Art Institute Team

Kameko Ballantyne

Lead Artist/ Teacher

Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2015 with a specialization in Art Education.
Kameko has been instructing Art classes for all of her teacher years.
Kameko is a practicing artist and master drawer who produces Fine Art for wanting clients.
Artist at the Medicine Hat Sunshine Chalk Art Festival
Hosted many drawing/painting workshops for youth and has travelled around the world to absorb any and every art gallery that has crossed her path.
She has worked under local artist such as Michael Campbell, Paul Nielsen, Dean Smale and much more.
Art is the foundation to every aspect in her life and continues to create an Art experience at Eagle Butte High School and for 6 years at Parkside School.

Art Institute Leader

Principal- Parkside Junior High School
Masters Educational Leadership
Bachelor of Education
Bachelor of Arts
Collaborated and designed a successful partnership with the WD Hockey Academy into Parkside School
Collaborated and designed a successful partnership with the Medicine Hat College Trades program for the student at Parkside School
Made Art a priority at Parkside School through the hiring of Kameko Ballantyne and building a strong creative and consistent art program for students to experience.

Expressive Therapist

Colleen Hillock MEd, RSW, CACC, CCS -ACCS, CSAT, ACT has a graduate degree from Lesley University out of Boston in Expressive Therapies, which employs the modalities of dance, music, art, and drama in the healing process.
She was the curriculum developer of the first BHLSc Addictions Counselling degree in Canada, coordinating the first two years of this undergraduate study at Medicine Hat College for 25 years.
She currently has a clinical practice that addresses substance and behavioural dependencies while writing a book on the impact of addictions and trauma on the family.

Schae Philpott is a Nationally Award Winning Photographer for Wedding Photojournalism and Accredited Member of the Professional Photographers of Canada. Schae also has her business degree from Mount Royal University.
Photography has lead to Schae capturing weddings in Los Angeles and literally on top of mountains. She is thankful for such a unique, fast paced, and challenging job that has allowed her to meet so many amazing people. It's a rewarding career to capture important memories, but also the science of photography is very intricate. There is always so much to learn and experiment with!
Schae loves providing a fun and memorable photography experience to her clients and nothing makes her happier than delivering quality images they will look back on for years to come- even their future great grandchildren!
Schae is a storyteller through images and she is so thankful to be living her dream and exploring her passion!

Rhys Sept is an emerging Canadian contemporary multi-disciplined artist who lives and works in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
Currently, Rhys relies on his desire for beauty, poetics, and education to determine his subject matter. This artist brings an extensive mastery of color theory, along with his own visually distinct sense of character, and compositional elements to his work. His palette is present and complex, with the use of latex acrylic paint. The accidental placement of a line or marking forces the artist to work through difficult periods, which contributes greatly to the unique organic layering and depth his work exhibits.
Rhys' art has rarely been shown in public, but has work in several private collections across North America and parts of Europe. Travois Ale Works local artist project is an invitational exhibition that was officially Rhys' first public exposition in March, 2020.

Recently during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown worldwide, Rhys took this opportunity to expand his creativity through social media with podcasting. Recognizing the value and importance of journaling he released "Unchained INSPIRHYSION" on November 07, 2020 as a working audio artist journal. Rhys felt it was of value to share his journey to ensure his spirit of collaboration would help develop a continuous flow of creativity both for himself and those around him.

Gena Lacoste

Gena LaCoste is a local Medicine Hat watercolorist and oil painter. She was raised on a ranch in southern Alberta, and has been heavily influenced by that early life. Gena began her drawing/painting career as a pre-schooler, and has continued throughout her life, being best known for her paintings of horses. She also paints the landscapes, wildlife, gardens, people, and domestic animals she finds herself surrounded by, painting exclusively from her own experience. Having been a watercolourist for most of her life, Gena started painting in oils as well about 10 years ago.
Having worked as a nurse and a retailer during her young life, Gena has painted full time, and teaches workshops in the area, and individuals from her home here in Medicine Hat, for the past 20 years. Her painting adventures have included workshops (as teacher and as participant) in France and Italy as well as a 2 month residency in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
You can find her paintings online: genalacoste.com and gena_lacoste_art on Instagram.

Jack McCullough

Guest Artist

Finding inspiration early on in life through graffiti art he seen on train cars passing through Medicine Hat; Jack McCullough soon began perusing his lifelong passion for art in the form of aerosol paint. Originally using train cars and abandoned buildings as his canvas, Jack soon realized he needed to find a more reliable avenue if he wanted to excel and perhaps make a career from his art.
Moving into private and commercial mural work was the next step and from there he expanded into tattooing. Currently living and working in Lethbridge, Alberta as a senior tattoo artist with a reputable shop, Jack now keeps busy with tattooing and still does numerous private and commercial mural work throughout the year.