Art Bus 2026

Artist Bio

Collins Amegah is a visual artist, graphic designer and painter whose work explores the deep connections between people and their environments. Shaped by a lifetime of navigating diverse cultural contexts, his practice examines how identity is formed through place and how shared values such as trust, care and belonging are carried across generations and communities.

Collins’s creative process fuses human expression, natural forms and urban textures into layered visual narratives. His vibrant, daring compositions draw inspiration from nature, music, literature and design, resulting in works that feel both intuitive and intentional. Through an ongoing exploration of new mediums, materials and digital processes, he continues to refine an exuberant yet nuanced visual language.

Working across surfaces such as wood, fabric, glass and concrete, Amegah blends pattern, texture, colour and dynamic brushwork to channel emotion and movement. His art thrives in the tension between complexity and simplicity, inviting viewers into moments of introspection while connecting with the stories, energy and sense of place embedded within each piece.

Find out more about Collins’s artwork in this short video.

Artist Gallery

Artist Statement

Carried Between Worlds unfolds as a vibrant, moving narrative across the surface of the bus, weaving together themes of identity, migration and cultural memory. Drawing from Ghanaian visual traditions, including the rhythmic language of Kente, the composition layers stylized figures, flora and animals into a continuous landscape that reflects protection, transformation and intergenerational connection.

Bold colour and symmetry guide the viewer through moments of community, introspection and movement, reflecting the evolving nature of belonging within Calgary’s multicultural environment. Birds and organic forms emerge as symbols of passage and resilience, while human figures anchor the work in shared experience.

Through this piece, artist Collins Amegah creates an immersive visual journey that exists both in motion and in place, inviting viewers to reflect on heritage, connection and the stories carried across time and geography.

Artist Bio

Oki. Greetings. I am Grant Little Mustache of the Piikani Nation, part of the Blackfoot Confederacy. I am a self-taught artist — I started at an early age and have been drawing and painting for more than 50 years. I have been around storytelling all of my life. The creation stories of my people and my ancestors go back to the beginning of time in Blackfoot territory, here in what we call North  America, Canada and the United States.

I have been around horse culture all my life and on the front lines of human services for over 30 years. I would describe my art as spiritual, contemporary, Indigenous, historical and western.

Find out more about Grant Little Mustache’s artwork in this short video.

Artist Gallery

Artist Statement

Blackfoot Horse Culture 

Grant Little Mustache’s Art Bus shows scenes of traditional Blackfoot horse culture.

His artwork presents transportation and hunting on horseback as a lens into past ways of life, in contrast to modern forms of transportation. Before Calgary was established, this area was a camping site and gathering place for the Blackfoot Confederacy for 18,000 years.

The work portrays various hunters, warriors and men and women on horseback, set against the mountains to the west, the plains to the east and Chief Mountain to the south of Mohkinstsis (Calgary). The individual scenes are divided between the curb side of the bus, which represents the ‘hunt’ or active side, and the driver side, which is calm and frames a couple together as part of an homage to the creation of the first man and woman. The back of the bus shows a rider who is giving a signal that aligns with the bus’s signal lights.

Drawing on the winter count, some of this imagery reflects Indigenous storytelling traditions and appears along each side of the bus. Grant hopes people of all generations can share in this knowledge through modern ways of experiencing art.

These riders depicted in these scenes are based between 1730 to 1900.

Artist Bio

Jae Sterling is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and founding member of the FOREIGNERZ art and production house, where he also serves as a creative director and in-house designer. Working across visual art, public installations, film, fashion, music, illustration and writing, Sterling’s practice moves between heightened emotional expression and immersive dream spaces, often operating under the moniker BIG BULLY. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, and shaped by time spent in South Florida and the Canadian prairies, his practice moves between vivid Caribbean colour and prairie grit, constantly re-contextualizing personal and diasporic history. His work blends pop culture with classical and contemporary art, using surrealism as a storytelling tool and an act of resistance against cultural erasure.

Jae first emerged as a musician and was selected for the National Music Centre’s Artist Residency in 2019, releasing four music projects and touring across Alberta and Ontario. In 2020, he debuted the year-long multimedia exhibition Riding Horses With White Men, which led to his recognition as one of Calgary’s first Black muralists with The Guide & Protector in Chinatown.

His ongoing series PORTALS explores prairie surrealism through exhibitions, large-scale murals, and installations, including the 2,000 square feet BUMP Festival mural PORTAL MAKER. His short film JINN JULIAN premiered at the Calgary International Film Festival, with companion exhibitions continuing into 2024. 

Find out more about Jae Sterling’s artwork in this short video.

Artist Gallery

Artist Statement

Portal Jumper

During a fertile Calgary summer, in the year 2070, we follow a young Black cowboy navigating a transformed landscape through a network of portals. In this distant future, we witness what could have been a dystopian aftermath instead become a site of renewal, where ecological richness and technological intervention coexist.

Across the Art Bus, the protagonist moves between motion and suspension. On one side, he races alongside his cattle and bulls, their bodies in sync as they surge through luminous portals, collapsing vast distances into a single gesture. On the other side, he is caught mid-jump, suspended before a larger threshold — a ‘mother portal’ that suggests both origin and possibility. The rear of the Art Bus shows us a moment of stillness, where his stylish riding boots rest.

These portals emerge from an encounter with a non-human intelligence that reshaped how humanity survives and travels. Here, they act as borrowed and adapted technology, now used for migration, transformation, and exploration of the unknown.

At its core, Portal Jumper reimagines the cowboy as a future-facing figure. By centring a young Black cowboy within this speculative horizon, my work expands on who belongs to the past and future of the prairies. Watching our rider against saturated gold, green and pink skies, I invite viewers into a grand story already in motion.

Artist Bio

Jillian Fleck is an award-winning graphic novelist based in Mohkinsstsis/Calgary. Their graphic novels Lake Jehovah and Cheryl were both published by Conundrum Press, and their work has been included in anthologies such as 2 Trans 2 Furious: An extremely serious journal of Transgender Street Racing Studies and Alberta Comics: Home. 

Jillian’s comics explore concepts of gender and sexuality, mental health, and the weird and fantastic. They have shared their work nationally and internationally through workshops, lectures and exhibitions.

Presently, in their spare time, Jillian is working on a comic titled Murderbird! My Love!, a fantasy soap opera about magical military drones and the unicorns who love them.

Find out more about Jillian’s artwork in this short video.

Artist Gallery

Artist Statement

Wrestle Bus

Wrestle Bus celebrates Calgary’s history as the centre of Stampede Wrestling territory. Stampede Wrestling existed in Alberta for nearly 50 years. Established by Stu Hart, and later carried on by his sons, Stampede Wrestling became an internationally recognized institution in the professional wrestling world, responsible for training multiple famous wrestlers and pioneering creative concepts such as the ladder match. Stampede Wrestling and the Hart family are major contributors to the style, creativity and legacy of professional wrestling — an artform that today exists as a billion-dollar entertainment industry and continues to pay homage to the form and style developed in Calgary.

Growing up in Calgary, I was barely aware of our connection to the weird sport I saw on TV. It wasn’t until later in life that I began researching professional wrestling and discovered the local connection. I feel sad thinking that a large portion of Calgarians probably aren’t aware of its local legacy.

This Art Bus is a story that illustrates that Calgary is more than an oil and gas hub — it’s a centre of creativity that has the power to shape worldwide industries. While researching, I learned about contributors to Stampede Wrestling from around the world. I felt driven to celebrate those who never gained international fame but were well known here. Speaking to casual viewers of Stampede Wrestling, I quickly learned that including Ed Whalen and his unique commentary was essential.

As a comic creator, trying to capture the unique styles and personalities of each figure I wanted to include was an exciting challenge. Wrestling and comics are both visual storytelling mediums that lend themselves to caricature and exaggeration. I find it fascinating that local wrestling great Bret Hart is known to draw cartoons of his colleagues. Professional wrestling is still alive in Calgary in the form of independent events that carry its spirit — each has a unique voice that continues the tradition of professional wrestling in Calgary in its own way. It is my hope that professional wrestling and its legacy in Calgary can be embraced as part of our civic identity.

Artist Bio

Kara Mains is an illustrator and character designer who graduated from AUArts. An enjoyer of dark fairytales and strange twisted monsters, Kara focuses on combining digital mediums with traditional styles and practices. They celebrate the strange, wondrous and the monstrous, and the myriad ways they reside in all humans.

As far as personal work goes, Kara is drawn to art that is faraway and mysterious in tone. With a background in creative writing, their practice is inspired by timeless stories and allegories that explore ideas and lessons still relevant today. Kara loves designing strange, eclectic characters and environments for them to inhabit. Every story has been told, yet it is always possible to tell new stories. This artist is fascinated by exploring what lies within that is difficult to put into words. They believe the most interesting work comes from the melding of more than one fascinating idea, folding one over the other and layering until something new is born.

Find out more about Kara’s artwork in this short video.

Artist Gallery

Artist Statement

Orison and Transhumance

I am an independent illustrator and character designer who enjoys dark fairytales and strange twisted monsters. My practice focuses on combining digital mediums with traditional styles and techniques. I celebrate the strange, wondrous and monstrous, and the myriad ways they reside in all humans.

With this Art Bus project, I aim to tell a story of a travelling nomad and the companions that share their journey. There is an understated magic that art unearths, which I am constantly seeking to capture in my work. The blending of the natural and fantastical may weave a dream-like state brought forth to the waking world. Large herding animals are a constant focus in my work; there is something wondrous about a large shaggy-haired beast, with well-worn hooves, curious rectangular pupils, and twisted horns that are crown like and classic. They appear almost fictional to me, like creatures of yore — hybrids of many animals, large and perhaps slow-moving, but powerful in purpose and strong in character. Goats and yaks fascinate me, so for this project I designed a mixture of sorts.  Existing at the intersection of the two, the creature draws from both forms. By contrast, the hare symbolizes what the herd is not. Isolated and restless, it moves like a falling star over the moor, rarely stopping to feed or rest. All motion and vigour, moving only in brief flashes of direction. This, too, reflects my approach to creation.

Similarly, I aim to capture the feeling of being at crossroads — of allowing oneself to grow, learn, change and accept that who we are today cannot be reclaimed because we are always in motion. We follow stars of our own making, some burning bright with desire, others too distant or faded to see. Creation is my star — an outlet and an exploration of the within and without. I draw inspiration from old folklore and fairytales. They are among the oldest forms of teaching, and I use these foundations of imagination to develop new narratives. Through this process, I explore the nature of creation, the impulse to pursue it and how it reflects the creator.

Artist Bio

Phoenix Kefei Ning was born in China and has lived and studied in the United States and Canada for over a decade. She is a Visual Communication Design major in the class of 2026 at AUArts (Alberta University of the Arts). Working as a graphic designer, illustrator, and emerging artist, Phoenix explores the interplay of colour and shape to create visually engaging work. Her practice is inspired by her personal aesthetics and by her relationship to the world around her.

While she primarily works in digital formats, Phoenix continues to explore traditional, hands-on techniques, often working across the boundary between digital and craft. She contributes to numerous community-based and public art initiatives across Calgary, with a focus on making art more accessible and joyful for the public.

Find out more about Phoenix’s artwork in this short video.

Artist Gallery

Artist Statement

In Passing

In Passing explores public transit as a shared social space — one where people move together, cross paths and slowly drift apart.

The imagery is centered around horses, a symbol of movement and collective rhythm. They reference earlier forms of transportation, while also connecting to the artist’s Chinese identity. On one side of the bus, a quiet night scene unfolds, where the horses move together with the mountains, suggesting moments of connection and shared experience. On the other side, their paths begin to separate, reflecting how individuals diverge over time despite briefly traveling alongside one another.

Thread-like lines run through the composition, mapping abstract routes across the surface of the bus. These lines echo transit systems, but also suggest invisible connections between people, places and time. The mountainous forms in the background are soft and continuous, grounding the work in a sense of place while reinforcing the idea of ongoing movement.

This project is created through fibre-based processes, including stitching and embroidery. Instead of purely digital methods, the work emphasizes handcraft, material texture and labour. The tactile quality of the fabric introduces a slower, more human pace into a fast-moving urban environment, allowing the surface of the bus to carry both image and process.

As the bus moves through the city, the artwork shifts from a static object to something experienced in passing — fragmented, layered and constantly changing depending on the viewer’s position. In this way, the work reflects the transient nature of public life: brief encounters, shared spaces and the quiet connections that happen in between.

Artist Bio

Sikapinakii (“Black Eyed Woman”) Low Horn is a Blackfoot artist from the Siksika First Nation who received a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the AUArts (Alberta University of the Arts) in 2019. Utilizing multiple mediums, Sikapinakii uses teachings and stories from their people to create works of art that aim to educate others about the history and culture of the Blackfoot. Within their work, they often include Blackfoot imagery and iconography that uses bold and traditional colours in hopes of creating welcoming spaces. Sikapinakii is currently a full-time freelance artist but continues their research within the subject matter of Blackfoot cowboys.

Find out more about Sikapinakii’s in this short video.

Artist Gallery

Artist Statement

Siksika Aapot’skinaisahko’maapi (Blackfoot Cowboy)

Combining illustration and the traditional craft of beadwork, I wanted to use modern and traditional mediums of creating depicted through a visual transition of illustration turning into beadwork. Within the artwork, I chose to show the rolling hills, with the Rocky Mountain range and large skies — an iconic landscape for Calgarians and part of the traditional lands of Treaty 7.

I wanted to combine the landscape with Blackfoot iconography that is found in our winter counts, representing individual nations of our Treaty. A contemporary symbol that I created — the Blackfoot matapii (person) wearing a cowboy hat, or ‘Blackfoot cowboy’ — highlights the significance of Blackfoot cowboys within the history of the Calgary Stampede and in the agricultural life of southern Alberta.