Drawn to nature: The work of artist Justine Proulx

While she never set out to be a muralist, Justine has since completed more than 50 murals and installations across Winnipeg’s schools, hospitals, community centres and public outdoor spaces (her largest, spanning approximately 60 metres, is located at the RBC Convention Centre in downtown Winnipeg) and now has a mural waitlist that’s about two years long.

Her work has grown in exciting and unexpected ways, including engaging presentations for students on the history of Indigenous art in Manitoba. She highlights styles such as the Woodland style, also known as Legend or Medicine painting, the most prominent Indigenous art tradition in the Great Lakes region.

Justine also collaborates with students on developing their ideas, encouraging them to explore their own creativity. Particularly for students who might doubt their artistic abilities, Justine helps them focus on the fun and freedom of creating rather than the finished piece.

Where the wild things are

Just as the Woodland style emphasizes storytelling and the relationship between spirit, animals, people and nature, for Justine, art is all about connection.

“I really love nature. I love animals,” she says, gesturing to a reptile tank behind her. “So I love that artwork (style) mostly because of the natural elements, of things all being connected, almost like they’re all sharing the same consciousness.”

When DUC staff at Oak Hammock Marsh reached out to Justine, a longtime DUC supporter, about creating artworks for the Wetland Discovery Centre (which reopened last May following almost two years of extensive renovations), she says “I was really excited when they contacted me… I love Oak Hammock Marsh and I would go there quite a bit as a kid.”

Much of her Woodland-style artwork at the Centre takes the form of “animal teachers” big and small, including a spider, frog, owl, muskrat, red fox, sandhill crane, deer and bison. Justin also created a big and bold mural featuring a wetland scene, a bird’s-eye view of a turtle that incorporates the 13-month moon calendar (a symbol of living in harmony with nature) and a life-size moose mural.

Accompanying that artwork is information about the animals that also includes words in Ojibwe, Plains Cree, Dene and several other Indigenous languages. As an Indigenous artist whose Métis identity is rooted in Ojibwe and Cree ancestry, Justine says it’s a welcome addition.

“More and more places here, at least in Winnipeg, are trying very hard to incorporate Indigenous teachings and Indigenous languages into their displays or their buildings. So I thought that was really cool and necessary,” she adds.

Creativity rooted in connection

In addition to the Wetland Discovery Centre, Justine worked with DUC to design the rider kits for the 2025 Ride to the Lake, a cycling fundraising event to support DUC’s wetland conservation work (taking place in Winnipeg on July 17 this year). She also designed the medal for the 2026 Duck and Run fundraiser (which includes a virtual challenge and running events at various locations around the country in June), weaving a beadwork pattern into part of the design.

Whether it’s murals or medal design, hairstyling or tattooing, Justine values the meditative, healing quality of art, in all its forms.

“I feel like throughout my life, the role that art plays has changed quite a bit. When I was younger and in my early teens, it was like a way to almost escape and just pour myself into something… and I loved giving my art away. Just making people happy with artwork was something I really loved doing since I was very young,” she says. “It’s always been a way for me to connect with other people.”

Looking back at that young girl who would sit with her father drawing side-by-side all those years ago, it seems Justine’s creative journey has come full circle. But there’s still plenty of artistic adventures waiting in the wings as she works to foster a deeper relationship between people and nature through art.

“I think one thing we’re lacking in general right now as a society is our connection to nature and the natural world… I view us as like another animal that’s on this earth, and a lot of people don’t see it that way,” she says.

“I feel like right now, we’re pretty disconnected and we have a lot going on with pollution, climate change, deforestation. And that’s why I like doing artwork for places like Oak Hammock Marsh or Ducks Unlimited Canada,” she adds.

To learn more about Justine Proulx and see more of her work, visit justineproulx.com