Sarah Houle Bio

Sarah Houle is an artist and performer from Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement in Northern Alberta. Her practice is collaborative and time-based, evolving from personal mythology, familial roots, and material exploration to encompass animation, installation, filmmaking, digital media, sound, and community mentorship. Despite wide material interests, a clear aesthetic thread follows her practice. Sarah’s bold, pastel colours and floral motifs reference Metis beadwork. Recurring characters of the Shapeshifter, Bird Boy, and the Little People haunt her projects, flickering in and out of view across mediums. Sarah makes her home in Mohkinstsis/Calgary, but family – near and far – is integral to her process, both as subjects and collaborators. Her sons, nieces, and partner join in various works. She draws from ancestry and creates in community, never alone as she explores secret worlds, hiding in plain sight. Sarah attended Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and graduated from Alberta University of the Arts in 2007. Her work has screened and exhibited across Canada, including ImagineNative Film Festival (Toronto), Asinabke Film Festival (Ottawa), AKA Artist Run Centre (Saskatoon), dc3 Art Projects / Ociciwan (Edmonton), Calgary International Film Festival, and Contemporary Calgary. In 2019, she was an Artist-in-Residence for Indigenous Placemaking at the Calgary Public Library, developing Flowers for My Ancestors, a project honouring the Metis story of her great-grandparents. She is a founding member of celebrated experimental rock band, Ghostkeeper, and has performed extensively for audiences ranging from Sled Island Festival, to a live broadcast on APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network). In 2020, Sarah Houle and her partner, Shane Ghostkeeper, established a collaborative project called Cîpayak ᒌᐸᕀ, developing multimedia installations and performances. Sarah is keenly aware of her proximity to those around her – past, present, and future. Mentorship is an increasingly important part of her practice, sharing in the abundance of communal wisdom and collective work. Her roles as an artist, mother, bandmate, collaborator, and community member evidence Sarah’s belief in interconnected relationships, stretching across place and time.

Films and Animations

Circles, Animated Experimental Short — 2024

Screenings: Asinabka, Ottawa, Ontario - August 8, 2024
International First People’s Festival, Montreal, Quebec - August 9, 2024
Pathways Indigenous Arts Festival, Santa Fe, New Mexico -August 14, 2024
Toronto Independent Film Festival, Toronto, Ontario - September 11, 2024
Calgary International Film Festival, Calgary, Alberta - September 23, 2024

Wild Sheriff, Directed pilot episode -2024 (unreleased)

Bear Kids, Animated music video for Miesha and the Spanks — 2024

Screenings: Quickdraw Animation Society, 45 year Celebration-July 2024
Featured in: Canadian Beats, Cups N Cakes and Read Range

Mashkiki Sunset, Animated music video for status non status-2023

Featured in: The Indie Machine, Indie 88, Hash Brand New, Exclaim! Magazine, Billboard, Photog Music, Cups N Cakes

I know How, Directed and produced music video for Shane Ghostkeeper — 2023

Featured in: IndieMusic Discovery, Photog Music, Exclaim! Magazine, CBC, YY Scene

This is how i know you, animated music video for Ghostkeeper — 2022

Screenings: imagineNATIVE Film and Media Festival, 2022
Calgary International Film Festival, 2022

I was lost and you were dreaming, Art direction and props music video for Ghostkeeper — 2019, directed by Joe Kelly

Screenings: Trinity Square Video, Gathering Across Moana- Group Show -Oct 4-Nov 2,

2019 imagineNATIVE Film and Media Festival, October 23, 2020

Film Scores (With Shane Ghostkeeper and Brad Hawkins)

Stories We Have Earned, directed by Cody Lefthand, 2024
Skylar’s Comet, directed by Bruce Miller, 2024
Dark Nature, directed by Berkley Brady, 2023
The Mother, directed by Kaytlin Turner, 2020

Education

Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary AB, Alberta-Media Arts and Digital Technology, 2007
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax NS, 2001-2003

Related Professional Experience

Calgary Folk Fest Indigenous Advisory Committee 2018-Present
Grant Assessor: Individuals and Collectives, Calgary Arts Development, June to August, 2024
Peer Assessment Committee: Explore and Create, CCFTA Sept 16-Nov 5, 2024
Peer Assessment Committee: Explore and Create, CCFTA Dec-Jan, 2023
Peer Assessment Committee: Explore and Create, CCFTA Nov-Jan, 2022
Mentor for the Indigenous Placemaking Project at the Calgary Public Library 2021-2024
Expert Panelist: Indigenous Arts Individual Project, AFA, Oct-Nov, 2019

Current Projects

Art direction, scriptwriting consultant for feature length film Little People with Shane Ghostkeeper and Ramin Eshraghi-Yazdi.
Recording first full length solo record, Ghoule: The Wihtikow Called My Name
Short experimental animation, The People of the Frog Lake Massacre

Workshops

Neighbour Day, Sun-catchers With Paper, Calgary Central Library, June 15, 2024
Experiments With Stop Motion, Youth Arts Enrichment Camp, Dawson City, Yukon, March 18-23, 2024
Intro Grant Writing with Kaytlin Turner & Sarah Houle, UofC, Calgary AB, February 19, 2024
Intro to Stop Motion Animation KIAC, Dawson City, Yukon, Aug 30-Sept 3, 2023
Residency and Grant Program, Calgary Central Library, Nov 8, 2023
Indigenous Placemaking Mentorship, Calgary Public Library, Calgary, AB, May 8, 2023
Make a Candle, Give a Candle, Struts Gallery, Sackville NB, June 30, 2023
NMC, Indigenous Resilience in Music, Indigenous Youth Music Workshop, Calgary AB, 2019

Awards and Residencies

Esquao Award Recipient for the Arts, 2024
AMPIA Award for Dark Nature score, 2023
Stinger Award for The Mother score, 2020
Struts Gallery Art Residency, Sackville, NB, June, 2023
Yurt Residency, Finn Bay, BC, 2022
National Music Centre, Indigenous Resilience in Music, Calgary AB, 2019
Contemporary Calgary, Collider Residency, Calgary AB, 2019-2020
Calgary Public Library, Indigenous Artist Residency, Calgary AB, 2019
Banff Centre For The Arts, The Space Between Us Residency, Banff AB, 2018

Recent Performances

Calgary Ab, East town get down, Ghostkeeper performance, may 24, 2024

Edmonton AB, cbc Road to the Junos, Ghostkeeper Performance, March 8, 2023

Live broadcast -audio and visual performance.

Calgary Folk Fest, Ghostkeeper performance, july 27-30, 2023

Workshops and concert.

YellowKnife nWt, Folk on the rocks, Ghostkeeper performance, july 15-17, 2022

Workshops, side stage concert and main stage concert.

Ghostkeeper Discography

Children of the Great Northern Muskeg (Saved by Radio, 2008)

Ghostkeeper (Flemish Eye Records, 2010) Long listed for the Polaris Music Prize

Horse Chief! War Thief! (Saved By Radio, 2012)

Sheer Blouse Buffalo Knocks (2017)

Multidimensional Culture (Victory Pool, 2022) Long listed for the Polaris Music Prize

Cîpayak Joy (Victory Pool, 2024)

Recent Press, Reviews and Interviews

Ghostkeeper has 86k all time streams via Victory Pool releases

Multidimensional Culture nominated for Polaris Prize

Multidimensional Culture added to SiriusXM The Verge, North Americana, Indigiverse, CBC Radio 3

Cipayak Joy

https://exclaim.ca/music/article/ghostkeeper-cipayak-joy-album-review

https://readrange.com/ghostkeeper-cipayak-joy-interview/

http://vishkhanna.com/2024/08/29/ep-899-ghostkeeper/

https://dominionated.ca/reviews/ghostkeeper-cipayak-joy/

https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/local-arts/expect-the-unexpected-from-calgarys-ghostkeeper-on-new-record

BBC Radio 6 Music, Breakfast with Nemone, 25th July

https://ca.billboard.com/music/fresh-sounds-bambii-jessia-ghostkeeper

Contact Me

houlelowrysarah@gmail.com

403-437-0813