{"title":"Tonya Paris","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg style=\"max-height: 300px; max-width:55%\" src=\"https:\/\/helloart-prod-bucket.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/artist\/tonya-paris\/tonya-paris-profile.jpg\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTonya “SamQwan” Paris\r\u003cbr\u003eArtist | Activist | Cultural Advocate\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eTonya “SamQwan” Paris (she\/her) is a Cree, Mi’kmaq, and Black Scotian artist, author \u0026amp; activist based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the unceded ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq people. Her multidisciplinary work explores the intersections of Black and Indigenous identity, community resilience, and cultural reclamation.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eSamQwan’s artistry has been featured across prominent platforms, including the award-nominated Racism Lives Here Too (2020) on Aboriginal Public Television Network, and Season 3 of Diggstown. She served as the Indigenous artist consultant and primary contributor for a series airing on Fox and BET Networks (2021–2022) and contributed to Sullivans Pond in 2023-2025, a transformative art project in Montreal’s underground network showcased during Art Souterrain Festival.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eHer work has been exhibited widely in Nova Scotia, including installations at Dalhousie University’s Architectural Engineering Building, iNova Credit Union, the Nova Scotia QEII Mental Health Unit, and during her residency as a 2021 NSCAD Fall Artist. SamQwan was shortlisted for the NEBA Viola Desmond Art Installation in 2022 and was named Black Artist of the Year by Arts Nova Scotia for her exhibition Ava in Wonderland.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eSamQwan’s creative expertise extends to having three published books: The River Remembers trilogy, The Magical Adventures of Happi Ness \u0026amp; Locs and the children’s coloring book for Happi Ness \u0026amp; Locs. She also specializes in theatrical set design, with celebrated projects for Love Peace \u0026amp; Hair Grease, Hood Habits, and Punch-Up with Match Stick Theatre. She is also the founder of Maqtawe’k Productions, an organization dedicated to showcasing Black and Indigenous artists globally while preserving cultural history and traditions. Her contributions to community art and cultural advocacy earned her recognition as one of the Top 100 Black Women in Canada to Watch in 2024.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eHer latest public art project is a mural dedicated to Truth and Reconciliation, created in collaboration with HRM and St. Mary’s Basilica, located at Spring Garden and Barrington Street in Halifax. Beyond her artistic practice, SamQwan is a certified trauma-informed coach (2024), committed to community healing and empowerment through art.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eAn advocate and consultant for cultural representation, SamQwan collaborates with community organizations such as Proclaiming Our Roots, Dreadlocks \u0026amp; Kindness, Black Women in Excellence, Tribe Network, The Mi’kmaq Friendship Centre, and The Nova Scotia Career Development Association. Her work serves as a bridge between storytelling and activism, celebrating resilience and honoring the legacy of her ancestors.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eARTIST’S STATEMENT\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eArtist Statement: Tonya “SamQwan” Paris\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eMy work lives at the intersection of memory, identity, and reclamation. As a Cree, Mi’kmaq, and Black Nova Scotian artist, I create from a place that carries both disruption and resilience where histories have been fractured, but never erased. Through my practice, I explore what it means to remember, to return, and to rebuild.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eI am a multidisciplinary artist working across visual art, storytelling, installation, and performance. My work is rooted in lived experience and ancestral connection, often reflecting the layered realities of Black and Indigenous identity. I use bold imagery, symbolism, and narrative to challenge silence, confront historical truths, and make space for voices that have long been marginalized.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eStorytelling is central to everything I create. Whether through paint, text, or immersive environments, I approach each piece as an act of storykeeping by honoring those who came before me while speaking to those who come after. My work often holds themes of intergenerational trauma, healing, resistance, and cultural pride. It asks viewers not only to witness, but to feel, reflect, and engage.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eCommunity is not separate from my art, it is the foundation of it. My practice extends beyond the canvas into spaces of healing, dialogue, and transformation. Through murals, workshops, and collaborative projects, I aim to create work that is accessible, culturally grounded, and rooted in collective experience.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eAs the founder of Maqtawe’k Productions, I am committed to uplifting Black and Indigenous voices, preserving cultural knowledge, and creating platforms where our stories can exist fully and truthfully. My work is both personal and communal a bridge between past and present, between pain and possibility.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eUltimately, I create to remember, to reclaim, and to remind us that our stories are powerful, sacred, and still unfolding.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/helloart.com\/fr\/collections\/tonya-paris.oembed","provider":"helloart","version":"1.0","type":"link"}