Dr. Jay Havens

Biography

Jay Havens is a multi-media 2Spirit artist, educator, and collaborator with Kanien’keha:ka (Haudenosaunee) and Scottish Canadian ancestry. Raised on the Unceded Sto:lo and Musqueam lands near Vancouver, Canada, Havens has extensive experience in scenography, specializing in site-specific performance installations, murals, and mixed media artworks for galleries and public spaces. His practice emphasizes re-learning the ways of the Onkwehon:we (original peoples) and focuses on Indigenous methods of knowledge-building applied through creative logistical processes in scenography. Havens holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia in the Department of Theatre, Film, and Creative Writing and a Master of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. With a career spanning 19 years, he has created notable works including projection mapping for the Haudenosaunee longhouse at Stratford City Hall and the floating artwork titled 'Peacemaker’s Canoe' in Toronto Harbour. Havens' sculptural weavings are included in the collections of the New York State Museum, and he is currently designing public artworks for various sites in Southern Ontario. In January 2023, he joined the University of Waterloo as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Arts, where he teaches scenography and design thinking courses. He is a proud citizen of the Mohawk Bear Clan of the Six Nations Grand River.

Research Interests