‘Howdy, neighbour’

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This article was published 14/03/2025 (240 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pair of artist friends and neighbours are bringing a splash of colour to Henderson Highway.

Jill McGillivray and Helga Jakobson are the creators of Next Door Neighbour Studio, a forthcoming community art space tucked along the busy commercial thoroughfare.

“There’s a bit of life happening here and we wanted to add to it. We’re trying to make a space that people can have some ownership of and feel supported by us,” Jakobson says.

She and McGillivray met in the fine arts program at the University of Manitoba and reconnected several years ago as residents of Winnipeg’s Glenelm neighbourhood. Launching a community-minded art business together was a natural progression.

Jakobson is the former executive director of ArtsJunktion and a regular art instructor at the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq, while McGillivray has been teaching kids art classes and hosting summer art camps out of her home under the moniker Art with Jill for the last decade.

“It started with one student and grew from there. Now I teach about 60 kids a week and have nine classes going,” says McGillivray, who’s been running classes out of her 150-square-foot home studio and transforming her yard into an outdoor art station for summer day camps.

Next Door Neighbour Studio aims to build off the success of Art with Jill, which is rooted in experimental, play-based learning and neighbourhood exploration.

Most of McGillivray’s students hail from Glenelm — which is situated in a bow of the Red River on the southwestern edge of Elmwood — and her curriculum often includes walking tours of the area. The program has enabled local families to form stronger connections.

“I’ve had parents say, ‘This is a way for my kids to get to know other kids in this neighbourhood,’” she says, adding many kids bus elsewhere for school.

“And just walking to the house for art camp, the parents get to chat and have these micro-interactions that really bring a sense of wellness and community.”

McGillivray and Jakobson are excited to expand the operation.

And the neighbourhood seems equally pumped on the endeavour.

“We’ve heard such great responses from community members. The parent of one of Jill’s students wrote us a letter of support talking about how needed this space is and how artists act as indicator species, that when artists move in good things follow,” Jakobson says.

“That letter made me cry,” McGillivray says.

Next Door Neighbour is located at 232 Henderson Hwy. on the main floor of a business complex previously occupied by a tax-preparation service.

The sunny studio is surrounded on two sides by floor-to-ceiling windows.

There’s a bus stop right outside and an empty lot across the street where neighbourhood organizations host community events and markets.

When the studio opens later this month, visitors will be greeted by long, paint-flecked tables, a chill zone and a painted neon banner exclaiming “Howdy, neighbour.” There will be a kiln onsite and blank walls eager to display participant artwork.

The Next Door Neighbour schedule is set to include evening and weekend classes for kids, teens, adults and families, as well as free public programming. While some sessions are process-based, others are focused on specific media, such as printmaking and pottery.

The Art with Jill summer camp program will continue in the new space with weeklong day camp for kids aged four to 14 running July through August.

Joining McGillivray, a painter, and Jakobson, a multimedia artist, as instructors are printmaker Jeremy Wat and ceramicist Disa Haldorson — all of whom live within a four-block radius of the studio.

There’s been proven demand for community art programming in Glenelm, Jakobson says.

“Every neighbourhood needs a space like this. We’re living in troubling times,” she says.

“People need creativity. It’s a really great way of working through some of those feelings and concerns, and sitting in community to do that (helps with) not feeling so alone and isolated.”

Next Door Neighbour Studio is hosting a weeklong open house from March 31 to April 4, with multi-material artmaking, portraiture, miniature house-construction and pom-pom fabrication. Activities run from 4-8 p.m. each day. Tickets are $5 per person and registration is recommended.

Visit nextdoorneighbourstudio.com for more information.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com