Jay Havens

Jay Havens is a multi-media 2Spirit artist, educator, and collaborator of Kanien’keha’ka and Scottish Canadian ancestry. Havens was born on Haudenosaunee Territory known as the Haldimand Tract in Ontario and raised on Unceded Sto:lo and Musqueam lands close to Vancouver, Canada. They are a scenographer with experience in site-specific performance and installation, murals, projection and mixed media artwork for galleries, museums, and public spaces. Havens’ practice embraces re-learning the ways of Onkwehon:we (original peoples) and their research has focused on Indigenous Methods of Knowledge-building applied to creative and logistical processes of scenography.

Over two decades career highlights include projection mapping on Stratford City Hall, a floating artwork in the Toronto harbour called The Peacemaker's Canoe, and a mural on the windows of the Vancouver Opera house. Several of Jay's sculptural weavings are held in the collections at the New York State Museum and he is currently designing public artworks for several cities and institutions across Canada. He can also be found designing sets and costumes for professional stage companies such as Caravan Farm, Centaur and Axis Theatre or he also works at the University of Waterloo as professor of scenography and design in the Department of Communication Arts. Havens is a member of The Associated Designers of Canada (IATSE 659) and CARFAC. He is a proud citizen of the Mohawk, Bear Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River.