Not unlike birds leaving the nest, the 2021 and 2022 Lakehead University fine arts graduates debuted their work at this year’s RetroGraduate exhibit and entered the world of professional art, some of them for the first time.

The challenges of the past two years have shown us that art helps us heal. Anishinaabe artist Tom Tom Sinclair knows this well. “Art helps me see the world in a good way, in a colourful and beautiful way. Especially now, during the pandemic, where everyone is so separated from each other,” he says. “In my art, I show connections, things on a spiritual level. That’s why I often put strawberries in my paintings—ode’imin—heart berries. Everything grows from the heart.”