Sheila McMath
Artistic Director
Sheila McMath is a curator, facilitator, and community organizer. McMath is committed to cultivating long-standing relationships with artists at all stages of their careers and consciously building community in the arts. A graduate of the University of Waterloo's MFA program, McMath's work in the arts has been grounded in direct involvement with artist-run initiatives while simultaneously engaging with larger organizations. She was Curator of Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery from 2014 to 2019, while simultaneously co-founding Tri-City Stopgap, an artist collective that hosts exhibitions in marginal or transitional spaces. McMath was attracted to the experimental and interdisciplinary mission of Inter Arts Matrix and was appointed Artistic Director in 2020. Since that time she has focused her energy on supporting emerging regional artists, formally through COVE/COVOX (2022) and Strange Channels (2024), programs that allowed emerging artists creative control and encouraged experimentation, while providing a grounding of support and guidance.
Isabella Stefanescu
Past Artistic Director
Isabella Stefanescu is a painter, media artist, writer and producer. A past artistic director of Inter Arts Matrix (2014 to 2020) she currently works on personal visual art projects, and as artistic producer of interdisciplinary projects in collaboration with other artists. Coming from a visual and media arts background, she has created and produced drawing performances (Mirror, 2017; Objects on a Table, 2015) and plays (Chambara, 2016; Phaedra Echoes, 2018; Les racines de la rage, 2022). Isabella Stefanescu is also a scenographer and projection designer. Stefanescu is a recipient of the Ontario Arts Council K.M. Hunter Award for interdisciplinary art.
Anne-Marie Donovan
Founding Artistic Director
Originally from Montreal, Anne-Marie Donovan is an interdisciplinary performer, director and creator. Anne-Marie’s practice is informed by her early career as a classical singer specializing in new music, having premiered and/or recorded over 50 worked by Canadian and International composers, served as Artistic Director of NUMUS Concerts and co-founded the Montreal-based Blue Rider Ensemble.
Anne-Marie most often creates performance works collaboratively with artists from a range of disciplines. This drove her to create Inter Arts Matrix, a charitable arts organization and home for the creation of interdisciplinary work. One of the first of its kind in Canada, Anne-Marie grew the organization into one of Canada’s most innovative incubators. Today, she retains a close link as an I.A.M. Associate artist.
Anne-Marie has several creation projects in development: “The Walking Project” and “Les racines de la rage”. In 2024, she directed the premiere of “Information, Montreal 1970” for Chants Libres & Bradyworks. “Maanomaa, My Brother”, which she co-created at Blue Bird Theatre Collective, premiered at Canadian Stage in Toronto in 2023. “Frankenstein’s Ghosts”, a large-scale multi-media work created by an interdisciplinary team, premiered in 2011 in Montreal. “The Last 15 Seconds”, which she co-created and performed at MT Space, premiered at the IMPACT International Theatre Festival in 2009 and has since toured extensively throughout Canada, the Middle East and North Africa. Her work “Sounding Rituals” premiered at the 2007 Open Ears Festival in Kitchener. Anne-Marie previously worked with BoucharDanse as dramaturg for “très loin”. www.annemariedonovan.ca
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Kitchener-based visual artist Kathryn Forler has been creating sculptures, paintings and drawings for as long as she can remember. After exploring various aspects of arts and crafts, she returned to school as an adult student and graduated with an Honours B.A. in Fine Arts. She took a summer program in stone lithography from master printmaker Jean Luc Tahon in France. Kathryn has been on the several Boards including the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Globe Studios, Metal Arts Guild and Brush with Art, a grassroots organization she helped found. She also worked at Harbinger Gallery in Waterloo, S&S Pottery Supplies in Kitchener and as a bookkeeper and occasional labourer for her husband’s renovation business.
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Tom Mennill is joining the Inter Arts Matrix Board as Treasurer. Tom is a professional accountant and has been actively involved with local arts organizations in various governance leadership roles over the past two decades. He currently is a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Guelph, is the Treasurer of Rotary International District 7080 and previously has served on the Boards of the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery and the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery. During his over 35 years in public accounting, Tom has served a wide range of significant clients – both public and private – advising them on their financial and business matters.
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Chloe Blair is a practicing artist who works primarily with found and foraged materials. She has earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Art History and Visual Culture from the University of Waterloo and a Glassblowing Certification from the Haliburton School of Art + Design. Chloe is passionate about the responsibility of the artistic community to advocate for decolonization, anti-oppression, and sustainability. She is of European and Algonquin ancestry, but is not currently claimed by an Algonquin community. She fervently believes in the power of art to provide testimony, shape critical conversation, and inspire humility.
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Jeremy Hawkins is an actor, artist and historian. He holds a Master of Arts in History and an Honours B.A in Theatre and History, from the University of Waterloo. He is excited to work with Inter Arts Matrix as it continues to facilitate interdisciplinary art in Waterloo Region.
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Dr. Sorouja Moll has a PhD in Humanities and Interdisciplinary Studies (Concordia) in the fields of Communication, English, and Art History and an MA in English (University of Guelph). As an interdisciplinary communication scholar, teacher, and artist her research-creation is interested in all forms of media and their manifestations in, among other areas, nation, memory, and identity. Moll’s current area of research includes durational meditations as an everyday practice in which transgression, enunciation, ambiguity, and emancipation can be explored through multimedia performance, site installation, photography, painting, creative writing, and research.
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Dr. Shana MacDonald is Associate Professor in Communication Arts. Her interdisciplinary feminist research is situated between film, media, communication, and performance studies. She studies feminist, queer, and anti-racist social and digital media, popular culture, cinema, and visual culture as well as the rise of online hate, technology facilitated gender based violence, and disinformation online. Dr. MacDonald co-runs the online archive on Instagram @aesthetic.resistance and the Feminist Think Tank research group at the University of Waterloo. MacDonald co-directs the SIGNAL (Strategies for Intersectional Gender Justice, Networked Action, and Liberation) Network, an international group of scholars, activists, and policy makers addressing the problem of technology-facilitated gender-based violence.