Stronger Together Collaborative Residency
Photo of a printmaking activity led by artist in residence Sophia Herrington at a launch party? in this economy?! courtesy of Ali Zonaed.
Bree Rappaport, Caryn Wei Ya Xie, Nathan Zhe, Sophia Herrington
Main Space
May-August 2025
Launching an exciting year ahead, Union Gallery is turning over the Main Space to its membership with a unique residency opportunity for hard times. Stronger Together Collaborative Residency will assemble an ad hoc collective of 4 artists open to co-creating experimental art that boldly responds to our new curatorial theme: in this economy?!
Through a call to UG members, we invited open-ended proposals that consider and respond to manufactured scarcity, late-stage capitalism, economic precarity, and the improvisation of everyday life in the face of these challenges. This opportunity will expand the artists’ practice through a unique period of skill sharing, dialogue, and co-creation.
The artists in residence will be offering public programs on Wednesday evenings throughout the summer — check out our Artist-Led Workshops page to learn more!
FREE WORKSHOP SERIES
May 28, 6pm: a launch party? in THIS economy? with screenprinting led by Sophia
June 25, 6pm: Projection Jam with Bree + Nathan (sign up here)
July 16, 6pm: Good Luck Charms with Caryn (sign up here)
MEET THE ARTISTS
Bree is a multidisciplinary artist and educator. She lives in Kingston. For the past three years she has been exploring different modes of employment. Trade work, electrical, and bush work in forestry. Art has been the grounding mechanism through change and instability.
Caryn Wei Ya Xie (b. 2002) is a visual artist and educator. By appropriating digital aesthetics to reimagine her documented lived experiences, Xie’s interventions translate a personal history of immigration into a broader conversation on the diasporic experience of fragmented identity and memory. Xie received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) from Queen’s University in 2024, where she was the recipient of the Liu Shiming Scholarship and Medal of Visual Art. She is currently working towards her Bachelor of Education.
Nathan Zhe (He/Him) is a Chinese multidisciplinary artist, producer, director, marketing director and photographer based in Canada and China. He's in his fourth year of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Media and Performance Productions specialization. With a strong foundation and passion in producing, directing, marketing and arts administration, Nathan has worked extensively behind the scenes of film and theatre productions, coordinating teams and ensuring creative visions are brought to life.
Sophia’s art draws on nature’s themes of growth, transformation, and interconnectedness. Using traditional printmaking methods like lithography and silkscreen, she creates layered works that reflect the fragile yet resilient ties between humans and nature. Symbols like roots and leaves explore these connections, while her careful process mirrors life’s cycles. Her work tells stories about how the environment shapes us, how we shape it, and inviting viewers to reflect on the visible and invisible threads that link all living things.