Carrie Allison’s we tend to care Opens at WAG-Qaumajuq and Urban Shaman
Touring exhibition launches with celebrations on February 6 & 11
Winnipeg, Manitoba, February 5, 2026: The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq and Urban Shaman Contemporary Art Gallery are excited to announce the unveiling of we tend to care, a touring exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Carrie Allison. The installation unfolds across both venues with a show at Urban Shaman and within WAG-Qaumajuq’s permanent collection galleries, articulating a critique of the colonial ideologies that have shaped dominant conceptions of grass, land, and cultivated green spaces. There will be an opening celebration at Urban Shaman on February 6, 2026, followed by an artist and curator discussion at WAG-Qaumajuq on February 11, 2026.
Allison’s ambitious beaded pieces parallel the absurd amount of labour and time that goes into maintaining yards, lawns, gardens, and agricultural spaces. In doing so, Allison’s work confronts these social constructs and addresses how these spaces uphold and are upheld by class, colonialism, and nationalism. She takes this critique to the absurd with her use of digital media to extrapolate what those systems will evolve into if left unchecked. Allison offers alternatives to those futures by tracing riverways in beads, replacing cold extractive botanical sketches with portrayals of kin, or looking for shared intergenerational spaces.
At WAG-Qaumajuq, we tend to care is presented as an exhibition-within-an-exhibition, interrupting the permanent collection galleries currently dedicated to European Renaissance and early settler North American art. Allison’s work deliberately disrupts the linear, chronological narratives of canonical art history.
Carrie Allison is of nêhiýaw/Métis/mixed European descent. She is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in K’jipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki (Halifax, Nova Scotia). This iteration of her travelling exhibition, we tend to care, is curated by Franchesca Hebert-Spence, in collaboration with Marie-Anne Redhead, Assistant Curator of Indigenous & Contemporary Art, WAG-Qaumajuq.
Join us for the opening of we tend to care at Urban Shaman, which takes place on February 6, 5-9pm, and a panel discussion with Carrie Allison, Marie-Anne Redhead, and Franchesca Hebert-Spence at WAG-Qaumajuq on February 11 at 7pm during WAG Wednesday Nights.
Quick Facts:
- we tend to care opens February 6, 2026, at WAG-Qaumajuq and Urban Shaman.
- The exhibition is curated by Franchesca Hebert-Spence in collaboration with Marie-Anne Redhead, Assistant Curator of Indigenous & Contemporary Art, WAG-Qaumajuq.
- Carrie Allison’s multidisciplinary practice ranges from intimate family-and territory-based work, to speculative digital interpretations of what may emerge if colonial logics persist. Through the labour-and time-intensive act of beading, Allison draws parallels to the effort required to maintain lawns, gardens, and yards.
- At WAG-Qaumajuq, the exhibition will be installed as an exhibition-within-an-exhibition, directly interrupting the permanent collection galleries and challenging colonial ideologies.
- Join us for the free celebration of we tend to care at Urban Shaman (290 McDermot Ave) on February 6, 5-9pm, and at WAG-Qaumajuq (300 Memorial Blvd) on February 11, 5-9pm, during WAG Wednesday Nights featuring a panel discussion at 7pm with Carrie Allison, Marie-Anne Redhead, and Franchesca Hebert-Spence.
Quotes:
“By intervening in the traditional chronological framing of art, we open space for a fuller and more nuanced conversation. One where artworks speak across generations rather than sit within them. Our collaboration with Urban Shaman is essential to this work, presenting Indigenous perspectives that transform how we see, learn, and connect through art.”
— Bill Elliott, Deputy Director & CFO, WAG-Qaumajuq
“Carrie’s work highlights how intrenched colonialism is in our day-to-day and that questioning these larger systems leads us to imagining new futures.”
— Franchesca Hebert-Spence, Curator
Associated Links
Support
This exhibition originated at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, and is produced in partnership with IOTA Studios. This project gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Nova Scotia, and the Province of Nova Scotia’s Department of Communities, and Culture and Heritage.
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For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Katryna Barske Justin Bear L’Arrivee
Public Relations Officer Artistic Director
Winnipeg Art Gallery Urban Shaman
204.789.1295 artisticdirector@urbanshaman.org
kbarske@wag.ca
About Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq is a cultural advocate using art as a catalyst for change. The Gallery features an impressive collection of nearly 30,000 artworks spanning centuries, cultures, and media, including the largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world. Each piece has its own story to tell. Sharing these stories with the world is at the core of WAG-Qaumajuq. This is an engaging, accessible space where visitors can experience art and learning in new ways. Principles of equity, care, trust, and responsibility guide the institution towards meaningful impact and transformation. To learn more, visit wag.ca.
About Urban Shaman Contemporary Art Gallery
Urban Shaman Contemporary Art Gallery is a charitable, not-for-profit artist-run centre located on Treaty 1 territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Urban Shaman is an Indigenous led gallery that presents contemporary Indigenous art with integrity while remaining rooted in our diverse Indigenous nations. Founded in 1996, Urban Shaman continues to be a nationally recognized leader in Indigenous arts programming and one of the foremost venues and voices for Indigenous art in Canada. Urban Shaman is dedicated to the Indigenous arts community and arts community at large.
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