1. Dylan Carr

2. Barb Bottle

3. JD Renaud

Artists often struggle with calling themselves artists. Even after being named readers’ favourite local visual artist, Dylan Carr hesitates to shoulder that title.

“I think my friends just voted for me,” they say. “I’m so grateful. That was a really lovely thing to receive. But, yeah, I definitely think it was them. The power of a mass text.”

Carr, a first-year fine-arts student at the University of Manitoba, encourages others to call themselves artists – even though they struggle to do the same.

“It’s such a hard thing,” Carr says. “I internalize that in myself. I’ve struggled with feeling legitimate. But I think, yeah, everyone’s an artist, including me, you know?”

Through taking printmaking classes at Art City Studio, then Martha Street Studio’s Youth Outreach Program (YOP) and INKubator program, Carr took to lino-cutting and screenprinting.

“Being able to duplicate artwork and also experiment and see how it comes out differently every time – I love that kind of process,” they say. “I started off being really excited by the fact that I could make my own clothing designs ... but I like it all. I’m into everything.”

After a few false starts at the University of Winnipeg, Carr finally landed on a fine-arts degree. “I tried other different programs and really tried to make those work,” they say, “but I think I was always wondering if maybe fine arts would be something for me.”

With their degree, Carr wants to pursue arts education, community engagement and their “big goal”of making a mural.

“He-ey, Synonym,” they say, giving a shoutout to local curatorial collective Synonym Art Consultation, which hosts Wall-to-Wall Winnipeg, an annual mural event.

Carr’s work is on Instagram @bed_crumb_printz and will be at future local markets. They are also running a workshop on Dec. 10 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Haus of Rough Drafts. Check @hausofroughdrafts on Instagram for details.

Published in Volume 78, Number 12 of The Uniter (November 30, 2023)