Southeast Cultural Summit Comes to Moosomin
Moosomin Visual Arts Center will host on May 21st
May 4, 2026, 2:00 pm
Donnie Matichuk
The Southeast Sport, Culture, and Recreation District organization is hosting their second annual gathering of art, sport, and recreation on May 21st, and are encouraging anyone who is interested to come and see what they have to offer.
“The Southeast Cultural Summit is an event bringing artists, cultural leaders, municipal representatives, volunteers and provincial organizations together for a one-day celebration of how art, culture, heritage and living traditions can strengthen rural communities,” says Amber Andersen, Community Development Consultant for the Southeast District.
This is the second year that the Summit will be held, with the first being in Estevan. The Southeast District is partnering with the Moosomin Visual Arts Centre and the Town of Moosomin to make this event possible.
“I think Moosomin is such a culturally vibrant community. I think it is a town of really engaged volunteers. I see Communities in Bloom, the Moosomin Visual Arts Centre, and so many other great things around town. There’s a very active community making things happen, and so I think that this is a real opportunity for people to come out and basically celebrate their successes. We do have local presenters, and we want people to get inspired and be engaged,” says Andersen.
The day will begin at 9:00 with a welcome and Land Acknowledgement, before going into breakout sessions with different purposes and presenters.
“It’s going to be a full day of learning, connection and inspiration. Some of the highlights we have are Living Heritage and Storytelling. It’s going to be an event with many different things to do and experience.”
The sessions include everything from baseball history, to community improvement, to film and technology.
“The first breakout session is by Robin Jensen, who is a relatively new curator at the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. She’s also a volunteer on the Indian Head Museum board, and Carol LaFayette-Boyd, who’s with the Saskatchewan African Canadian Heritage Museum. They are going to share their story of how the 1950s all-African Canadian descent, Indian Head Rockets baseball team was revived through research and oral history.”
“We are going to explore youth leadership and empowerment with Justin Holness, who is a councilor of Ocean Man First Nation, and he has worked with the community to develop a youth committee. That led to the creation of film production group. It is a youth run media company integrating language culture, and it’s also an economic opportunity for them as well.
“We are going to look at community pride and beautification, which is going to be highlighted by Angela Thorn, who’s with the town of Moosomin, and she’ll be presenting on how Communities in Bloom can strengthen heritage awareness and tourism.”
“We’re looking at art infrastructure and advocacy, which is going to be explored by J’aime Payne, who is with the Moosomin Visual Arts Centre. She’s their Treasurer, and she’s going to talk about how the center moved from a vision to reality through collaboration, fundraising and municipal engagement.”
“We’re also going to touch on culture and technology and how those come together. That will be with Jill Ruep, who is a founder of Metis-led beading app. Maha Abbas of Heritage Saskatchewan, who’s going to reframe heritage sites as active contributors to local economies.”
“We’re doing an animateur spotlight, which is basically an artist spotlight. We’re going to have Weiming Zhao, who’s going to discuss his two decades worth of experience and the thousands of paintings that he’s done. We’re also going to have Krista Crellin, who is from Moosomin, and she’s going to discuss her business, how she’s the Chair of the MVAC, and how that reflects on creative practices as a pathway to leadership”
Lunch will be provided by The Red Barn in Moosomin, and will be included with the cost of registration for the event.
After the meal, there will be a Provincial Table-Talk session with some of the presenters at the event.
“As far as the Provincial Table-Talk session, we have an opportunity for you to sit down with the different provincial representatives at the Summit. We have key provincial organizations such as Saskatchewan Arts, SaskCulture, Heritage Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association, Sask African-Canadian Heritage Museum, and the Saskatchewan Metis Nation. You will get about ten minutes to sit at a table, and they’re going to discuss different granting or different funding opportunities they have at a provincial level. You’ll have three opportunities within the hour to select a community or provincial organization that you’d like to talk to.”
Andersen said that there are a few things that her team looks for when choosing who to feature and invite to the Summit as presenters.
