Guelph Arts Council is pleased to present its second solo exhibition in the Sally Wismer Gallery, Here we Are, We are Here by Jude Akrey, on view from May through June. The exhibition brings together a new body of paintings exploring queer experience, community, and resilience.
Here we Are, We are Here is both an examination of the histories and methodologies of 2SLGBTQIA+ activism in local contexts, and an assertion that queer joy, laughter, and play will always triumph. The paintings in this exhibition act as metaphor for queer and disabled relationships, and community strength through cyclical, natural motifs such as flowers, weather patterns, and insects. In a world where queer and trans people are being systemically targeted and dehumanized by governmental policies, funding cuts to healthcare, and demonized by far-right ideologies, sometimes all we can do is sway in the wind, and trust our deep roots will support us. Like flowers, queer people are part of the landscape, contribute to a flourishing ecological system, and bloom vibrantly under the right conditions! These paintings are a reminder that queer joy is everywhere – whether people like it or not – and is as natural as the birds, butterflies, flowers, and fauna we find all around us.
We spoke with Jude about the ideas and experiences shaping this exhibition.
What does Here we Are, We are Here mean to you right now?
This exhibition title is an acknowledgement of time and place as it pertains to queer experience in the world.
Here we Are situates us in the present moment, providing a landing place for viewers and community members. It inquisitively suggests that we have somehow come to this moment, this place, this experience through complex paths and ended up here, together. Here we Are invites us to gather and ask: what now?
We are Here is an assertion of queer existence, continuity, and resilience. It speaks to the persistence of queer communities subject to erasure and disempowerment, while grounding us in the present moment and demanding actionable accountability so we can strive toward better possible futures.
Why do you keep coming back to things like flowers, bugs, and weather in your work?
These motifs reflect the cyclical, natural, and adaptive qualities of queer relationality and community.
Queer joy is everywhere – whether people like it or not – and is as natural as the birds, butterflies, flowers, and fauna we find all around us. Our communities, like the more-than-human world, thrive through symbiosis rather than isolation.
Additionally, by reflecting and imagining queer relationships through ecological frameworks, I am committing myself to the notion that queer liberation is inextricable from struggles against settler colonialism and extractive systems of oppression. I am working more diligently in my practice these days to learn from the land, and explore how this can inform my creative practice.
How does community shape the way you make your work?
My practice oscillates between community-engaged work and studio-based practices in painting and printmaking. These methodologies often overlap and inform one another.
My relationships within community organizing and placemaking shape the metaphors and compositions in my work. My paintings act as a space for me to process and reflect on relationships and events, and create a psychosomatic archive for me to reflect on through the past decade I’ve lived in Guelph.
Jude Akrey (they/them) is a white, trans, and Autistic artist living on Between the Lakes Treaty Territory No.3 (Guelph). Their interdisciplinary practice is rooted in painting, printmaking, and community-engaged methodologies. Their work explores and represents facets of Autistic experience, including routine, stimming (self-stimulatory behaviour), and pattern-seeking through formal exploration of framing devices, gestural brushwork, and colour relationalities. Jude’s practice is rooted in trans and Autistic experience, shaped by relational care and communication. They are committed to investigating the power of empowered communities through shared learning and community-engaged artmaking.Jude holds a BA (Honours) in Studio Art from the University of Guelph. In 2023, they were selected as the City of Guelph 10th Annual Artist-in-Residence, and their project From One Queer to Another received the Warren Garrett Inclusive Programming Award through Ontario Culture Days. They have exhibited at galleries across Ontario, including the Art Gallery of Guelph, Art Not Shame, Digestif Gallery, RedHead Gallery, and the Guelph Civic Museum. In 2026, Jude will present solo exhibitions at 10C Gallery and the Old Post Office through Cambridge Art Galleries, and co-curated Queer Print Project: Body Language at the Art Gallery of Guelph.Here we Are, We are Here will be on view at Sally Wismer Gallery (55 Wyndham St N Suite 22B, Old Quebec Street Shoppes, Guelph, ON N1H 7T8) from May 12 to June 30, 2026. The gallery is open Tuesday to Thursday from 10 AM to 4 PM. An opening reception will be held on May 21 from 6 to 8 PM.
Visit Jude Akrey’s website here to learn more about their practice.
