Our Team

Board of Directors & Staff

Board of Directors

Christopher Roy

Board Chair, Carver and Founder of Marketworks
Christopher is the founder of Marketworks, a digital marketing agency for good. In his community and volunteer work, he is the Vice-President and co-founding member of The Natural Burial Co-operative and is the founder of the award winning Salt Spring Exchange, an online community for the residents of Salt Spring Island, BC where he lives. He is an apprentice chaputz (canoe) carver with Tla-o-qui-aht Master Carver Joe Martin and focuses his personal carving work on ceremonial feast bowls. Christopher has been a Board Member of the festival since 2014.

Joe David

Director, Nuu-chah-nulth artist and cultural historian
Joe David is one of the most respected master artists of the Northwest Coast. He originally studied art in Seattle, but his interest in his own heritage and tradition led him to begin an intensive study of traditional Northwest Coast objects. He has always been drawn to the spiritual essence within Indigenous art practice and culture—and this later directed his path in art-making. In 2000, he was the first artist chosen for the Aboriginal Artist in Residence program at the Pilchuck Glass School. He is often requested by schools and institutions to lecture on Northwest Coast art. Joe is a founding member of the festival & society.

Joe Martin

Director, Nuu-chah-nulth artist, Master Canoe Carver
Joe Martin has been dedicated to mastering the art of traditional ƛaʔuukʷiatḥ (Tla-o-qui-aht) canoe carving for decades. He has sparked a revitalization of this ancient art form in his own community and among neighbouring nations in the Pacific Northwest. Taught by his father, the late Chief Robert Martin, Joe has continued to transfer his knowledge to future generations, taking on apprentices and leaving a legacy of over 70 carved canoes. Joe has been formally recognized for his incredible contributions to the artistic community – in 2013 he received a BC Creative Achievement Awards for First Nations’ Art and in 2012 he received a BC Community Achievement Award.

Norma Dryden

Treasurer, cultural planner
Norma has been active in the regional arts community since 1994, programming and producing a number of events linked with many local arts organizations. In addition to her involvement with the arts, Norma has worked with the seven communities in Clayoquot and Barkley Sounds as the CEO and Executive Director for a regional federal program (Natural Resources Canada). While serving as the president of the local arts council, Norma founded the Carving on the Edge Festival in 2010 and served as the festival coordinator and administrator over the next six festivals.

Tim Paul

Festival Co-Founder & Advisor, Nuu-chah-nulth
Tim is a master carver and accomplished artist, and an integral part of the cultural fabric of Nuu-chah-nulth. He is an activist, artistic collaborator, cultural knowledge keeper and holder, and environmentalist. Born in 1950 in the isolated village of Esperanza Inlet, north of Tofino on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, he began carving in 1975 under the direction of Ben Andrews and later with John Livingston at the Arts of the Raven studio in Victoria, BC. Tim held the position of senior carver at the Royal British Columbia Museum from 1984-92. Tim sought out time with elders and teachers to record some of their cultural and Nuu-chah-nulth linguistic knowledge. As a career artist he has carved many prestigious totem poles and cultural commissions in and outside Canada, including his current project: a language revitalization pole in Port Alberni. He is a co-founder of the festival.

Staff

Christine Germano

Festival Co-Creative Director
Christine Germano is the founder and director of the Constant Arts Society and the Artistic Director of the Portraits of Resilience project coordinated by Many Strong Voices / GRID Arendal. Germano has collaborated with Indigenous communities since 2000 but is best known for her photojournalism projects that focuses on the voices and images of young people whose futures are influenced by social and environmental issues. The project encourages youth to use photography and writing as a means to express themselves and their community, build self-confidence and empower themselves to be global citizens and mentors. The international photojournalism project titled Portraits of Resilience has allowed her to work with indigenous youth to illustrate the personal and ethical effects of climate change on their communities. Since its creation in 2008, the project has occurred in 12 countries (29 communities) and was launched at the National Museum of Denmark during the COP 15 in 2009 and has continued to exhibit internationally with a permanent exhibit at the Ontario Science Centre. Christine is a recipient of the John Hobday Awards in Arts Management through the Canada Council of the Arts. In May 2015 Germano was honoured with an Alumni Award from the OCAD University. And, in the summer of 2018 Christine completed an Arts for Social Change, Masters of Education degree at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

Hélène Descoteaux

Executive Director
Hélène Descoteaux is a community organizer and project coordinator based in Clayoquot Sound. Her interest in the arts stems from the belief that the well-being of individuals, strength in culture, and connection to the land are necessary foundations for a vibrant & healthy community. With a background in geography and holistic nutrition, Hélène has years of experience working in the local community with non-profit organizations, both in the environmental & arts sector.

Ivy Cargill-Martin

Festival Co-Creative Director
Born on Vancouver Island and raised on an off-grid float house in her own Tla-o-qui-aht Territory, Ivy has grown up with two very artistic parents. Her mother Robin Cargill, a “jill of all trades” in the art world, and her father Carl Martin, a Tla-o-qui-aht master canoe carver. From a young age, she found inspiration in every direction and was drawn to art as a form of self-expression. She learnt different techniques and art forms from her parents, friends, and family. Her explorations of drawing and painting grew to include carving, crochet, embroidery, block printing, jewelry, sculpture, and even traditional hand poked tattoos. She is constantly looking for new inspiration through art and expanding her artistic portfolio. Drawing on her Art of Hosting training and graphic recording skills, she has recently immersed herself in arts-based community facilitation through creating visual representations of stories being shared. She loves the practice because it reminds her of how Tla-o-qui-aht people would have recorded important teachings and histories in the past. She hopes to continue to carve her own path in the arts sector and is eager for the opportunities and connections that Carving on the Edge will provide.

Robinson Cook

Workshops & Carving Club Coordinator
Since 2014, Robinson has been a key contributor to the success of the workshops programming component of the Carving on the Edge Festival. He has instructed several workshops himself, taken a leadership role in coordinating artist instructors and overseen production. Robinson’s community mindedness and long-standing relationships with artists in the carving community have contributed to his success in facilitating and growing the Open Carving Area. Following the 2018 festival, Robinson formed the Carving on the Edge Carving Club, an informal bimonthly gathering of carvers that was inspired by the desire to keep the momentum going from the festival and to support people who are not carving every day.

eMail Newsletter

Sign-up for Festival Updates

The Carving on the Edge Festival sends out periodic updates on the festival and out-of-festival events. If you’d like to be kept up-to-date on the coastal carving scene, please sign-up using the form below.

Event registration

Register Now

Please fill out the form below. We will be reaching out prior to the event with links and information required to attend.