March 12th – April 9th, 2026.
Stride Gallery is excited to announce a partnership with the National accessArts Centre (NaAC) to present the exhibition: SPARKS FLY.
Please join us for the opening reception on March 12th 2026, at Stride Gallery
220-625 11 Ave SW, T2R 0E1
Light snacks and refreshments will be available!
Sparks Fly is an exhibition curated by Carla Isabella Sater. Salter took part in one of the National accessArts Centre’s professional track programs called Curatorial Practices. This two-year program invited 6 NaAC artists to learn about and put on a curatorial project.
CURATORIAL STATEMENT
Just like sparks, your emotions burst out of you- flying around and burning bright. Just like sparks, emotions can ignite fires that are both healing and devastating. When you add disability into the mix, these sparks can burn incredibly bright and hot!
Mental Health can be a lifelong journey with many ups and downs. Sparks Fly aims to celebrate, share, and uncover the unique relationship that people living with disabilities have to their mental health journeys.
ARTIST + CURATOR BIOS
Ashton Crowhurst is an artist in Calgary, Alberta. He is a painter, a jeweler, and a sculptor. He likes to approach art in a way that breaks the boundaries of what’s considered good art. He likes creating from the heart instead of being told what to make.
Louie Fermor is an autistic writer and artist based in Moh’kins’tsis, in Treaty 7, i.e. Calgary, Alberta. They have published and exhibited in venues across Canada and attended programs with the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Sync Disabled Arts and Leadership, and the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights. They have experience in using their artwork and writing for community organization, public service, criticism, and queer and disability arts advocacy
Jaz Steel is a multidisciplinary artist residing in Moh’kins’tsis. They are a queer, non-binary, neurodivergent person living with a disabling chronic illness known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis which is vastly under-researched and a condition much more common than people realize.
Jodie Stevens (she/they) is a re-emerging artist working in sculpture, installation, fibre, and video, they are a recent graduate of AUArts (2024), based in Mohkinstsis/Calgary on Treaty 7 Territory. Their interdisciplinary practice explores lived experiences as a queer, neurodivergent individual that is finding ways to shift narratives while navigating the balance of disability pride. Jodie is a member of the Contextural Fibre Collective and is participating in the Rozsa Foundations of Art Leadership 2025/2026.
Carla Isabella Salter
Carla Isabella Salter is an emerging contemporary Canadian artist and curator working in Calgary, Alberta. Carla’s focus is on art’s ability to tell a story without words. Art has power to share experiences of life, emotions, and personal journeys. Carla is passionate about mental health awareness and de-stigmatization.
Carla works out of the National accessArts Centre. She has exhibited internationally and across Canada, with work displayed in Intense Difference of Its Own at the Korea Foundation Gallery in Seoul, Korea, and Reel Perspectives, a public art video installation at Sankofa Square in Toronto, Canada.