Northern Arts & Food Project

About the Northern Arts and Food Project

The Northern Arts and Food Project is a partnership between Creative Manitoba, imagiNorthern, and local community collaborators that provides Northern artists with training opportunities, workshops, and creative business supports across Manitoba.

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Offering Workshops for Northern Artists

The Northern Arts and Food Project is a professional development and community-building initiative that supports artists, makers, and food producers across Northern Manitoba through accessible, practical learning opportunities.

Delivered in partnership with imagiNorthern and Creative Manitoba, the project hopes to address the real-world challenges faced by people building creative livelihoods in remote and northern communities.

Through a series of free online workshops—with options for local, in-person satellite gatherings—the project offers hands-on learning in areas such as pricing creative work, money management, bookkeeping, and small business fundamentals.

By intentionally welcoming artists, musicians, artisans, and food makers into shared learning spaces, the Northern Arts and Food Project recognizes the common ground between the arts and food sectors. The project strengthens skills, builds peer networks across communities like The Pas, Thompson, Churchill, and Flin Flon, and supports a more connected, resilient creative economy rooted in northern realities.

Upcoming Workshops

Selling Food at Markets, and beyond!

with Katie Daman

Thinking about selling food you make? Unsure where to start, what supports exist, or how to navigate regulations and requirements in the North?

Sign up for "Selling Food at Markets, and Beyond!" with host Katie Daman.

January 12, 2025

Click to Register

Past Workshops

Pricing your Work

with Rachel Kroeker

How much do you charge for the time you’ve spent? How do you break down the cost of your supplies? And where do you set the value of your expertise and experience?

Join ceramic artist Rachael Kroeker in this popular workshop to unlock the secrets to pricing your work with confidence.

November 17, 2025

Money Basics for Makers

with Kathryn kerr

Tax time can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re self-employed or earning part of your income through art, music, or food making.

Whether you’re a musician, artisan, or food maker, you will learn simple ways to keep your books organized and ensure your year-end reporting goes smoothly!

December 9, 2025

Northern Arts and Food Conferences

About the Northern Arts and Food Conference:

Championed by University College of the North, the Northern Arts and Food Conference was created to bring together presenters, facilitators, and leaders in the arts from Northern Manitoba on an annual basis.

The conference creates a collaborative space for shared learning, relationship-building, and cross-sector collaboration grounded in Northern and rural realities.

Each year, the gathering supports a growing network working toward a more connected, inclusive, and resilient creative economy in the North.

Past Conferences

Northern Art Conference - Year 1

The University College of the Northern in partnership with Creative Manitoba and the Flin Flon Arts Council proudly hosted the first Northern Arts Workshop in Flin Flon, Manitoba in March 21 - 23, 2023. We were honoured to have keynote speaker Jesse Wente Board Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Year 1 - Report

Northern Art & Food Conference - Year 2

The Northern Arts and Food Workshop is hosted by the University College of the North in partnership with Creative Manitoba, Food and Beverage Manitoba, and CEDF/Look North. This Workshop is the follow-up event of the first annual Northern Arts Workshop held in Flin Flon, March 2023. This second workshop, which took place in The Pas Manitoba proved to be a fantastic opportunity to build on the connections, strategies, and action plans that emerged from the first event expanding its reach to explore the commonalities between Art and Food.

Year 2 - Report

Northern Art & Food Conference - Year 3

This third annual event once again hosted by the University College of the North took place in Thompson Manitoba in May 2025. Keynote speaker Michaelle Jean opened the three-day conference, which included presenters and facilitators from across northern Manitoba and beyond.

Michaëlle Jean PC CC CMM CD FRCPSC(hon)is a Canadian former journalist who served as the 27th governor general of Canada from 2005 to 2010. She is the first Haitian Canadian and Black person to hold this office.

Year 3 - Report