Spotlight: Interactive art takes the floor at (Un)Common Threads 2026
You're mid-coffee, mid-conversation with someone from a completely different industry, when you realize you've wandered into a work of art. And it wants you to join in.
That's the spirit of Business & Arts NL's (Un)Common Threads Creativity & Innovation Summit.
On November 5, our Summit returns to the Sheraton Hotel in St. John's for a half-day of inspiring conversations, fresh perspectives and new ideas. The event brings together leaders from business, technology, arts and culture, marketing, education, film and television, design and entrepreneurship for professional development, networking and creative exchange.
This year's theme, "For the Love of the Game," explores what it means to stay connected to your work as industries evolve, technologies shift and the world changes around us, with featured speakers Rob Bridgett, Mary Walsh and Emad Rizkalla offering their perspectives.
Joyful, interactive moments and creative experiences are also woven through the whole morning. That's where our featured artists and performers come in.
Art you can step into
Each year, we run a process to commission interactive, arts-based experiences for the Summit, and each year the submissions get stronger and more competitive. We're creating space for artists to conceive of this kind of work, from installations like “(Net)working" and "Beyond the Glass" to Ballast Collective's blend of traditional instruments and cutting-edge technology.
Daniel Rumbolt and Amber-Lynn Thorne’s installation "(Net)working" at last year’s summit invited guests to paint tiny ceramic capelin and attach them to a growing net, woven by the artists.
The impact travels well beyond the Summit. Many of the artists who have presented their work with us have since been approached by other organizations to bring it to their own events and conferences. That means new income streams for artists, and new ways for businesses and event organizers to engage with the arts. (Need help with facilitating commissions of artworks, residencies, performances and bespoke experiences? Click here to learn more about our Brokering Services.)
Beni Malone of Wonderbolt Circus kept participants on their toes (and elbows) at a previous summit.
Meet this year's artists
This year's featured artists and performers are presented with support from the Marlowe Foundation and include:
Hadiza Bello, a Nigerian visual artist based in Newfoundland and Labrador whose work across painting, textiles and sculpture explores Black joy, cultural memory and the resilience of African diasporic traditions. Her work has been shown at the Tina Dolter Gallery, LSPU Hall, The Rooms, Art Mûr Gallery and Grenfell Art Gallery, among others.
Ashley and Julia Dicker, a mother and daughter duo from Nain, Nunatsiavut. Proud of their Inuit culture and taking pride in reclaiming their culture and traditions, they have recently begun performing Inuit drum dancing and throat singing.
Julie Lewis, artist, educator, creative director and founder of SassyTuna Studio who has made art with children and adults across Canada and Italy. Trained at Grenfell College, Sheridan College, Algonquin College and Dalhousie University, she works across digital art, murals and portraiture, with her experience spanning television studios, software and game design.
Nora de Mariaffi, a St. John's-based artist, seamstress and arts worker. She is Marketing & Graphic Design Director at Lawnya Vawnya, co-admin of the comic publication I Don't Do Comics, and owns and operates a small, slow-made apparel brand from her downtown studio.
Sherry Ryan, an award-winning musician and songwriter who blends country-soul with her Irish-Newfoundland roots. Her single "Any Other Way" from her fifth album "Shout for More" hit the Top Canadian Country Songs charts in 2023, and her song "Stop the Trains," about her father's 1950s railway encounter with the infamous Wreckhouse winds, has become part of the Newfoundland songbook.
What will they bring to the Summit? You'll just have to join us to find out!