Liz Barron

Liz Barron has been self-employed in the arts for the last 25 years. She is one of the original founders of Urban Shaman Gallery, an artist run centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba for contemporary Indigenous art. Founded in 1996, Urban Shaman continues to grow and is the last of five Indigenous artist run centres in Canada started in the 90’s. She moved back to Winnipeg in 2019, after living in British Columbia and Quebec for the past eight years.

Her skills in arts management include an extensive client list, including CARFAC National recent podcast project, Indigenous Protocols (indigenousprotocols.art), Manitoba Music Indigenous Mentorship program mentor, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and numerous Indigenous led arts and culture not for profits. Barron was the project manager for one of the largest Indigenous contemporary exhibitions in Canada, Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years, led by four Indigenous curators and featured over 30 Indigenous contemporary artists. She has programmed Indigenous moving image makers for numerous festivals including Gimme Some Truth and WNDX.

Liz is dedicated to building strategies and programs that target, motivate, and engage Indigenous artists and organizations working in all cultural milieu. She is a sought-after resource to artist run centres in Canada, having worked with galleries in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Ontario. With 25 years of experience in learning and development, she has devoted years to supporting Indigenous artists and organizations within contemporary art. In 2021, she started the Barron Bursary at Digital Arts Resource Centre, (Ottawa, ON) to support an Indigenous moving image maker to study film at the University of Ottawa.