Meet The Nelson International Mural Festival Team - Nelson & District Arts Council

Sydney Black

Nelson International Mural Festival Founder

Sydney Black loves making things happen, especially with teams of amazing people. She was born (and currently resides) in Nelson, BC with her incredibly supportive husband and children. When she isn’t organizing events, you can find her producing and performing in theatrical extravaganzas with her company Black Productions. She is grateful to the City of Nelson and all the sponsors, wall owners, staff and volunteers for their help with making the Nelson International Mural Festival a success!

Amber Santos

Mural Curator & Mural Festival Co-Founder

Amber Santos is a multi-ethnic, multidisciplinary artist who also has a passion for art education and being part of making big things happen, like the Nelson International Mural Festival, and many community projects and murals over the years. She is excited about how we can shape our public space into a welcoming and inclusive space and how art can inspire conversations and connections. See her work on her Instagram

Dee Landsberg

Music Curator & Mural Festival Co-Founder

Dee’s diversity and musical capabilities have taken her all over the world, From Brazil to Israel to Europe. She has an infectiously warm personality, which can be felt by the way she lives through her heart and centres her passion for authenticity in her music. Dee has had the opportunity to collaborate with and be mentored by Renowned Grammy Award Winner Jerry Wonder (The Fugee’s), electronic producer Lorin Bassnectar and multi-instrumentalist Mr. Carmack.

Brian McIntyre

Mural Coordinator

With over 5 years of experience working for musical festivals, helping in artist hospitality, setting up tents and aiding with the assembly and teardown of art installations, Brian was destined to become the festival’s Mural Coordinator. Brian also has an Associate of Arts Degree at Capilano University in Global Stewardship and is certified in Air Rescue and MEWP. Brian’s favourite part about his job is being given the opportunity to help create art and engage with different parts of the community he grew up in.

Ingrid Love

Marketing Coordinator

Ingrid Love is a marketer and content creator with a penchant for marketing in the arts. She is also an interdisciplinary artist and aspiring academic, currently pursuing a degree in English Literature. She is intrigued by the pockets and seams where artistic disciplines overlap and interact with one another, and finds herself constantly studying these interactions as a writer, dancer, and theatre artist.

Mavis Harris

PR Coordinator

Mavis Harris is the founder of Nice Marmot PR, a music publicity company based in the BC interior. With over 15 years of experience in PR, Mavis has worked as a publicist with MapleMusic Recordings, a Communications Manager with Universal Music and even won the 2016 Canadian Music Publicist of the Year at the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards. She nailed a nomination down for 2017, too. Mavis has been at the helm of the Canadian promotional campaigns for a myriad of artists including Alabama Shakes, Charles Bradley, PJ Harvey, Drake, Joel Plaskett, Peaches, Valerie June, Frank Turner, K.Flay, SonReal, Michael Kiwanuka, M.I.A., The Hives, Norah Jones and The Dears.

Dave Ronald

Technical Director

Dave Ronald is the owner of All Ears Music Productions, a sound production company offering Live Sound, Event Streaming, Audio Production, Mixing and Mastering services.

The Music and culture of the area is what brought Dave to the Kootenay’s to attend Selkirk College Professional Music Program. Dave is the Technical Director for 2020/2021 Nelson’s International Mural Festival and is enjoying his work for the 2021 Kaslo Summer Music Series presented by The Langham-Kaslo Cultural Centre.

Artistically, Dave is a multi-instrumentalist and performs as his alias wav-Dr. and has released multiple albums with Singer-Songwriter Bonnie Legion as ‘wav-Legion’

Visit Dave’s website

Simran Kang

Assistant Marketing Coordinator

Simran Kang was raised in the Kootenays. She developed an appreciation for art and culture from a young age and has a passion for social justice and social equality. She is currently a psychology student at the University of Alberta, and plans to continue her education in Industrial & Organizational Psychology.

Sonam Perello

Admin Assistant / Artist Liasion

Sonam has recently moved back to the Kootenays since finishing up her Bachelor’s Degree in International Development from the University of Guelph. Growing up surrounded by the arts and travelling, Sonam has a strong passion for interdisciplinary learning, social justice, and community development.

Stephanie Blundell

Mural Assistant

Hailing from the seaside city of Brighton, Stephanie has worked closely with local authorities and public institutions in the UK and Canada to manage, co-create, facilitate and deliver regenerative art programming and community-building interventions. She has been known to use community settings to engage the community in play — with food, clay, watercolour, found objects, clowning, mixed media, set design and movement.

Adham Shaikh

Festival Technician

Adham Shaikh is a Emmy and Juno Award-nominated music producer, composer, sound designer, and DJ who brings his uniquely powerful global sounds to the world stage and screen, not to mention many a crowded dance floor.

Adham has scored original soundtracks for numerous film and television productions, including National Geographic (Emmy nomination) , Sacred Planet (Disney Imax), Velcrow Ripper’s Fierce Light (National Film Board, Fierce Light Films), Rainbow Jaguars’ Earth Pilgrim, Word Love (Avanti Pictures), Getting Married (TVO), and Secrets: A Parent’s Guide to the Teen Sexual Revolution (CBC’s Passionate Eye, Make Believe Media), for which he received a Leo Award for Best Musical Score in a Documentary Program. His music has also been licensed to an extensive list of media productions, including BBC Orphan BlacK , Suzuki Speaks (Avanti Pictures). Look out for his latest original work on the upcoming television series The Edge of the World: BC’s Early Years (Knowledge).

Avi Phillips

Technical Assistant

Avi Phillips enjoyed a robust arts education in Toronto, through intensive arts programs in elementary and high school, the Theatre Arts program at Humber College, and performing professionally on screen and stage. Avi and his family relocated to beautiful Nelson in 2016, where he’s gratefully joined the local theatre community as a performer and director. Avi was proud to be on the live stream broadcast team for NIMF in 2020, as well as Nelson’s ArtWalk 2020 and 2021 live stream broadcast team.

Zakir Shaikh

Technical Assistant