Natalie Baird is a visual artist and educator from Winnipeg, Treaty 1 Territory. Through filmmaking, photography, and drawing processes, she focuses on honouring moments of care and connection.
For over 10 years she has shared an artistic practice with Toby Gillies, rooted in collaborative experiments and a playful exploration of materials and ideas. Their projects strive to build reciprocal relationships with one another and the natural world through shared art experiences, whether that be inside locked healthcare units, around city parks, or on the sea ice. Multigenerational connection is a cornerstone of their work, and as artists they create rich environments to explore and express imagination and memory. In 2024, they released the short animated documentary Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying, a meditation on love, grief, and imagination, produced by the National Film Board of Canada.
Since 2014, Natalie and Toby have worked as artists-in-residence at Misericordia Health Centre, creating the Art for Everyone program and hosting events that bring together seniors and youth to make and celebrate art.
Natalie’s previous experience includes investigating the role of arts-based research in supporting communities responding to climate change. From 2017-2022 she developed media art projects with land and cultural programs in Pangnirtung and Kinngait, Nunavut. These projects brought together youth, Elders, artists, and scientists from across Canada to collaborate on permanent public artworks and exhibitions in Canada and the UK. She holds a bachelor of environmental science (2014) and a master of environment (2020) from the University of Manitoba. Natalie has facilitated the Art City Darkroom Photography program since 2016, offering free, drop-in darkroom and film photography workshops for all ages in West Broadway.
For over 10 years she has shared an artistic practice with Toby Gillies, rooted in collaborative experiments and a playful exploration of materials and ideas. Their projects strive to build reciprocal relationships with one another and the natural world through shared art experiences, whether that be inside locked healthcare units, around city parks, or on the sea ice. Multigenerational connection is a cornerstone of their work, and as artists they create rich environments to explore and express imagination and memory. In 2024, they released the short animated documentary Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying, a meditation on love, grief, and imagination, produced by the National Film Board of Canada.
Since 2014, Natalie and Toby have worked as artists-in-residence at Misericordia Health Centre, creating the Art for Everyone program and hosting events that bring together seniors and youth to make and celebrate art.
Natalie’s previous experience includes investigating the role of arts-based research in supporting communities responding to climate change. From 2017-2022 she developed media art projects with land and cultural programs in Pangnirtung and Kinngait, Nunavut. These projects brought together youth, Elders, artists, and scientists from across Canada to collaborate on permanent public artworks and exhibitions in Canada and the UK. She holds a bachelor of environmental science (2014) and a master of environment (2020) from the University of Manitoba. Natalie has facilitated the Art City Darkroom Photography program since 2016, offering free, drop-in darkroom and film photography workshops for all ages in West Broadway.