Our Leaders have been there
Our Board The Portage Board is made up of seasoned professional artists of faith with broad international experience in visual art, communications, arts education and missions. We have been active in the “Theology and the Arts” field for 25 years, but with a special interest in the therapeutic side of artmaking. We specialize in that place where theology, psychology and aesthetics converge and inform one another. We represent very diverse styles, or what we call languages of art, but have in common a love of Canadian geography and the original artist Jesus, who made it all.
James Tughan Executive Director and Education Artist, Poet, Arts Educator, James is best known for his drawings. He is founder and Exec. Dir. of Semaphore Fellowship, Portage Group, and Flagship Gallery, as well as a former art faculty member at Sheridan University, Redeemer University and Tyndale University College. He is currently studying in the MTS/DPT doctoral program at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, ON. tughansemaphore.wordpress.com
Heidi Brannan External and Internet Promotion and VP Over the past three decades Heidi has worked in stone, glass, fabric, silk, dry media and oils. Her work explores themes of growth, transformation, healing, and celebration. After years of doing custom work for clients, running a gallery and exhibiting her own work, she went into EMS for eight years, which influenced her art significantly. She is now building visual arts workshops and programs for survivors of trauma. heidibrannan.ca
Amanda Leblanc Portage Gatherings Gatherings Amanda is an artist and educator working in the GHA. She is passionate about creating safe places for people to make and play while expressing their inner worlds and has been working in her field for over 10 years. Many of the topics explored in her artwork relate to struggles with emotional trauma and mental illness. She believes that creativity can play an important role in promoting wellness. amandaleblanc.wixsite.com/portfolio
Marina Wastle Show Coordination Marina is a multilingual arts supporter and English instructor hailing from Georgia in the former;y Soviet Union. She is a long time TESL educator and Russian translator in the Canadian court system. She also happens to be very familiar with most of the major public fine art galleries in Europe and Russia, and brings to the support of Portage a wealth of commitment to our flourishing.
Alaina Agnew Social Media Artist and educator, Alaina is a multi-disciplinary artist, specializing in patternmaking, working with children and adults, currently in the United States, She is also currently studying filmmaking at the Toronto Film Institute.
Ashraf Daout Treasurer and Fundraising Ashraf is an architect from Cairo, Egypt, specializing in High-rise engineering, interior design project management, with a great eye for detail and organization of human resources.
Special consultants:
Dr. Kelvin Mutter, is a retired psychotherapist and research/pastoral counselling specialist from McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton Ontario. He is also a visual artist. Ya!
T
.
