Join us for a full day of talks, panels, and performances exploring queer ecologies, land-based practices, and artistic expressions rooted in northern and rural experiences. This day-long event brings together 2SLGBTIQ+ artists, Indigenous knowledge keepers, and local community members to share insight, conversation, and connection.

Saturday Schedule

9:30 AM – 10:00 AM - Coffee & Registration

Start your day with coffee and snacks as you arrive and connect.

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM - Doreen Bellaire – Opening Circle

An opening reflection and grounding led by Doreen Bellaire.

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM - Panel: Reclaiming an Indigequeer Identity on the Land

Moderator: Terre Chartrand

Panelists: Brittnay Gauthier, Shay Herold, Ray Hookimaw

A deep and honest conversation about land, identity, and resistance from Indigequeer voices.

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM - Lunch Break

Food will be available for order from Twigs Café on campus. Guests are also welcome to explore local dining options.

1:30 PM – 3:00 PM - Artist Talks: Wild Waysides Artists

Intro Presentation: James Fowler & Pearl Van Geest

Moderator: James Fowler

Presenting Artists: Pearl Van Geest, Walt Segers, Terry Dame

Get an inside look into the work of the 2024 Queer Up North Residency artists and how the land shaped their creative processes.

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM - Artists Up North — In Conversation

Guests: Jenn Pereira & Sabrina Somersal

A dialogue exploring queer creativity in northern and rural spaces, art activism, and building alternative futures through visibility and voice.

4:30 PM – 5:00 PM

Social Gathering

A casual opportunity to connect with other attendees, artists, and panelists.

About the Symposium

The Queer Up North Symposium is an opportunity to explore and engage with the evolving field of queer ecologies—questioning binaries between human and nature, natural and unnatural, and reimagining relationships between gender, land, and culture. The project is a collaboration between members of the Throbbing Rose Collective, Nipissing Region Curatorial Collective, and White Bear Artist Residency.

It began with a two-week residency in Temagami in August 2024, where 16 2SLGBTIQ+ artists immersed themselves in the wilderness at Northland Paradise Lodge. The works developed during and after that experience have now culminated in Wild Waysides: Queer Ecologies and the New Normal, recently exhibited at the White Water Gallery in North Bay—and many of these artists will be present at the symposium.

Attending Artists & Organizers:
James Fowler, Pearl Van Geest, Schem Rogerson Bader, Jackson Bailey, Terry Dame, Atlas Gifford, Walt Segers, Terre Chartrand, and Dermot Wilson.