Connecting From A Distance
There used to be a map for artists. It was a well-worn thing, with a few big cities circled in red ink: New York, London, maybe Toronto if you were lucky. The path was clear: you had to leave where you were from, move to one of those circles, and hustle your way into a gallery. The map told us that our art wasn’t real until it was validated by the “center” of the art world. For years, I believed it. I saw my home in the north not as a home, but as a starting line I desperately needed to cross. That map is now a relic. The internet didn’t just give us a new map; it tore the old one to shreds. The center is no longer a place you have to travel to. The center is you.
Your Location is Your Strongest Story
For too long, we’ve been taught to see our remote locations as a barrier. It’s time to flip that thinking on its head. In a world saturated with digital content, your unique perspective is your most valuable currency. The fact that you are creating work by a frozen lake, in a town of 500 people, under the glow of the aurora borealis, is not a disadvantage—it is your defining feature. People are hungry for authenticity, for a connection to something real. Don’t hide your geography; make it the headline. This is the culmination of everything we’ve talked about in this series: the silence that helps you focus, the daily observations that become your material, the community histories that give your work depth. Your digital presence is where you weave all those threads together into a story no one else can tell.
Build a Digital Space That Feels Like Home
Think of your online presence not as a cold, white-walled gallery, but as an invitation into your studio. It’s your digital front porch. You don’t need a complicated, expensive website to get started. A clean, simple Instagram profile or a free portfolio site can be incredibly powerful if used with intention. The key is to show more than just the finished product. Show the process. Post a photo of the frost patterns on your window that inspired a piece—the very thing we practiced in our second installment. Share a short video of the view from your workspace. Let your audience see the woodstove in the corner and hear the sound of the wind outside. This context doesn’t distract from your art; it enriches it. It transforms a potential buyer from a simple consumer into a participant in your world. They aren’t just buying a painting; they’re taking home a piece of the North.
Share the Story Behind the Art
Once you’ve built your space, you need to learn how to be a good host. This means sharing the stories that live inside your work. A picture might be worth a thousand words, but a few well-chosen sentences can provide the spark that creates a real connection. Remember the oral histories we discussed gathering from community elders? Your captions are the place to share a fragment of one of those stories, with permission, of course. When you post a new piece, don’t just list the dimensions and materials. Tell us what you were thinking when you made it. Talk about the local legend that inspired the color palette or the conversation at the post office that shaped its theme. This isn’t about over-explaining your art; it’s about generously sharing its roots. You are guiding your audience, helping them see the world through your eyes. This is how you build a community, not just a following. People will come for the art, but they will stay for the story.
This whole series has been about a fundamental shift in perspective—from seeing our northern homes as places of lack to recognizing them as places of incredible creative abundance. We’ve learned to listen to the quiet, to observe the ordinary, to honor our histories, and to find the courage to create. Now, it’s time to turn that inner work outward. The digital world isn’t a replacement for real-world connection, but it is a powerful bridge. It allows your voice, shaped by this unique place, to travel across any distance. Your work doesn’t need a city address to be important. It just needs to be shared. So build your porch, open the door, and let your northern light shine.
This summer, our arts program is a vibrant hub empowering artists and the arts sector across Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Northwestern Ontario. Our focus is on providing professional development and storytelling opportunities, which includes taking a deep dive into a different story every single Thursday. We’ll explore how these narratives are told, what we can learn from them, and how they can inspire our own creative work. Our program was originally seeded in 2022 with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse. Now in our third season, this summer’s program is made possible thanks to the support of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Ontario Arts Council, whose funding is helping to support this season’s valuable mentorship and internship program.
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