Breanna Barrington Named New Arts Habitat McLuhan House Studio Artist

Arts Habitat welcomes Breanna Barrington (she/they) as its newest artist at the McLuhan House studio. 

A graduate of the Fine Arts program at the University of Alberta, Breanna’s artwork has been shown at the Craft Council Gallery, the Alberta Council for Ukrainian Arts, the Nina Haggerty and many other locations.  

Previously working out of her home, Breanna says she’s excited to be chosen for the program to create more sizeable pieces in a larger space. “Much to the relief of my partner and cats,” she said.

“It’s important to have access to this type of space. With the rising cost of living, it is difficult for emerging artists such as myself to afford places to create.  Having access to this space for an entire year is a dream come true!” she added.

Over the next year, Breanna plans to use the studio to produce a series of oil paintings and murals in honour of her Ukrainian culture and identity. 

Breanna also plans to welcome the community into her new space with several public events, such as a pysanky (egg)-writing workshop, a ‘zine get together and open studio dates to view her work.

“I hope to use this as an opportunity to share my perspective with a broader audience and build a new body of work for gallery display,” Breanna said. 

Arts Habitat’s annual studio program offers one artist or artist collective access to the 540 square foot McLuhan House garage studio in the Highlands community. Artists have full-time, private access to this working space for a calendar year at no charge. For more about Arts Habitat, McLuhan House and previous artists in the studio please visit the Arts Habitat website. 

“Artist space like this in Edmonton is important because it helps to keep the city’s heritage alive while contributing to the growth of our communities,” added Breanna. “I admire Arts Habitat for leading the way with turning historic buildings such as this into art and community spaces so that they can be enjoyed by future generations.” 

You can learn more about Breanna and her work on Instagram or her website.