Melissa Johns, Administrative Director

Melissa Johns (She/Her)

Melissa Johns (Kanien’keha:ka and French Canadian) is a new media artist, educator, and arts administrator, born and based in Tkaronto. Bringing a wealth of experience from her work with organizations such as imagineNATIVE, NIMAC, and the National Film Board of Canada, she is also a practicing artist with a passion for harnessing technology to tell powerful stories. Having completed her undergraduate degree in Fine Arts & Business at the University of Waterloo, as well as an Advanced Diploma in 3D Animation from Humber College, she is pursuing a Master’s in Interdisciplinary Art from OCAD University.

Quach George, Artistic Director

Quach George is originally from Shawnee, Oklahoma with ancestral lineage from the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and Mohawks of Akwesasne. Quach first joined NWIA as a Programming Coordinator in 2016, eventually being promoted to the position of Programming Manager in 2019 and stepping in to the role of Artistic Director in early 2024. In her role as Artistic Director Quach is responsible for the curation of all of NWIA’s artistic programming.

Along with over 8 years of experience working for NWIA, Quach previously worked with imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival as part of the events team, Luminato Festival as the Event Coordinator for Tributaries, with Setsune Indigenous Fashion Incubator as the Event Coordinator for the Indian Giver exhibition, as a mentor for the Toronto Indigenous Youth Collective’s Love and Leadership Conference, the Indigenous Art Curator for the City of Toronto’s Moss Park/John Innes Community Centre Public Art Project and the StreetARToronto King-Liberty Pedestrian Bridge.

With a love for all things art-related, Quach is committed to offering the Indigenous community with quality programs that provide a resurgence and preservation of Indigenous arts and culture.