ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM
2025 Artists in Residence
Long Residency: TIFFANY BLAISE
Short Residency: EMILY WILSON
MEET tiffany blaise
Tiffany Blaise is a Vancouver-based Canadian contemporary landscape painter of Chinese and French descent, whose artistic practice centers on capturing the atmospheric and emotive essence of coastal landscapes across the West Coast and beyond.
Her mixed-media artworks evoke a profound connection
to place, blending the ephemeral qualities of light, weather, and terrain with a bold, expressionistic approach.
Blaise holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from Concordia University, where she concentrated on art and design. Following her graduation in 2012, her work has been exhibited in cities including Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Melbourne, with notable showcases at The Telus World of Science and the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair.
Blaise’s paintings are held in both private and public collections internationally.
Her artistic journey has been further enriched by international artist residencies including the Eramboo Artist Environment in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park in New South Wales, Australia and The Pouch Cove Residency in Newfoundland, Canada.
In addition to her artistic practice, Blaise has been the recipient of several grants aimed at fostering community engagement in the arts within Vancouver. Her mission as an artist is to inspire connection with nature, through encouraging others to surround themselves with emotive artwork that resonates with their sense of place and encourages a deep appreciation and reverence for the natural world.
See More of Tiffany’s fabulous art here: https://www.instagram.com/tiffanyblaiseart
MEET emily wilson
Emily Wilson is a Canadian artist and illustrator living on Lheidli T’enneh territory in her hometown of Prince George, British Columbia. Inspired by her daily life among the landscapes of northern BC, she
creates playful work that explores themes of memory, place and human connection to nature. Emily earned a Certificate of Visual Arts from Vancouver Island School of Art, and a Bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science and History from McGill University.
She has exhibited her work around British Columbia at Two Rivers Gallery, Island Mountain Arts, Omineca Arts Centre, as well as in the publications Thimbleberry and Fire Season. In 2024 she was the featured visual artist at Coldsnap Music Festival.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilythewilson
PREVIOUS artists in residence
Louise Nicholson
2024 – Long Residence
Inspired by the play of light and her love of movement in the figure, Louise explores the emotion behind both human and animal gesture with clarity of colour and confident brushwork. Her artworks of bears with people in peculiar places or situations are a mix of inspiration from stunning images snapped by photographers in “extravagantly wild places” and her own creativity and love for wildlife and nature.
Sarah Belford
2024 – Short Residence
Sarah is a self-taught artist, local to the Smithers and Bulkley Valley region. With a lifetime of artwork supporting her, Sarah truly began her painting career in 2018 after she began using acrylics to capture the mountains she adored spending time in, and since then has been honing her skills and pushing her abilities
Her focus is acrylic realism landscape paintings, with a strong passion for shadows, light, and detail. Sarah’s work is all about noticing all the small details in the world around us, and appreciating the subtleties of our landscapes.
Alison Newth
2023 – Short Residence
Alison is a local artist, living in beautiful Fort St. John, which is located in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Alison works in acrylics and oils, usually painting local landscapes and wildlife. Her favourite subject is the Peace River valley, which is at risk due to the controversial construction of the Site C dam.
Josh Harnack
2023 – Long Residence
Josh Harnack uses visual art to communicate ideas, thoughts, and emotions to the world. Josh’s work extends to many different mediums but specialized in oil and acrylic painting. His themes usually center around belonging, or lack thereof, blending in and standing out, and the sheer weirdness of existence.
Chris Fraser
2022 – Short Residence
Chris Fraser is a multi-disciplinary, non-binary artist currently residing in Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
Living as an active visual artist within the city of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Chris finds a way to express local beauty through scenes that create interest and a familiarity by focusing on local subject matter. Chris’ compositions represent a time and space that create a visual tension between the focused subject matter, conceptualizing and projecting meaning according to the viewer that experiences their work.
Jeff Wilson
2022 – Long Residence
Jeff Wilson grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland & trained as a structural geologist. He worked in mineral exploration around the world, settling in Vancouver in 2004, and took art classes at Emily Carr University, kick-starting a hobby that transitioned to a full-time art practice in 2013.
Laara Cerman
2021 – Long Residence
Based near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Laara Cerman’s work explores the intersection of art, science, and history through investigating patches of wildness that survive within suburban and urban landscapes. Her explorations continue into the forests of British Columbia where she aims to teach herself how to see the diversity of the forest floor in the midst of an era where this knowledge has lost its priority but not its importance.
Mark Tworow
2020 – Short Residence
Mark Tworow is an artist living in Smithers, British Columbia. He paints landscapes, abstracts, and still lifes and his paintings are known for their strong formal structure and lush painterly colors.
Jon Claytor
2019- Long Residence
Jon Claytor is a Sackville, New Brunswick-based artist, painter, and writer.
Jon’s work ranges from oil painting and watercolour to comics. He recently published his first graphic novel, Take The Long Way Home (Conundrum Press) and regularly publishes illustrated interviews for CBC Nova Scotia.
Mark Thibeault
2019- Short Residence
Mark Thibeault’s practice extends across painting, music and lutherie. Working from his Telkwa studio in northern British Columbia Canada, he is inspired by the natural environment, and how it and human experience both continually adapt to the other’s changing influence and needs.
VIDEOS from our artists in residence
ABOUT the residency
WHAT to expect
The Cassiar Cannery is one of the Top 10 Unique Places to Overnight in BC. Nestled in the Skeena River Estuary, 30 minutes south of Prince Rupert BC, it was once the longest consecutively operated salmon cannery on the West Coast. Now in its 134th year, under restoration and diversification since 2006, the Cassiar Cannery supports a thriving tourism industry, boat works, custom woodwork, reclaimed lumber, visual arts and science and research.
During the residency program artists will stay in a one bedroom, self-contained, fully equipped guest house. Studio space will be available in the repurposed and restored General Store, and in our shops, depending on the medium. The Cassiar Cannery has a full wood-shop and limited metal working tools such as a welder, band saw and vice.
There is no cell service but wifi is available. There is a courtesy phone available in a phone booth, and the Cassiar Cannery phone number can be used as a contact number.
Applicants should keep in mind stores and restaurants are in Prince Rupert, 30 minutes from the Cassiar Cannery. There is a small General Store and gas in Port Edward and cell service 10 minutes up the road. Successful candidates should have a valid driver’s license.
Due to the limited size of the house, applications are not accepted from collaborative groups.
The accommodation is not wheel-chair accessible. No pets please.
ARTIST responsibilities
- Engage in your practice and commit to the full length of your residency.
- Provide your own art supplies (an easel and lights will be provided), and personal safety equipment if required.
- Arranging and payment of shipping, and insuring your art, equipment and supplies.
- Paying personal expenses, including food and beverages.
- Short residency – 4 hour workshop at the Cassiar Cannery or a minimum five minute, professional video documenting your stay
- Long residency – 4 hour workshop at the Cassiar Cannery or a minimum five minute, professional video documenting your stay
- Be accessible, within reason, to the Cassiar Cannery and vetted media.
- Follow site rules and return your work and living space to how you found it.
- Promote your residency experience through diverse networks such as social media, blogs, or artist talks
- Donation of one piece of art to the Cassiar Cannery that represents or celebrates the Cassiar Cannery.
Transportation to and from the Cassiar Cannery:
The Cassiar Cannery is a 30 minute drive from the town of Prince Rupert. Artists wishing to rent a vehicle will have to cover the cost themselves.
The Artist-in-Residence program requires artists to donate one piece of art to the Cassiar Cannery that is about and of the Cassiar Cannery. The goal is to create a legacy collection that represents and celebrates the life and times of Cassiar Cannery. Artists will have one year to complete and ship the art at their cost.
(Please note the cannery is a historic wooden site with a pristine environment. Projects that involve open flame, toxic materials or pose any danger or potential damage to the building or site will not be allowed)
HOST responsibilities
- Accommodation in a one bedroom house
- Studio space
- Long residency honorarium of $2,000.00
- Short residency honorarium of $750.00
- Publicity and promotion
- Promote your residency experience through diverse networks such as social media, blogs, artist workshops and presentations
- Providing a venue for a public workshop
- Opportunity for networking and engagement with local artists
- Reasonable access to Cassiar Cannery’s wood shop and MIG and stick welding equipment
PUBLIC engagement
- Cassiar Cannery has a public outreach component. Please outline your public engagement idea in your application. This can be a workshop, artist talk, use your imagination for sharing your story and art with other artists from the North Coast
SUBMISSION guidelines
Submissions are open for 2026 applicants September 1 – 30, 2025. Late or incomplete proposals will not be accepted.
2026 DATES:
Short Residency (open to emerging or professional artists in Northern BC only): May 1-10, 2026
Long Residency (open to professional artists from anywhere): May 12-28, 2026
Email your submissions to the Cassiar Cannery at justine@cassiarcannery.com
Please put “Artist-in-Residence” in the subject line.
Successful submissions will be announced no later than November 30, 2025.
Submissions must include:
- CV including social media contacts (maximum 2 pages)
- Artist statement (maximum 200 words)
- Project proposal (maximum 300 words)
- Images: 10-15 images of recent work (past 5 years) in JPEG format, maximum resolution 1024×768, 300ppi. Each JPEG should not exceed 3MBs.
- Corresponding image list that includes title, date, medium and short description of work, if necessary
- Please tell us your plans for your 4 hour workshop, artist talk or presentation to be conducted during your residency or you can also create a five minute minimum, professional style video documenting your stay (maximum 300 words).
- Please tell us your concept to promote your residency experience, i.e media, blogs, social media, artist talk, open studio or art show.
This residency is open to visual artists.
The successful candidates will be selected based on their submitted material and artistic merit, by an impartial jury composed of Cassiar Cannery staff and invited guests.
CASSIAR cannery legacy collection
Art donated by our artists-in-residence
WORK inspired by residencies
