MEET OUR STAFF

GALLERY DIRECTOR
Morgan Wedderspoon
ugallery.director@queensu.ca

Morgan Wedderspoon is a Katarokwi-Kingston based visual artist and a settler of Scottish-English descent. She maintains an art practice in print media including book works, sculpture, installation, and participatory projects. She earned a Master of Fine Art in Printmaking from the University of Alberta and holds a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) from Queen’s University. Informed by her longtime involvement with non-profit artist-run centres, she is passionate about art practice in community and its potential for grassroots-led social transformation—both imagining and working toward a more just and livable future for all. Wedderspoon enjoys being a part of the learning community of Queen’s University, where she teaches within the BFA Program. In her free time, you’ll find her biking, knitting, and learning to grow food at Oak Street Garden.

PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Abby Nowakowski
ugallery@queensu.ca

Abby Nowakowski is a queer interdisciplinary artist and art educator who is driven by curiosity and community. Overtly passionate about the arts, Abby works to spread advocacy for care, share stories, and make space for radical softness. Their practice extends into art facilitation with a range of collaborations including workshops, performances, and community weaving opportunities. They currently live and work as an uninvited guest on the traditional land of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek.

CURATORIAL ASSISTANT
Hadley Howes
ug.curatorialassistant@gmail.com

Hadley Howes works from the position of a white, queer, trans, artist and PhD candidate in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University. Their research interests in abolitionist aesthetic practices, (counter-)monument and art in urban spaces is informed by their professional experience creating public art and their extensive international exhibition history as a visual artist working in research-rich, site-responsive and multimedia installation. They are currently dedicated to collective engagement and imaginative processes of co-creation. With four planets in Libra, Hadley generally makes decisions by consulting The Wild Beyond, Next World Tarot, or a friend who lives by the ocean.

CURATORIAL ASSISTANT
Vince Ha
ug.curatorialassistant@gmail.com

Vince Ha is a writer-director who captures fragmentary moments and uses them to challenge issues of race, class, gender, and representation. He is pursuing his PhD in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies at Queen’s University, centering his research on two core themes: diasporic identities and queer archival methods. Currently, he is investigating transnational media and its relationship with queer diasporic sociality, with special attention to homoerotic representation in Asian cinema. His work has been presented locally at Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival, Gardiner Museum, Buddies in Bad Times, The ArQuives, and Hot Docs Rogers Cinema—and internationally in China, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Thailand, United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.

RESEARCH FELLOW
Cassidy Alejandria
ug.researchfellow@gmail.com

Cassidy Alejandria is a first-year Master of Art History student at Queen’s University. She grew up in Toronto, Ontario and graduated from the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) program at Queen’s University majoring in Art History and History. Cassidy is interested in contemporary art that engages with social issues, particularly feminist art. She is especially interested in ways that art has prompted social change.

PROGRAMS ASSISTANT
Yashfeen Afzaal
ug.programassistant@gmail.com

Yashfeen Afzaal is a second-year Bachelor of Arts Honours student at Queen’s University majoring in Art History. She was born and raised in Markham, Ontario and has a deep fascination with art history, especially regarding the relationship between fashion and art and how the two interact with one another. She is interested in exploring the cultural and social changes that have occurred in fashion and how that has influenced us in modern-day society.