Ariel Smith, Artistic & Managing Director

Ariel Smith Ariel Smith is an award winning nêhiyaw and Jewish filmmaker, video artist, writer, and cultural worker. Having created independent media art since 2001, much of her work has shown at festivals and galleries across Canada and internationally Ariel is largely self-taught, but honed many of her skills by becoming heavily involved in artist-run centres in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. Her passion for artist-run culture has become an integral part of her practice.

Ariel has over a decade of experience in arts administration and management. She has worked as the Technical Director of SAW Video Media Arts Centre in Ottawa Ontario from 2006 to 2014, was the Director of the National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition from 2013 to 2016 and, most recently, was the Executive Director of imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival where she oversaw the 2016 and 2017 festival editions.

Ariel has worked as a programmer for such organizations as Galerie SAW Gallery, the Ottawa International Animation Festival, Reel Canada, and imagineNATIVE. She is currently a guest curator for an upcoming International Indigenous Quinquennial exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada.

Quach George, Program Manager

img_5559Quach George is originally from Shawnee, Oklahoma with roots from the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and Mohawks of Akwesasne. She has an educational background in Fashion Merchandising and Event Planning with a focus on First Nations Studies, with experience in educational and cultural programming and facilitation, visual and performing arts, as well as heritage interpretation. Having previously worked with imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, as part of the events team, Luminato Festival Tributaries: Luminato Opening Event, as Event Coordinator and with Setsune Indigenous Fashion Incubator, as the Event Coordinator for the Indian Giver exhibition, Stylist for Kathleen Ivaluarjuk Merritt (IVA) in Erika A. Iserhoff’s ‘Looking Damn Fine’ article for Canadian Art’s Kinship edition, Stylist and HMUA for Sage Paul Cardinal’s marketing for the Giving Life collection, that went on to be the campaign for the first-ever Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto, mentor for the Toronto Indigenous Youth Collective’s Love and Leadership Conference, and Production Designer for Ariel Smith’s short drama Hunger.

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