Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art

05/27/2026

📣 Plug In ICA is delighted to announce Live Chat, a conversation with Sarah Anne Johnson, David Moos, Meeka Walsh, moderated by Robert Enright.

Join us on June 5 from 5 - 7PM at the University of Winnipeg Manitoba Hall Boardroom, room 2M70 located at 515 Portage Ave. for a conversation about the work of Sarah Anne Johnson and her exhibition, 'House on Fire'. 🏚️

Sarah Anne Johnson is a Winnipeg-born multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans photography, painting, sculpture, video, and performance. She holds a BFA from the University of Manitoba and an MFA from the Yale School of Art. Sarah is the recipient of numerous grants and awards and her work is held in several major permanent collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum. Sarah is best known for her photo-based practice in which she physically and digitally alters large-format prints with oil paint, gold leaf, stickers, and other materials.

David Moos is the president and founder of David Moos Art Advisory, a bespoke firm placing museum-calibre works in private and public collections in Canada and the United States. Prior to founding DMAA in 2011, Moos was the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2004–2011) and the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama (1998–2004). While at the AGO, Moos acquired Sarah Ann Johnson’s “House on Fire” for the permanent collection, through the generous support of Michael Nesbitt. Moos received a BA from McGill University, Montreal, and a PhD in Art History from Columbia University, New York. In 2020 he co-founded Museum Exchange, the first digital platform for art donations, allowing museums to access works of art being offered by collectors outside their established donor base.

Meeka Walsh, C.M., is the Editor of Border Crossings magazine. She has published a collection of short stories and most recently Malleable Forms: Selected Essays for which she received the 2023 Alexander Isbister Kennedy Award for Non-Fiction. She has served on a number of Boards nationally and locally, including Plug In ICA and The National Gallery of Canada. She lives in Winnipeg.

Robert Enright, C.M. is a writer and professor who lives in Winnipeg and teaches in the School of Fine Art and Music at the University of Guelph. As a contributing editor he has conducted the artist’s interviews in Border Crossings magazine. He has written for Artforum, frieze, ArtReview and The Globe and Mail and has contributed essays, introductions and interviews to over 300 books and catalogues.

Check out our website to learn more about this event & the exhibition!

05/24/2026

Currently in our bookstore: Open Fragments: The Theatre of Adhere and Deny 1997-2010

“With its roots reaching back to Shared Stage in 1981, Adhere and Deny has been exploring the world of puppets and objects as theatrical main-players since 1987, with its current incarnation existence since 1998. Both in form and philosophy, Adhere and Deny has always been about singular artistic experience, not toeing the theatrical party line. This is a book about vision - artistic vision in its most dizzying mystical, mystifying and sometimes hilarious form.”
Find this book in our bookstore through the link in our bio




05/22/2026

📢 Plug In ICA would like to remind you of our upcoming exhibition, 'House on Fire' featuring Sarah Anne Johnson. We invite you to join us for the opening reception in our galleries on June 4, at 7PM.

'House on Fire', is the title of a long series of works produced by artist Sarah Anne Johnson. Coming from a deeply personal narrative, 'House on Fire' is the artist’s belated response to a family trauma unearthed and fragmented, but one that she has ultimately reassembled. Johnson’s grandmother, Velma Orlikow, was a victim of psychiatric experiments performed at the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal.

The installation, which centres on a dollhouse of secrets, also includes altered family photos, archival newspaper clippings, and small bronze figures of distress. Over time, the project grew from the original installation to include performances created for video.

This iteration of 'House on Fire' is currently presented as a reconsideration of the original installation and an introduction to new works by this remarkable artist.

Sarah Anne Johnson is a Winnipeg-born multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans photography, painting, sculpture, video, and performance. She holds a BFA from the University of Manitoba and an MFA from the Yale School of Art. Sarah is the recipient of numerous grants and awards and her work is held in several major permanent collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum. Sarah is best known for her photo-based practice in which she physically and digitally alters large-format prints with oil paint, gold leaf, stickers, and other materials.

Plug In ICA would like to thank Michael Nesbitt for making this exhibition possible.

We would like to extend our thanks to the Yossi Milo Gallery for their support on this exhibition.

📸 : 'House on Fire', Laundry Room, 2009, image credit Sarah Anne Johnson

05/20/2026

📣Today is your last chance to view 'Transcendence' featuring April Hickox & Sheila Spence. Visit the exhibition this afternoon from 12 - 6PM!

'Transcendence' draws inspiration from the history of floral paintings, exploring the impermanence of life, the passage of time and reflecting on the collective new cycle of awareness brought on by the pandemic and the AIDs crisis.

Sheila Spence is a lens-based artist and activist. Over the years, her work has explored longing and belonging. For Spence, art has been a tool for self-exploration, enabling her to assess and process her personal values. Spence’s work is rooted in the belief that artistic practice can serve as a means for personal assessment and understanding. By engaging with her art, she can examine the core elements of her identity and the values that guide her life. Over the years, Spence has addressed a diverse range of topics in her work. These include q***r politics, feminism, communities and connection, a sense of place, loss, and love. Each of these subjects is approached with honesty and authenticity, reflecting her commitment to genuine self-expression.

April Hickox was a Canadian lens-based artist, teacher and independent curator who lived on the Toronto Islands. Over the course of 37 years, April mined the distinctions between personal and public sites through film, video, photography and installation. Her work with objects and the still-life are rooted in narrative histories that individuals accumulate through-out their lives and the ability of inanimate objects to shape memory. Hickox was the Founding Director of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, and a founding member of Tenth Muse Studio, and Artscape Toronto. For the past seven years she was a member of the curatorial board of Art With Heart, Casey House. Most recently, April was an Associate Professor of Photography at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto.

📸 : ‘Lexicon for Loss’, Sheila Spence, installation view at Plug In ICA, 2026. Photo courtesy of Karen Asher.

05/15/2026

Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art is excited to announce the appointment of our new Executive Director/Curator, Nadja Pelkey. After a careful and considered search that attracted national and international candidates, Pelkey was selected by the search committee for her collaborative, critical, relationship-centered, and research-driven approach to curatorial, strategic, and community-based work.

Nadja Pelkey is an Artist and Curator based in Waawiyatanong (Windsor, ON across the river from Detroit, MI). She holds an MFA from the University of Guelph, and brings over 15 years of experience in the arts including academic and leadership positions. Recently, Pelkey worked in curatorial, programming, and community-engaged roles at Art Windsor-Essex, collaborating across departments to lead digital strategy, cross‑sector collaborations, public art initiatives, research, and digital projects like the forthcoming 'Iain Baxter&: What’s the Big Idea?. '

Nadja will be joining the team this June. She looks forward to meeting the Manitoba artistic community at the opening of Sarah Anne Johnson's exhibition, 'House on Fire' opening June 4 at 7PM.

"My vision for Plug In ICA is grounded in respect for the institution’s more than fifty‑year history as a pivotal space for contemporary practice. Plug In has consistently championed experimentation, exchange, critical inquiry, and the vital role of artists in our cultural landscape. Through the last five decades, Plug In has remained committed to research-driven exhibitions, rigorous interpretation, and public engagement across local, national, and international contexts. It is an honour to join Plug In at this marker in its institutional history, and to celebrate that history with the forthcoming anniversary publication, Plug In 50/10."

Read more about Nadja's vision for Plug In ICA on our website 💻

05/12/2026

There's just 1 week left to experience 'Transcendence' featuring April Hickox & Sheila Spence. Plan your visit today! 🥀

'Transcendence' draws inspiration from the history of floral paintings, exploring the impermanence of life, the passage of time and reflecting on the collective new cycle of awareness brought on by the pandemic and the AIDs crisis.

Sheila Spence is a lens-based artist and activist. Over the years, her work has explored longing and belonging. For Spence, art has been a tool for self-exploration, enabling her to assess and process her personal values. Spence’s work is rooted in the belief that artistic practice can serve as a means for personal assessment and understanding. By engaging with her art, she can examine the core elements of her identity and the values that guide her life. Over the years, Spence has addressed a diverse range of topics in her work. These include q***r politics, feminism, communities and connection, a sense of place, loss, and love. Each of these subjects is approached with honesty and authenticity, reflecting her commitment to genuine self-expression.

April Hickox was a Canadian lens-based artist, teacher and independent curator who lived on the Toronto Islands. Over the course of 37 years, April mined the distinctions between personal and public sites through film, video, photography and installation. Her work with objects and the still-life are rooted in narrative histories that individuals accumulate through-out their lives and the ability of inanimate objects to shape memory. Hickox was the Founding Director of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, and a founding member of Tenth Muse Studio, and Artscape Toronto. For the past seven years she was a member of the curatorial board of Art With Heart, Casey House. Most recently, April was an Associate Professor of Photography at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto.

📸 : ‘Observance’, April Hickox, installation view at Plug In ICA, 2026. Photo courtesy of Karen Asher.

05/08/2026

05/06/2026

Have you visited our current exhibition yet? 💐 Stop by today from 12 - 6PM to view 'Transcendence' featuring April Hickox & Sheila Spence.

'Transcendence' draws inspiration from the history of floral paintings, exploring the impermanence of life, the passage of time and reflecting on the collective new cycle of awareness brought on by the pandemic and the AIDs crisis.

Sheila Spence is a lens-based artist and activist. Over the years, her work has explored longing and belonging. For Spence, art has been a tool for self-exploration, enabling her to assess and process her personal values. Spence’s work is rooted in the belief that artistic practice can serve as a means for personal assessment and understanding. By engaging with her art, she can examine the core elements of her identity and the values that guide her life. Over the years, Spence has addressed a diverse range of topics in her work. These include q***r politics, feminism, communities and connection, a sense of place, loss, and love. Each of these subjects is approached with honesty and authenticity, reflecting her commitment to genuine self-expression.

April Hickox was a Canadian lens-based artist, teacher and independent curator who lived on the Toronto Islands. Over the course of 37 years, April mined the distinctions between personal and public sites through film, video, photography and installation. Her work with objects and the still-life are rooted in narrative histories that individuals accumulate through-out their lives and the ability of inanimate objects to shape memory. Hickox was the Founding Director of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, and a founding member of Tenth Muse Studio, and Artscape Toronto. For the past seven years she was a member of the curatorial board of Art With Heart, Casey House. Most recently, April was an Associate Professor of Photography at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto.

📸 : ‘Lexicon for Loss’, Sheila Spence, installation view at Plug In ICA, 2026. Photo courtesy of Karen Asher.

05/01/2026

Our current exhibition 'Transcendence' featuring April Hickox & Sheila Spence is on view until 6PM tonight✨️

'Transcendence' draws inspiration from the history of floral paintings, exploring the impermanence of life, the passage of time and reflecting on the collective new cycle of awareness brought on by the pandemic and the AIDs crisis.

Sheila Spence is a lens-based artist and activist. Over the years, her work has explored longing and belonging. For Spence, art has been a tool for self-exploration, enabling her to assess and process her personal values. Spence’s work is rooted in the belief that artistic practice can serve as a means for personal assessment and understanding. By engaging with her art, she can examine the core elements of her identity and the values that guide her life. Over the years, Spence has addressed a diverse range of topics in her work. These include q***r politics, feminism, communities and connection, a sense of place, loss, and love. Each of these subjects is approached with honesty and authenticity, reflecting her commitment to genuine self-expression.

April Hickox was a Canadian lens-based artist, teacher and independent curator who lived on the Toronto Islands. Over the course of 37 years, April mined the distinctions between personal and public sites through film, video, photography and installation. Her work with objects and the still-life are rooted in narrative histories that individuals accumulate through-out their lives and the ability of inanimate objects to shape memory. Hickox was the Founding Director of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, and a founding member of Tenth Muse Studio, and Artscape Toronto. For the past seven years she was a member of the curatorial board of Art With Heart, Casey House. Most recently, April was an Associate Professor of Photography at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto.

04/28/2026

Plug In ICA is elated to announce our upcoming exhibition, 'House on Fire' featuring Sarah Anne Johnson. We invite you to join us for the opening reception in our galleries on June 4, at 7PM.

'House on Fire', is the title of a long series of works produced by artist Sarah Anne Johnson. Coming from a deeply personal narrative, 'House on Fire' is the artist’s belated response to a family trauma unearthed and fragmented, but one that she has ultimately reassembled. Johnson’s grandmother, Velma Orlikow, was a victim of psychiatric experiments performed at the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal.

The installation, which centres on a dollhouse of secrets, also includes altered family photos, archival newspaper clippings, and small bronze figures of distress. Over time, the project grew from the original installation to include performances created for video.

This iteration of 'House on Fire' is currently presented as a reconsideration of the original installation and an introduction to new works by this remarkable artist.

Sarah Anne Johnson is a Winnipeg-born multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans photography, painting, sculpture, video, and performance. She holds a BFA from the University of Manitoba and an MFA from the Yale School of Art. Sarah is the recipient of numerous grants and awards and her work is held in several major permanent collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum. Sarah is best known for her photo-based practice in which she physically and digitally alters large-format prints with oil paint, gold leaf, stickers, and other materials.

Plug In ICA would like to thank Michael Nesbitt for making this exhibition possible.

📸 : Sarah Anne Johnson, 'House on Fire', 2008, mixed media, image courtesy of the artist