ABOUT US
Board of Directors
The Centre[3] board of directors is a dedicated group of individuals with diverse backgrounds
and shared a passion for social change through artistic and social practices.
If you have any questions, comments, or collaboration ideas, we’d like to hear from you.
Melissa Murray-Mutch
Chair of the board of directors
Artist & Actor
Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Melissa Murray-Mutch is a recent arrival from Union City, New Jersey (August 2018). Melissa spent her adult life and theatre training in New York City. Melissa is a professional actress and teaching artist. She made her theatrical debut in Hamilton with the Canadian premiere of David Auburn’s play “Lost Lake” for the Hamilton Fringe Festival. She also performed in Light Echo Theatre’s inguaral production of Eve Ensler’s “Vagina Monologues” at the Staircase Theatre as well as Tony Vierra’s Plan B series also at the Staircase.
In NY, she performed with the American Slavery Project’s “Unheard Voices,” Hudson Theatreworks, The Fire This Time Festival as well as the New Perspectives Theater. Off-Broadway: “Death of the Liberal Class” ( The New Ohio Theater), “Playboy of the West Indies”, and “Babes in Boyland”(Lincoln Center Theater), and in the regional theater production of “This” by Melissa James Gibson at the Shaker Bridge Theater in New Hampshire. Film and T.V. credits include the short film “Hungry,” “The Coroner,” “Law and Order: SVU,” “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” and “Sesame Street.” Melissa is a proud member of CAEA, ACTRA, AEA & SAGAFTRA.
Barin Osho
Vice-Chair
Artist
Barin Osho was born in Lagos, Nigeria. She moved to Canada in 2017 to further her education and has been living in Hamilton, Ontario ever since. Barin is an artist who aims at combining her faith, life experiences and reflections to represent her identity in her works. She is in her third year at McMaster University, pursuing a degree in studio art and philosophy.
“I joined the board of Centre [3] to be a voice for the creative youth and fellow emerging artists and students. Centre [3] provides me with the opportunity to establish connections with people who share a passion for guiding and supporting creative youths as well as reviving the creative spirit of Hamilton City .”
Steve Gaul
Treasurer
Accountant
Originally from Dundas, Ontario, Steve Gaul now resides in Oakville. Steve holds an Honours Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Brock University and is currently a Chartered Accountant (Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario) for Deloitte.
Steve is on the Board of Directors for Centre[3] “to be a part of an organization which collaborates and gives back to the community through social enterprise programs for youth.”
Amanda Hinkle‐Wallace
Secretary
Artist, educator, Program Director
Amanda Hinkle-Wallace is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and program director. She is currently serving as Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble’s Director of Education and Partnerships, based in NYC. Amanda has over 20 years’ experience in arts-in-education, building multi-institutional and cross-sector partnerships. She has served in leadership roles at George Street Playhouse (NJ), Roundabout Theatre Company (NYC), Irondale Ensemble Project (NYC), and partnered with Queens Theatre in the Park, Lincoln Center Education, American Museum of Natural History, NYPD, BRIC Arts Media, & Mark Morris Dance Group. She has lectured at Centennial College (Canada), and with the Royal Central School of London (UK). Amanda has developed STEM to STEAM, social justice, technical theatre training, youth ensembles, school residencies and new play development models serving thousands of young people and community members.
Teba Faisal
ARTIST
Teba Faisal is an Iraqi-Canadian interdisciplinary artist and designer in Hamilton, ON, holding a BFA in Studio Arts with a minor in Political Science from McMaster University. Her most recent work engages in conversations about the depiction of Arab culture and Islam in the media and the way it mobilizes racism and xenophobia in the Western world. She is currently the chair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Committee and sits on the programming committee for Centre[3].
Aytak Dibavar
Lawyer, Educator, Professor
Aytak Dibavar is an Iranian-Canadian lawyer, Assistant Professor and a decolonial feminist educator at Gender and Social Justice Program at McMaster teaching from/about queer, postcolonial, decolonial, and anti-racist knowledge production. Aytak holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and Gender Studies and . They read and write about race, gender, memory, political trauma, and silence.
For almost a decade, Aytak has developed a dual academic and activist career on issues pertaining to women’s right in Iran and refugees and immigrants in Canada – specifically related to trauma survivors, resettlement, and barriers to education and workplace access for femme refugees. Aytak has a great passion for people and their lived experiences. They are interested in life-narratives; the ways in which people make sense of their own life, whether and how they narrate it to others and why they remain silent about it.
Aytak tries to spend most of their free time either outdoors enjoying and experiencing nature or creating and consuming art. Painting and poetry are not only important political categories for their work but are deeply apart of who they are. They incorporate art in their daily life – through visiting local galleries and painting – and in their pedagogy.
Olivia Brouwer
Artist
Olivia Brouwer is an award-winning emerging artist from Cambridge, Ontario. In 2016, she graduated from the Art and Art History joint program, specializing in painting and printmaking, at the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College. Since then, her work has been exhibited in a number of shows across Southern Ontario, some of which include the Blackwood Gallery, the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, and the Robert Kananaj Gallery in collaboration with Emerging Young Artists. She was a recent recipient of the Centre[3] Emerging Artist Residency program and the Artist Residency program at the Cotton Factory in Hamilton, Ontario (2020-2021). In 2021, she was one of 52 finalists for the Salt Spring National Art Prize, an award winner of the City of Hamilton Creator Award, as well as one of 5 finalists for the JRG Emerging Artist Award.
As a partially blind artist, Brouwer explores the idea of blindness through her art, melding organic and geometric abstraction with scenes inspired by natural organisms and spiritual teachings relating to vision from both a metaphorical and literal sense. She translates the concept of blindness into a symbol, using it to examine ideas surrounding belief, meaning, clarity, and sight. Her most recent work explores various encounters with art which activate human senses, enabling an inclusive experience for both visually impaired and sighted viewers.
Elizabeth S. Abraham
Lawyer
Elizabeth S. Abraham is a family lawyer who practices in Brantford, Simcoe and Cayuga. Born in Hamilton, Elizabeth has resided in the Niagara Region, Ottawa, Toronto, and overseas in the U.K. Having lived a nomadic lifestyle for many years, she is proud to call Hamilton her permanent home as of 2012. Elizabeth is passionate about the promotion of diversity and inclusion in the arts, as well as the accessibility of arts education. She recognizes the positive impact the arts can play in enriching a community, having previously been involved in many choral, symphonic and dramatic productions. Having admired their work in the community for many years, Elizabeth is thrilled to join Centre[3] and welcomes the opportunity to help advance their mission of creating social change through the arts. In her spare time, Elizabeth enjoys playing the piano, discovering new restaurants, and immersing herself in the artistic events that Hamilton has to offer.
Jeannie Kim
Artist, Educator, Cultural Worker
Jeannie Kyungjin Kim is a Korean-Canadian artist and educator who uses Korean materials to research and interrogate historical methodologies and mediums. Jeannie holds a Master of Arts in Art Education (Concordia University) and a Honors Bachelor of Arts in Art and Art History (University of Toronto and Sheridan College). For more than six years, Jeannie has delivered diverse visual and digital art programs in the community and at the post-secondary level, teaching everybody from young children to seniors.
Notably, she has held instructor positions at the City of Mississauga, the Living Arts Centre, and Concordia University. She currently resides in Hamilton, which is situated upon traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Haudenosaunee nations covered by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant.
Angela DeMontigny
Designer, Artist, Entrepreneur, Mentor
Angela DeMontigny is an award winning designer, artist, entrepreneur and mentor of Cree/Métis heritage, who has been a pioneer of the Indigenous Luxury movement for over 2 decades and based in Hamilton, ON. Through the creation of her beautiful, authentic Indigenous fashion, accessories, lifestyle & wellness products (LODGE Soy Candles) under her label ‘DeMontigny’, she has not only been a trailblazer for Indigenous fashion nationally and internationally, but an example of reclaiming her identity as an indigenous woman by utilizing her gifts as an entrepreneur.
Also an accomplished artist, Angela was awarded a major public art commission in 2020 for her groundbreaking ‘All Our Relations’ sculpture that is slated for installation on Hamilton’s waterfront Sept. 30, 2023. She is looking forward to creating a much needed, public art legacy for the City which will include designated space for the urban Indigenous community to gather, an education component and programming for youth. http://www.hamiltonwaterfront.com/public-art/.
Aadil Merali
Accountant & Educator
Aadil Merali is an accomplished professional with an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and graduate degree in Master of Business Administration (MBA). Aadil is also a Chartered Professional Accountant and a Certified Management Accountant. Aadil has held several senior executive positions in industry in his birth country, Kenya, and in Canada.
Aadil is currently a permanent teaching-faculty member and Director of the Graduate Diploma in Professional Accountancy (GDPA) at the DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University.
He is also a treasurer and an executive member at the McMaster University Faculty Association.
Outside of work, Aadil dedicates his time to volunteering and CPR training.
Rosa Wan
Artist & Facilitator
As a community organizer and facilitator, Rosa Wan connects creative individuals and bridges communities through hosting collaborative drawing workshops and community gatherings, specifically exploring her east-asian diasporic roots as a Chinese-Canadian from Hong Kong. She utilizes her background in visual merchandising and fine arts when programming workshops and curatorial projects.
“Centre[3] holds the mandate, structure, and ethics of what I envision in a sustainable creative community. I’m looking forward to learning more and contributing to uphold the amazing work this institution has to offer. Being based in Toronto, I’m also excited to familiarize myself with the Hamilton arts community.”