Monique (Mo Thunder) Bedard, BFA, DTATI

Mo (they/them) is a nonbinary/fluid, neurodivergent multidisciplinary artist and facilitator who grew up in a small town along the St. Clair River, they lived in T’karonto (Toronto) for 12 years before recently moving back with their home community near Sarnia, ON. They are Haudenosaunee (Oneida Nation of the Thames), French-Canadian and Anishinaabe (Aamjiwnaang First Nation).

Through their multidisciplinary art practice (painting, murals, mixed media, beading, journaling, poetry and textiles), they create visual stories about their lived experiences in connection to their personal healing. Mo is also inspired by intergenerational connections and healing, family and memories, personal and collective empowerment, and all of creation, especially skyworld.

Mo graduated from the Toronto Art Therapy Institute (TATI) in June 2022. Before that, they earned their BFA in studio art from the University of Lethbridge and Fanshawe College, with a focus on drawing, silkscreen printing, photography and video. They are both self-taught and community-taught. Since high school, they have been working in community arts creating solo and collaborative murals and providing group and individual art facilitation. They have over 15 years of experience in community arts facilitation, organization, education, collaboration and consultation.

From 2018-2022, I co-created and co-facilitate a community art / creative expression program for young Indigenous folks in T’karonto: Our Stories, Our Truths (OSOT). I also co-created and co-facilitated a mural collective of BIPoC 2SLGBTQQIAP+ and gender-diverse creatives, Earth Sky Collective (ESC). From 2023-2025, they regularly taught classes at TATI: “Art Therapy from Indigenous Perspectives” and “Zines, Stories & Art from a Neurodivergent Perspective”.

They have a deep love and passion for zines, journals, art supplies, Oneida language, music, bass, hide tanning, neurodiversity, organization, sewing, fashion and tattoos!