Creativity Studio Artists

Tett Centre's Creativity Studios

Suite 214, 2nd Floor

In addition to our eight resident arts organizations, our building hosts eight tenant Creativity Studio Artists in individual artist studios with a shared communal space on the second floor.

Our Creativity Studio Artists are a core component of the Tett community; in addition to their various roles in the Katarokwi/Kingston arts sector, they regularly offer public engagment opportunities to support Tett programming. Through their community engagement, our Creativity Studio Artists enable the Tett to expand our free, PWYC, and by-donation programming, simultaneously assisting the Tett in further developing financially accessible programming opportunities for the YGK community while also helping to raise funds for our charitable arts organization. 

Any time you visit the Tett, you are most welcome to pop by the Creativity Studios (Suite 214, 2nd Floor, lakeside end of the hallway) and see what the Tett artists are up to! They regularly welcome visitors into their studios and are always happy to chat about all things art.

Our Creativity Studio Artists

Sumera Khan

Studio A ~ Painting

Sumera Khan is a professional painter and an art instructor from Kingston, Ontario. She paints a variety of subjects including cozy interior spaces, still life and plein air. Through alla prima technique and impressionistic style of brushwork, she likes painting stories inspired by her caregiving experience to individuals living with invisible disabilities. She teaches art to the community as part of her community arts practice. Sumera was one of the four artists from Twofold Artist-in-Residence 2024 by Modern Fuel and Union Gallery. She has enjoyed being on the jury for local art exhibits. Her works have been exhibited at various galleries in Ontario. She has been a recipient of grants by the Ontario Arts Council in 2024. Through her works, Sumera remains committed to connect people over the meaningful stories in the mundane.

Instagram @artsskart

Liz Cooper

Studio C ~ Photography

Liz Cooper started photographing as a teenager and went on to study the subject at Toronto Metropolitan University, where she focused on documentary photography. After graduating, she used her knowledge of visual language to establish a career in communications while continuing to pursue commercial photography, using her decisive moment skills to photograph weddings and families. 

Inspired by the faces in front of her camera on wedding days, Liz shifted to portraiture and began to photograph people exclusively. Rather than attempting iconic or timeless portraits, Liz’s current work represents time spent together and a moment in the life of the sitter. 

Instagram @lizzouse

Diana Jackson

Studio D ~ Ceramics

Diana is a sculptor working primarily in clay with a final firing process being done outdoors in a barrel. Her current focus is on abstracting forms found in nature. She loves seamlessly blending the organic and the abstract, inviting viewers to contemplate the beauty and interconnectedness of the world around us. She enjoys focusing on surfaces and textures, whether visual or tactile. She loves when the silky-smooth surface of a finished clay piece gets fired in a barrel and is kissed by the flames leaving flashes of colour reminiscent of the galaxy or ocean currents and eddies.

Instagram @dianajcksn

dianajackson.ca

Will O'Hare

Studio E ~ Photography

Will O'Hare is a photographer, theatre director, and arts educator; a storyteller who unearths compelling stories in multidimensional ways and teaches others to do the same. Working both as a solo artist and with multidisciplinary artistic teams, Will’s work has evolved in diverse settings within Canada, the United States, and Europe and gained international recognition. Whether emerging from corporate headquarters, family functions, street scenes, or performing arts events, Will’s photographs tell stories of personal identity, urban culture, and community connection with vibrancy and authenticity. As a theatre director and educator, Will specializes in making Shakespeare’s body of work relevant and accessible to a new generation of K-12 and post-secondary students. He also teaches portraiture photography to children and adults. 

Instagram @willoharephotography

Leisa Rich

Studio F ~ Fibre Arts & Mixed Media

Leisa Rich is an experimental, multi-disciplinary artist and art educator who transforms the common and alternative in unique ways using fibre materials and processes, mixed and repurposed media, 3D printing, laser engraving and AI. She is a fearless creative explorer. Rich holds MFA, BFA and B.Ed. Art degrees. She is featured in notable museums, galleries, books and interviews. Rich has published a children's book and a series of How-To art books. Her work is in the permanent collections of Delta Airlines Inc., Hilton Hotels, Travel+Leisure/Wyndham Hotels, The Boston Group, Pro-Demnity Insurance, Emory Healthcare, The Dallas Museum of Art, in private homes, and more. She is a recipient of distinguished fellowships and awards. Leisa has been teaching art for 51 years at universities, arts centres, art retreats, and more, and owned an art school. Rich moved back to her home country Canada in 2020 after living abroad for many years. She resides on Howe Island. 

Instagram: @monaleisa2

monaleisa.com

Jean Jamieson-Hanes 

Studio G ~ Acrylic Painting

Jean Jamieson-Hanes is a Kingston based artist who has been painting primarily large-scale acrylic paintings consisting of geometric abstraction, texture, and vivid colour that seeks to engage the viewer in body and mind by enveloping them with vast expanses of colour. Jean’s work is rooted in animal activism, environmentalism and emotional geographies. Using meaningful and environmentally conscious staining materials, Jean creates paintings that explore human-animal relationships, a practice deeply rooted in grief and mourning.

More recent work has focused on mental health, gender identity and grief. Jean’s experience with fibromyalgia and chronic pain has inspired introspective concepts, including being in the body, and the grief surrounding the body that once was.

Instagram @jeanjh.art

Yessica Rivera Belsham

Studio H ~ Photography

A multidisciplinary artist and founder of Ollin, Yessica “Yessi” Rivera Belsham weaves painting, mixed media, textile arts, sculpture, drumming, singing, movement, and storytelling. A graduate of Karen Peperkorn’s Creative Arts Focus Program, she also studied at OCAD University. Some of her arts focused certifications include Therapeutic Art Life Coach, Art of Creative Facilitation, Music Care Certificate: Health Care Professionals Using Music in Therapeutic Ways, and Sound Healing Practitioner. Since 2014, she has transformed spaces into places of belonging, bridging generations and cultures through creativity predominantly through community events and the Ollin Drum Circles. Her return to the Tett Centre as a Creativity Studio Artist is a homecoming - bringing art to life collaboratively and meaningfully with others. Recipient of the 2017 Mayor’s Arts Award (Arts Champion) and King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025), her practice honours ancestry, creative expression, and community engagement.

At the Tett, she is developing original music and visual works exploring memory, identity, and story. Also a Registered Practical Nurse and Community Care Manager at the Kingston Native Centre and Language Nest, she brings care into her creative practice. Her art doesn’t end at the studio door. It lives in the connections people carry at heart.

Instagram @yessicariverabelsham

___

Renting a Creativity Studio

The Tett Centre for Creativity & Learning offers eight individual artist studios for rent. When a Creativity Studio Artist terminates their lease, we publish a call for applications and accept proposals from artists interested in renting the available studio. Applications are reviewed and juried by a selection group.

If you're interested in renting a Creativity Studio, follow us on social media (@tettcentre on Instagram) or sign up for our newsletter. You can also contact Brianne Franklin at director@tettcentre.org to be placed on the email list. Note: the email list is not a wait list, we simply inform those on the email list when a studio becomes available.

Applications are currently closed.