Meet the
Thinking Rockers
Miranda Bouchard, Artistic Director
Miranda Bouchard (she/her) is an artist, curator & arts manager with 16+ years’ experience in the non-profit arts and culture sector. Her Algoma roots and residence inform her focus on process- and craft-based practices, intergenerational sharing, and projects unfolding in rural places where such practices are prevalent. She’s drawn to stories, traditions and modes of making that survive and retain their salience, despite the passage of time. Miranda enjoys contributing creatively as an invested collaborator, establishing reciprocal connections with artists & communities, and supporting the realization of projects through sustained dialogue and exchange. She’s studied art, art history, nonprofit management, puppetry, and community economic & social development at the University of Guelph, Toronto Metropolitan University, Humber College, Algoma University and LAB University of Applied Sciences’ Institute of Fine Arts (FInland). She has apprenticed in community arts practice with Ruth Howard and Jumblies Theatre + Arts, and has been mentored in arts management by Rudy Ruttimann and Phyllis Novak of SKETCH Working Arts.
Katina Schell, Graphic Designer & Website Coordinator
Katina Schell (she/her) brings 14+ years of experience in a business setting providing graphic design, public relations, and marketing assistance. She is a graduate of Algoma University with a BA Honors, in Graphic Design, Creative Writing and Visual Arts. Having recently relocated back to this region, Iron Bridge, and she looks forward to utilizing her previous work experience and professional skill base to help members in this area.
Board of Directors
Robin Sutherland, Founder
Robin Sutherland is a settler artist, social entrepreneur, professor and business owner. She was raised at Kegos Camp (now Northern Skies Resort) on land forever stewarded by the Aanishinaabe people in the region currently known as Algoma. After graduating with a degree in Theatre and Arts Management at the University of Toronto, she worked in Toronto’s arts and non-profit sector where she managed community-based projects at a local and national scale. Working in the arts sector in Toronto, she connected with influential community artists Ruth Howard (founder of Jumblies Theatre) and Phyllis Novak (founder of SKETCH Working Arts). Under their mentorship she incubated her vision of creating a professional community-based and equity-focused arts organization that would serve the rural and Indigenous communities of Central Algoma. Robin moved back to Algoma permanently to realize this vision by launching Thinking Rock Community Arts in 2013. As Artistic Director and with the support, mentorship and collaboration of many local artists and Indigenous Elders and community leaders – including Miranda Bouchard and Elders Gerard Sagassige, Marly Day and Elsie Bissaillon - Robin oversaw the development and presentation of the Thinking Rock’s acclaimed Gigidoowag Ziibiik/ The Rivers Speak Community Play. The final performance was presented in Mississaugi First Nation in September 2017 following a five-year community-engaged artistic process that engaged four thousand community members. In 2018 Robin was awarded the Gamechanger of the Year Award by the Algoma Visionary Awards for her work with The Rivers Speak. Robin stepped away from her role at Thinking Rock Community Arts in 2021 to have her second child. Since then she has helped establish the Algoma Community Foundation as Founding Executive Director and worked as a Professor at the Community, Economic and Social Development (CESD) program at Algoma University. She is currently the Owner/Operator of Northern Skies Resort, a fourth generation cottage resort which she is expanding to include arts and wellness retreats, events and residencies in collaboration with local artists and Indigenous communities. Robin holds a BA in Theatre and Arts Management from the University of Toronto, an MSc in Health, Community and Development program at the London School of Economics and a Graduate Diploma in Social Innovation from the University of Waterloo. She is pursuing a Creative Writing Certificate through the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies.