Ysabelle Vautour (she/her) started out working in the mental health and disability support sector. She began painting in 2019, deciding to paint and create art every day for a year. Being sensitive to light, Ysabelle learned that plein air painting was not the best thing for her. Her artwork and photography tend to use the close up, bringing a sense of intimacy to the viewer and offering a better view for the legally blind painter. Ysabelle was invited to participate in Artslink’s Short and Sweet Speaker Series, entered several live painting competitions, and started teaching at Serenity Wellness, the NBCCD Craft Library, as well as offering private classes. Her art was featured at the Fredericton Public Library, Art Kitchen, and CBC New Brunswick. Ysabelle’s work was also selected for a juried exhibition at the Nails on the Wall Gallery in Metuchen, New Jersey. Being no stranger to new things, she ended the year by doing some arts writing for Grid City Magazine.
In 2020 Ysabelle became a board member at Connexion Artist Run Center. She was featured in the Shediac Artist Village, Ami Ami-télé, and Created Here Magazine. She was recruited to give a public talk to NBCCD Craft College art students and was artist in residence at the Fredericton Arts Alliance. Ysabelle received a micro-grant for her self-directed Alone Together residency from NBCCD Craft Library. Ysabelle had two solo exhibitions in 2021, the first at the Penny Gallery in Fredericton and the second at Corid’art Gallery in Shediac. Her work can also be viewed at Connexion ARC Members’ Show at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre. She was awarded two grants from Arts NB for her project Bodies in Motion, where she will delve into large-scale figurative painting.
In 2021 she was featured in Halifax’s Art of Disability Festival and as a live painter on the national stage at the Disability Without Poverty August Roundup event, becoming a graduate of Artslink’s Catapult arts and business accelerator program. Later that year she worked on Atlantic Canada’s first Disability Art Conference. The project was in collaboration with Theatre New Brunswick and the JRG Society for the Arts. In 2022 Ysabelle has a solo exhibition at the Leon Leger Gallery, and has created the NB Disability Artist Showcase at Fredericton Playhouse. Her work can also be seen at Sudbury Shores CTV, as well as in a new television documentary on Ami-télé called 100% Passion, airing in the spring.
I believe that Sync Canada will provide me a chance to network with great people doing amazing thing and help me grow my thought leadership around accessibility and the arts.