Residence opportunity since 2019 – contributes to a vibrant and inclusive musical ecosystem in Kitchener by creating opportunities for residents to engage with local music, learn from one another and build meaningful connections through creativity and collaboration. The residency will support artistic development for local musicians while strengthening connections between artists, community members and Kitchener's growing music sector.
Past artists in residence
Learn about our recent artists in residence below:
Ellie Anglin is a multimedia artist working in collage, illustration, animation and graphic design, as well as a writer of poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. As the artist for the 2024 creative publication residency, Ellie wrote and created “Ribbon”, a collaborative zine featuring her own work as well as work by other local artists and writers. The zine responds to the Grand River watershed, reflecting on themes around our surrounding rivers, creeks and streams as well as the metaphoric meaning of “watershed.
Pick up a free copy of Ribbon
Pick up your free copy of Ribbon Zine at locations throughout the region. Created by our 2024 Artist in Residence, Ellie Anglin, this collaborative zine reflects on the spiritual, political and cultural dimensions of water in Kitchener, featuring Ellie's own work as well as 36 other local artists and writers. Each page is packed with writing, photos, illustrations and even more! Pick up a free copy at:
- Kitchener City Hall (200 King St. W., Kitchener)
- Ellie's website
- Kitchener Public Library locations
- Main Library (85 Queen St. N., Kitchener)
- Country Hills (1500 Block Line Rd., Kitchener)
- Forest Heights (251 Fischer-Hallman Rd., Kitchener)
- Grand River Stanley Park (175 Indian Rd., Kitchener)
- Pioneer Park (150 Pioneer Dr., Kitchener)
- Southwest Library (100 Rosenberg Way, Kitchener)
- Jane Bond (5 Princess St. W., Waterloo)
- The Princess Cafe (46 King St. N., Waterloo)
- Whoopsie Daisy (1 Victoria St. S., Unit1, Kitchener)
- Marlowe Grooming & General Store (74 King St. W., Kitchener)
- Willow River Centre (until the end of July, 243 King St. E., Kitchener)
- The Yeti (14 Eby St. N., Kitchener)
- Full Circle Foods (16 King St. E., Kitchener)
Bangishimo is an IndigiQueer Anishinaabe originally from Couchiching First Nations located on Treaty #3 territory. They are a photographer and a community organizer and advocate for the inclusion of Black, Indigenous, and racialized voices. During their residency Bangishimo developed a series of portraits of community members, connecting to seven traditional medicines: birchbark, cedar, sage, strawberries, sweetgrass, sunflowers, and tobacco. The artist disrupted colonial lineages, inscribing Black and Indigenous futurities into public memory, and emphasizing relationships to the land. The city partnered with Textile Magazine to offer additional mentorship opportunities for the artist. Working alongside Textile, and the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, Bangishimo presented the final exhibition of the residency, The Medicines We Carry, at the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery in 2024.
Behnaz Fatemi is a visual artist who explores various media including painting, drawing, installation, and sculpture. Her residency start coincided with the start of the Covid 19 pandemic, necessitating different responses to the fluctuating restrictions. Behnaz led The Pegman Project – named after the small icon on Google Maps. She facilitated virtual and small group activities where participants used clay to explore its healing properties. With help from the community, the artist attempted to answer the question of how cultural background, past experiences, and social values can shape people’s views towards immigrants and refugees.
Mary Neil is a community musician: she creates opportunities for people to come together and make music in a process called participatory music making. For the residency, Mary engaged communities by hosting workshops and participatory concerts at various sites. Participants used recycled materials to build instruments, co-creating musical compositions that reflected the community represented. She compiled the compositions to release an album entitled: Songs of Kitchener.
Bangishimo (2022-2023 Artist in Residence)
Behnaz Fatemi (2020 Artist in Residence)
Abdel-Malek Neil (2019 Artist in Residence)
Sumaira Tazeen (2018 Artist in Residence)
Julie Sperling (2017 Artist in Residence)
Call for proposals
Visit our Artist in Residence call for proposals page to learn about the proposal process for our 2026 Artist in Residence.
Newsletter
For updates on all City of Kitchener arts programming and what’s happening in our community sign up to receive the Kitchener Arts newsletter.
Land acknowledgement
The City of Kitchener is situated on the traditional territory of the Chonnonton, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee Peoples. We recognize our responsibility to act as stewards for the land and honour the original caretakers who came before us. Our community is enriched by the enduring knowledge and deep-rooted traditions of the diverse First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples who live in Kitchener today.