Team Biographies
Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn BFA, MA, PhD - Research Lead
Larisa is known for her interdisciplinary creative projects that engage artists and the community from various backgrounds and artistic genres. She completed her BFA in Art & Design in '81 and has had a prolific creative and teaching career for over 40 years. Her research focus is on the intersection of media and culture studies and how we visually express cultural identity in the context of print and digital media expressions. Larisa has been affiliated with the Kule Folklore Centre and the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies since the late '90s, collaborating with faculty and students to mobilize research into the community.
Theodora Harasymiw BFA
Theo graduated with a BFA in Painting from the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥. Her fascination with mosaics led her to further studies in Ravenna, Italy, the Chicago School of Mosaics, and the Institute for Mosaic Art in Oakland, CA. Theo's mosaic installations have become integral to Edmonton's visual identity. She is also well known for her artist residencies and work with youth and community groups, providing safe spaces for workshop participants to explore various forms of artistic expression.
Sylvie Ellis BFA
Sylvie is a recent graduate of the BFA Printmaking program at the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ whose creative practice speaks about personal stories, diverse identities, and traumas, to make the overlooked visible. Sylvie's attention to detail and knowledge of preservation processes were invaluable assets to the mosaic team.
Royden Mills BFA, MA
Royden has taught Studio Art in Art Fundamentals, Drawing and Inter-media, and Contemporary and Figurative Sculpture at the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ for over 25 years. He has completed many large-scale commissions, installations, and collaborative performances nationally and internationally. His works are extensively found in various institutional, corporate and private collections worldwide.
Sarah Thomson BA (Computing Sciences)
Sarah is passionate about learning how to connect the world through digital pathways. She recently completed her undergraduate degree in Computing Sciences at the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and came to the creative team via the 'Folklore and Digital Media" course, where she explored the various ways we project our identities and express ourselves online.
Eric Fincham BA, MA
Eric graduated from the Library and Information Studies program at the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥. He excels at organizing data and making it accessible in various formats for students, researchers and community projects. Eric is a full-time archivist for the City of Edmonton and assists with archival projects at the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives in the Kule Folklore Centre at U¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥.