STAFF
Julie Hall | Director
director @ cafka.org
Julie Hall (they/she) is an arts administrator and visual artist working in soft sculpture, video, and performance. They have an eleven-year-long co-creative practice with their partner, Jacob Irish, producing large-scale, interactive installation, showing at the Anna Leonowens Gallery, Centre Bang!, the Art Gallery of Guelph, Hamilton Artists Inc., and the University of Waterloo Art Gallery featuring their collaborative MFA thesis exhibition, borrowers and bullies (2022). Julie thrives in uncertainty and is calm in chaos, a skillset well-match to working in arts non-profit and cultivated in restaurant kitchens and their blue-collar upbringing near Kjipuktuk/Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Sadie Ingle | Education Program Co-ordinator
education @ cafka.org
Sadie (they/she) is a hypermedia artist, curator, writer, and creative facilitator living in Kitchener. They work primarily in poetry, pottery, video, performance, and found object/assemblage-sculpture. Sadie is also a student in the Master of Theological Studies program at Conrad Grebel and the University of Waterloo. There they co-curated Art is Always Conflict (2025), an exhibit of needlepoint and poetry by Elizabeth Wenger at Grebel Gallery. Sadie's work draws from past lives and inherited lineages in spirituality, technology, political economy, (de)construction, and excavation to question the origins of energy and distributions of power in relational structures. Sadie is happiest looking at the moon, finding things on the curb, holding a warm cup of coffee while chatting, and creating side-by-side.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Graham Whiting | Chair
Architect / Artist
Graham is an architect, artist and father who has been living and working in Waterloo region for over 20 years. A former board member and chair, he is returning to CAFKA after a few years of exploring opportunities in project management, residential construction and most recently, public playground design and construction with Earthscape Play in Wallenstein, Ontario. With a keen interest in public art, performance and community activation, he is focused on logistics, installation, and events.
Vic
toria Kent | Vice-Chair and Fundraising Chair
Local Business Owner
Victoria Kent owns the Yeti Cafe, a community hub and grassroots venue in Downtown Kitchener founded in 2012. Victoria previously worked as a media librarian, DJ and scenic painter.
Jo Snyder | Secretary
Writer / Musician / Communications
With a career spanning tech and the arts, Jo Snyder is a Communications Manager by day and a musician by night. She's released several albums with her bands Sixty Stories, Anthem Red, Downers and as a solo artist and extensively toured North American and Europe. She holds a Master's degree in Publishing and is the author of The Vegan Mennonite Kitchen on Pandora Press. Jo holds the role of Secretary on CAFKA's board and supports the Fundraising Committee.
Shannon Stehr | Programming Chair
Artist
Shannon Stehr (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist, curator and educator based in Kitchener. She holds a BFA from the University of Waterloo and a post-graduate certificate in Museum Management & Curatorship from Fleming College. Shannon is an active member of the Waterloo Potters Workshop, the maker behind Pot Liquor Ceramics, and works as the Programs Assistant & Ceramic Studio Technician at Homer Watson House & Gallery. Her work often reflects on her connections to outport Newfoundland and Treaty 7 Territory/Alberta, including the geology, flora, and cultural futures of these regions. Shannon also uses her printmaking and quilt-making practices to foster cross-generational learning and healing.
Nat Sharpe | Marketing Chair
Artist / Designer / Local Family Business Operator
Nat Sharpe (they/them) is a multi-media artist working and living in the Waterloo Region. They are a painter, sculptor, and airbrush aficionado. Nat runs their family business Flight Cafe located in Cambridge, ON, alongside their father and sister. They also do freelance and commissioned work in graphic design, branding, and textiles. They are passionate about removing barriers for artists in the community, assisting in the operations of low-budget studio spaces in the region. This is Nat’s first term on the board and they are excited to assist CAFKA as a marketer, working to extend the reach for a reputable non-profit, artist-run organization.