Zephyra Vun is a creator from Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). She is dedicated to creating flow experiences through her visual art, writing, and fitness classes. She applies her unique set of skills to inspire flow states in herself and in others, passionately advocating for their exceptional importance to our mental and physical health in today’s digital age.
Zephyra (aka Zef) is an architect by education, and a visual artist by choice. She founded anARCHI design in 2012, a year after graduating from the University of Manitoba with a Masters of Architecture degree. The venture initially began as an architectural consulting business whose philosophy centred around analogue processes and upholding humanized craftsmanship in design, which has since morphed organically into a visual arts practice. She has exhibited her artwork both locally and internationally.
Zephyra’s quest for deeper connection is foundational to the way she leads her life, and therefore, to the art she puts out into the world. She creates art that stimulates going inward and wholeheartedly believes in a creative process to match; one that involves tapping into intuition and bodily participation. The same can be said for how she creates flow in a group fitness class setting.
Today, Zephyra is happily and meaningfully engaging in her calling as a visual artist and group fitness leader. She spends her days creating in her peaceful home studio on the Red River, and guiding movement at The Community Gym, a locally-owned, boutique fitness studio in downtown Winnipeg.
Commissioned by
Private Collectors
Exhibitions
Here - Pulse Gallery. Winnipeg, Canada, 2022
COLLABOSAURUS REX: An Alliance Born From Clash, (collaborative exhibition with Cori Jaye Ettienne) - Assiniboine Park Pavilion Gallery. Winnipeg, Canada, 2021
Always Draft A Section, Fleet Galleries, Winnipeg, Canada, 2019
Landscape: Rural vs. Urban - Brick Lane Gallery. London, England, 2016
Titles & Accolades
Mentor, MAWA One-on-One Mentorship Program - 2023
Board Member, Artbeat Studio, 2019 - present
Executive Director, Design Quarter Winnipeg; 2016 - 2019
Juror, Manitoba Rural + Northern Art Show, 2019
Juror, Market Lands International Design Competition, 2018
Juror, On The Docks Ideas Competition, 2018
Guest Critic, HTFC Youth Studio 2018
Panelist, Modeshift: A Festival for Human-Scale Cities, 2018
Mentor, Seven Oaks Learning Through Internship Program; 2017 - 2018
Mayor's BIZ Awards, Exchange District BIZ, 2017
Winner, The Brush Off Painting Competition: Manitoba Children's Museum Fundraiser, 2015
Graduate Fellowship from the University of Manitoba, 2009 - 2011
Speaker:
Creative Mornings Winnipeg: “The Purity of Creative Expression: Technology’s Corruption of the Process”, 2023
Reform: “What is Design Culture”, 2019
Social School: “Storytelling in Marketing”, 2018
10x20x20: "Design Quarter Winnipeg", 2018
Pecha Kucha (Winnipeg Vol. 24): "Hands vs. The Digital Age", 2015
Events:
Flow Drawing Workshops, various venues, 2019 - 2022
Design Quarter Winnipeg Pop-Up, 2019
Drink & Draw, First Fridays, 2015 - 2019
WSO New Music Festival Opening Night, The Centennial Concert Hall, 2017
Event Curator, Winnipeg Design Festival, 2015, 2016
Organizer & Speaker, Nuit Blanche & Culture Days MB, 2015
Media
Winnipeg: We’re All About the Unexpected - Tourism Winnipeg, 2019
Exchanging Words Podcast - Episode 1 w/ Zephyra Vun - Exchange District BIZ, 2019
Design Quarter Winnipeg Hosts Pop-Up - CTV, 2019
Design Quarter Winnipeg aims to promote Downtown, Exchange and The Forks - CTV, 2017
Designs on local shoppers: New organization launches to promote Winnipeg's design community - CBC, 2017
Boosting Winterpeg's Destination Status - Brent Bellamy, Winnipeg Free Press, 2017
Faces of the Exchange - Exchange District Biz, 2016
Zephyra Vun: Innovator - Exchange District Biz, 2016
First Friday Drink & Draw - CTV Morning Live, 2016
First Fridays Transforming Winnipeg's Art Scene - Exchange District Biz, 2016
Community Profile - The Manitoban, 2015
Publications:
El-Gabalawy, Nadia. Translate Reality 2020 Edition, Columbia, SC, 2020. (cover art & written excerpt)
El-Gabalawy, Nadia. Translate Reality 2019 Edition, Columbia, SC, 2019. (cover art)
World Wide Art Books. World Wide Art Magazine, Issue #1, 2019. (Digital)
Circle Foundation, Spotlight Contemporary Art Magazine, Issue 9. Circle Foundation For The Arts Press: France, 2018
Peixoto, Caroline. “Isolation Breeds Innovation”, Modern in Denver Magazine. Colorado, 2018
Self-published collection:
Vun, Zephyra. Always Draft a Section: Envisioning with the Mind. 2019
Vun, Zephyra. Always Write In Caps: The anatomy of typeface. 2014
Vun, Zephyra. North Is Always Up: Architecture school in everyday life. 2012