Between Classes, Into Art: A Student Visit to CUAG

Did you know we have an incredible art gallery right here on campus?

With two new exhibitions at Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG), I had the chance to meet with Fiona Wright, the gallery’s Academic and Public Programs Specialist, last Wednesday between my classes. It was a chance to step out of my usual routine and spend some time with art, without even leaving campus.

Starting on the second floor, we worked our way through Somali Canadian artist Faisa Omer’s exhibition, Threading Roots / Xididdada Isku Xiran. Full of colour, textiles, photographs and family artifacts, Omer’s work took us through a journey of ancestry, cultural identity and questions of home, while also exploring mental health and community.

There are some close Carleton connections here, too. Omer earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in neuroscience here and now works as the university’s Counsellor for Racialized Students in Residence. The exhibition’s curator, Reyhab Mohmed Patel, is a PhD candidate in sociology at Carleton.

Omer ends her exhibition with a display of photographs set against traditional Somali fabrics and apparel. Titled Exist, this section celebrates cultural identity as a living practice, with inherited traditions reinterpreted through joy, creativity and new expressions of belonging.

What stood out to me was the care in these portraits, from the colours and fabrics to the ways people presented themselves. Seeing them alongside family photographs and artifacts made me think about how we carry a sense of home, and how much a photograph can say about identity and belonging.

From there, we headed downstairs, where the gallery was transformed once again. While both exhibitions explore cultural identity, nēhiyaw (Plains Cree) artist Joi T. Arcand approaches these questions through a different lens: language. Her exhibition, kā-isinākwahki itwēwina: The Shape of Words, gives vibrant visual form to nēhiyawēwin (Plains Cree language), asserting its presence and imagining a present and future in which it thrives.

With bright neon signs and walls splashed with pinks and blues, the space invites you to explore and play, while also asking you to slow down and pay attention. Features such as the telephone and magnet wall, which includes a syllabic chart in Cree Comic Sans font, give you ways to get involved by listening, looking and engaging with the shapes of the language.

As an English student interested in languages and their cultural significance, this exhibition was particularly exciting. Arcand’s creative use of familiar objects and signs made me think about the languages we expect to see in public spaces, and what their presence or absence means. Her work shows how language can shape a place and affirm cultural identity.

Both exhibitions gave me something to think about when I headed back to class. In very different ways, Omer and Arcand explore questions of identity, belonging and expression that reach well beyond the gallery. Having their work right here on campus felt like an opportunity worth making more of as a Carleton student.

If you get a chance, I encourage you to check out the exhibitions yourself! Admission is free, and CUAG is in St. Patrick’s Building, so you can fit a visit into an hour between classes or a quieter afternoon on campus. You don’t need to be studying art to find something that interests you.

Both exhibitions are on view until Dec. 13, 2026.

Next time you’re looking for a break from your usual campus routine, stop in and see where it takes you!