SK Arts | Board Members

Board Members

Ian Rea (Chair), Regina
Chartered Professional Accountant and Retired Financial Service Industry Executive

Ian’s career spanned 34 years as a finance, management and governance professional serving credit unions, cooperatives and government in Saskatchewan. Current board roles include Board Member, SaskWater, Board Chair, Community Initiatives Fund in Saskatchewan and Public Appointee – Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals Complaints Committee and has served as the Board Chair of both the Alzheimer’s Society of Saskatchewan and Canada, Chair of CPA Saskatchewan’s Professional Conduct Committee, Board Chair of CMA Saskatchewan among others. Ian and his spouse have two daughters and two granddaughters.

Michael Afenfia, Saskatoon
Lawyer, Writer

Michael Afenfia is a Nigerian Canadian storyteller and multi-genre writer and a multiple nominee for the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA)-Chinua Achebe Prize for Literature. His first novel, When the Moon Caught Fire, was published in 2010 and met with critical acclaim. Since then, he has written seven more books, including the highly successful novels The Mechanics of Yenagoa and Rain Can Never Know. In 2023, his highly successful novel, Leave My Bones in Saskatoon, was shortlisted for the Glengarry Book Award Prize. When he is not writing, Michael mentors young creatives, binge-watches television shows, listens to music, or reads.

Lindsay Arnold, North Portal
Artist, Administrator

Lindsay Arnold is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in North Portal, Saskatchewan. Over her 20-year career, Lindsay shares her small-town vantage point through painting, drawing, filmmaking, and songwriting. Her creative endeavours honour emotional and physical labour, with a special focus on unpaid women’s work. Lindsay’s home on the lonely and often harsh Saskatchewan prairies is a recurring theme throughout her creative projects. She lives with her husband/bandmate and their daughter in a house built with their own hands. When she is not making music or art, she works as a certified municipal administrator for the Village of North Portal.

Diana Domm Smythe (Vice-Chair), Martensville
Strategy and Customer Experience Leader

Diana Domm Smythe began her career in theatre and arts management and has brought that passion for creativity and innovation to her work in business strategy, marketing, and management. She holds a BFA from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from the University of Saskatchewan. Diana is an advocate for the arts and the impact it makes in our communities.

Carole Epp, Saskatoon
Ceramicist, Curator, and Writer

Carole Epp (she/her/they) is a ceramic artist, curator, writer, and community organizer. She holds an MFA from the Australian National University and a BFA from the University of Regina. Epp’s illustrative work, characterized by innocence, nostalgia, and hope themes, tackles complex subjects through everyday objects. Epp edited the blog Musing About Mud for 17 years, co-founded the Canadian ceramics collective Make and Do and co-authored The Encyclopedia of Inspiration: Ceramics. With support from the Canada Council for the Arts, she curated an exhibition for the Ceramics Congress featuring 88 Canadian ceramic artists.

Steve Jeffers, Prince Albert
Business Leader

Steve is a local business leader with extensive experience in business management, community development, and volunteerism. He is the managing partner and general manager of Carlton Honda in Prince Albert. Steve is deeply committed to his community, serving and Chair of the Rose Garden Hospice and having served as Chair of Community Futures Saskatchewan. He is a director of Community Futures Prince Albert. He has served the boards of the Community Initiatives Fund of Saskatchewan and Community Futures Panwest. Outside of work and community, Steve enjoys time at the lake with his family and amateur shotgun sports.

Barbara Meneley, Val Marie
Visual Artist

Barbara Meneley is a prairie-based visual artist whose site-responsive work critically engages with colonial structures and contemporary settler relationships to the site. Her works are shaped through intermedia art – video, cartography, drawing, performance, sculpture, installation, writing and dialogic practice. Barbara also works as a researcher, mentor, and university instructor, teaching art history and studio art, most recently at the University of Regina and First Nations University of Canada.

Judy McCuskee, Regina
Insurance Consultant and Arts Consumer

Judy McCuskee established a consulting firm specializing in risk assessment, management training, and insurance expert work 20 years ago after owning an insurance brokerage for the previous 20 years. Serving on professional regulatory boards such as the Law Society of Saskatchewan and the General Insurance Council allowed Judy to promote the public’s interest for many years. She is equally passionate about the role of the Arts in developing healthy children, improving lives and building communities. She has served the Regina Symphony Orchestra for many years, including as Board Chair and Past Chair from 2018 to 2024.

Cheryl Ring, Prince Albert
Visual Artist

Cheryl L. Ring is a visual artist and works out of HeartSpace Studio, a commercial space in Prince Albert, SK, Canada. Cheryl is an eclectic and dynamic artist whose work is recognized both locally and internationally. HeartSpace Studio represents a place to grow and connect, allowing makers time to reflect and make sense of their world while they create. The heart is meaningful to Cheryl for its cultural significance and universally recognizable shape, which is entrenched in our psyche as a cultural icon. The heart and our connection to it signified Cheryl’s desire for a kinder, more connected community through art.

Alison Watson, White City
Business Owner and Operator

Alison is a small business owner and is passionate about her community. She has been a small business owner/operator (Winecraft) since September 2016. Before purchasing this business, Alison worked in the financial regulatory environment with credit unions in Saskatchewan for 13 years, where she gained experience in financial management, risk management and governance. Having earned a BAdmin from the University of Regina, Alison and her husband enjoy living in a smaller community and raising their three children. She has also been an active coach in various sports for several years.

Past Board Members

List of board members from 1948 to present