Dr. Sara Komarnisky, Art Centre Development Specialist

Sara Komarnisky is an author, researcher, and public scholar who has published and presented on topics ranging from the lifeways of multigenerational families of Mexicans in Alaska, to art and craft made by Indigenous patients at tuberculosis hospitals, to community-driven health and wellbeing policy and programming, to 150 Acts of Reconciliation, and more recently, to an emerging art/research creation project exploring Northern practices of (social) repair. She has experience leading complex projects through from start to finish, with a focus on building and maintaining strong relationships while allowing for creativity, fun, and innovation throughout. 

Sara is of Ukrainian settler ancestry and grew up in Holden, Alberta. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia where she was a Vanier Scholar. She is excited about the potential of the future art centre because she thinks it can be a much needed intellectual and creative space in the NWT. She has lived in Sǫǫ̀mbak'è (Yellowknife) since 2018 with her husband and two children. Sara loves to garden, fish, ski, and paddle on local lands and waters.

Contact Sara at sara.komarnisky@nwtartcentre.ca